美国人对政治有何看法？“厌恶这个词还不够强烈”
选民对华盛顿混乱的普遍不满超越了政党、种族、年龄和地域。
杰克·希利从亚利桑那州吉尔伯特报道，
J. 大卫·古德曼休斯顿报道，
珍娜·拉塞尔从缅因州班戈报道，
艾伦·布林德从佐治亚州查姆布利报道。
2023年10月6日
佐治亚州查姆布利市场的小贩比安卡·瓦拉 (Bianca Vara) 对华盛顿特区的领导人感到不满。《纽约时报》拍摄1963年
惠特尼·史密斯的手机响了，她妈妈发来短信，提醒她华盛顿最近令人难以置信的混乱：“极右翼赶走了众议院议长。现在一片混乱。”
35 岁的史密斯女士是凤凰城郊区的一名簿记员和注册独立人士，她不想参与其中。她试图通过投票、参加当地竞选活动和参加市政会议来保持对公民生活的参与。但在过去一周，险些发生的政府关门和共和党控制的众议院领导层政变的混乱局面证实了许多美国人对联邦政府最愤世嫉俗的情绪。
“当时的感觉就像，天哪，现在怎么办？”她说。
抱怨政治是美国历史悠久的消遣方式，但最近美国的政治情绪跌至有史以来最糟糕的水平。
在经历了特朗普总统任期的动荡、疫情、国会暴动、通货膨胀、多次总统弹劾以及极右翼共和党人关于 2020 年大选舞弊的普遍谎言之后，选民表示他们感到疲惫和愤怒。
在最近全国数十次采访中，无论老少，选民都对下一届总统大选表达了超越党派界限的普遍悲观情绪，并对政治机构的信心摇摇欲坠。
白宫和国会已投入数十亿美元来修复和改善国家的道路、港口、管道和互联网。他们批准了数千亿美元来应对气候变化和降低处方药成本。拜登总统还免除了数十亿美元的学生债务。然而，这些成就尚未得到选民的充分认可。
一小群极右翼共和党人将国家推向政府关门的边缘，然后在民主党的支持下，煽动投票罢免麦卡锡，使国会陷入混乱。民主党人打赌选民会把麻烦归咎于共和党。本周接受采访的许多选民表示，他们认为整个事件是华盛顿普遍失灵的证据，并指责政治领导人沉迷于职场闹剧，而牺牲了他们本应服务的人民。
一群西装革履的男子和警察，中间是凯文·麦卡锡。
众议员凯文·麦卡锡被罢免众议院议长后离开众议院。图片来源：Maansi Srivastava/纽约时报
“他们似乎与我们如此疏远，”57 岁的凯文·巴斯 (Kevin Bass) 说，他是一名银行高管，住在德克萨斯州西部的一个乡村小镇新家。他是当地学校董事会成员，有两个孩子在公立学校上学，另一个在上大学。他自称是保守派，两次都投票支持前总统唐纳德·J·特朗普 (Donald J. Trump)。 “我真的不认为任何一方能给我们的国家带来好处，”他说。
选民们表示，华盛顿的内斗以及共和党对债务违约和政府关门的动摇，不顾一切地将人们的薪水、医疗保健和福利置于危险之中，而此时，人们正忙于支付不断上涨的医疗和食品账单，或应对快速变暖的气候，这种气候几乎在全国每个角落引发了自然灾害。
“厌恶这个词还不足以表达强烈的意思，”比安卡·瓦拉 (Bianca Vara) 说，她是亚特兰大地区的一名民主党人，有五个孩子，她在跳蚤市场经营着一个摊位，那里充斥着关于政治的讨论。
她说，她希望华盛顿的领导人能够解决枪支暴力问题，或者只是有意义地打击她接到的自动拨号电话。相反，她沮丧地看着共和党控制的众议院陷入了一场内讧。
“这比小学还糟糕，”她说，“就像在操场上，就像躲避球：‘你出局了！你不再是议长了！用红球打他的头！’”
一些人表示，他们故意忽略政治新闻，而是关注奶油奶酪（6.99 美元）价格等细节，或者与政治完全无关的事情——芝加哥熊队以 1 比 4 获胜，泰勒·斯威夫特将出现在堪萨斯城酋长队的比赛中。
当史密斯女士的母亲向家人发短信，告知凯文·麦卡锡被罢免众议院议长的消息时，没有人回复。最后，史密斯女士回复了一张她刚刚在家里安装的新架子的照片。
“麦卡锡是谁？我不知道
“我甚至不知道，”38 岁的罗斯玛丽·沃森 (Rosemary Watson) 说，她是亚利桑那州梅萨市的一名注册无党派人士。梅萨市是一个战场州，在过去两次选举中，民主党以微弱优势战胜了特朗普式的共和党。“我特意为自己的健康和福祉做出了这样的选择。”
沃森女士是切罗基族的一员，她在 2020 年投票支持特朗普，她说拜登总统为保护美洲原住民的神圣土地或提供数十亿美元的新部落资金而采取的行动并没有让她在政治上受到影响。她说，她将在 2024 年的总统竞选中支持小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪，以撼动两党制。
亚利桑那州吉尔伯特的簿记员惠特尼·史密斯 (Whitney Smith) 表示，她不想参与华盛顿的任何政治动荡。图片来源：纽约时报的 Adriana Zehbrauskas
辛西娅·泰勒现年 58 岁，是休斯顿地区的一名共和党律师助理，她的丈夫在一家步枪制造商工作。她对麦卡锡先生的下台和最近的近乎停摆感到震惊，称这种边缘政策是美国社会越来越不守法的表现。
“我们似乎开始走上这样的道路，如果我不同意你的观点，我就会把你踢出去，”她说。“每个人都是为了自己。每个人都是为了自己 15 分钟的出名。”
皮尤研究中心 7 月份进行的一项调查发现，一个国家因对政治领导人的不满而团结在一起，这种不满跨越了种族、年龄和党派分歧。65% 的受访美国人表示，他们一想到政治就感到精疲力竭。
只有 16% 的美国成年人表示他们信任联邦政府，接近 70 年来民意调查的最低水平。近 30% 的人表示他们不喜欢民主党和共和党，创历史新高。然而近年来，美国人投票人数创下了历史新高——主要是为了连任现任者。
众议院少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯在国会勉强避免关闭前的新闻发布会上发表讲话。图片来源：Kenny Holston/纽约时报
“我从未想过我会生活在这样的时代，”新罕布什尔州多佛市 66 岁的寡妇辛迪·斯瓦西说。斯瓦西女士曾两次投票支持特朗普总统，但她认为自己是独立人士。她说，在本周的动乱中扮演核心角色之前，她曾经喜欢众议员马特·盖茨以及他为国会注入的更新、更年轻的活力。
她最近决定不再观看未来的总统辩论。
工薪阶层和中产阶级美国人的工资最近有所上涨，但许多人表示，与不断上涨的生活成本相比，涨幅微不足道。从汽车行业到医疗保健行业再到好莱坞，成千上万的工会工人通过罢工来争取更好的合同。
“现在，我只想着回去工作——想办法养家糊口，有房子住，给车加油，”麦金利·邦迪克说，他是哥伦比亚广播公司节目《海豹突击队》的编剧助理，在美国作家协会罢工期间失业了五个月。
几名民主党选民表示，他们对美国政治现状的厌恶源于特朗普那种愤怒的不满和煽动 1 月 6 日骚乱者的选举谎言。与此同时，一些人表示，他们害怕特朗普和拜登再次竞争，宁愿快进到下一届总统选举周期，找一个——任何人都可以——新人。
“这就是你们能从两党给我们的最好结果吗？你在开玩笑吗？” 49 岁的芝加哥科技产品专家约瑟夫·阿尔巴尼斯 (Joseph Albanese) 表示，他在 2020 年投票支持拜登，但正在考虑完全不参加明年的选举。
对于生活在与国会大厦完全不同海岸的人们——尤其是年轻选民——华盛顿的失调可能看起来像是遥远世界中耸人听闻的内斗。
“这让人不知所措，发生了很多事情，”住在南洛杉矶瓦茨社区的 28 岁的迪奥娜·比蒙 (Dionna Beamon) 说。“所以真的，无知是福。”
发型师比蒙女士说，她和她的朋友更关心心理健康等问题。她的母亲不到两年前死于心脏病，她一直在努力解决悲伤。
“我觉得现在很多人都很沮丧，”她说。“这对我这个年龄段的人来说是一个很大的话题。新冠疫情爆发后，世界已经不一样了，疫情爆发时，我们才 20 多岁。 ”
霍华德大学大四学生 Vivian Santos-Smith 想成为一名政治学家，但对政治内斗感到沮丧。“现在看来，《纸牌屋》就是现实，”她说。图片来源：Jason Andrew 为《纽约时报》供图
21 岁的霍华德大学大四学生 Vivian Santos-Smith 表示，她最担心的是毕业后必须开始偿还的 10,000 美元学生贷款债务。拜登总统本周取消了 90 亿美元的学生贷款债务，但他取消约 4000 亿美元债务的更广泛努力却失败了
由最高法院裁决。
她想成为一名政治学家，她面临的第一个挑战就是试图理解这一时刻。
“现在看来，《纸牌屋》就是现实，”她说。“前景黯淡。”
Corina Knoll、Jacey Fortin、Robert Chiarito 和 Darren Sands 对本文亦有贡献。
Jack Healy 是驻凤凰城的全国通讯员，专注于西南部快速变化的政治和气候。他曾在伊拉克和阿富汗工作，毕业于密苏里大学新闻学院。
J. David Goodman 是休斯顿分社社长，负责报道德克萨斯州。自 2012 年以来，他一直为《纽约时报》撰写有关政府、刑事司法和金钱在政治中的作用的文章。
Jenna Russell 是《纽约时报》驻波士顿的新英格兰分社社长。
Alan Blinder 是《纽约时报》的全国通讯员，负责报道教育。自 2013 年加入《纽约时报》以来，他曾在 35 多个州以及亚洲和欧洲进行报道。
How Do Americans Feel About Politics? 'Disgust Isn't a Strong Enough Word'
Voters' broad discontent with disarray in Washington transcends political parties, race, age and geography.
Bianca Vara, a vendor at a market in Chamblee, Ga., is displeased with leaders in Washington, D.C.Credit...Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times 1963
By Jack Healy, J. David Goodman, Jenna Russell and Alan Blinder
Jack Healy reported from Gilbert, Ariz., J. David Goodman from Houston, Jenna Russell from Bangor, Maine, and Alan Blinder from Chamblee, Ga.
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Oct. 6, 2023
Whitney Smith’s phone buzzed with a text from her mother, alerting her to the latest can-you-believe-it mess in Washington: “Far right ousted the House speaker. Total chaos now.”
Ms. Smith, 35, a bookkeeper and registered independent in suburban Phoenix, wanted no part of it. She tries to stay engaged in civic life by voting, volunteering in local campaigns and going to city meetings. But over the past week, the pandemonium of a narrowly averted government shutdown and leadership coup in the Republican-controlled House confirmed many Americans’ most cynical feelings about the federal government.
“It was just like, Oh God, what now?” she said.
Griping about politics is a time-honored American pastime but lately the country’s political mood has plunged to some of the worst levels on record.
After weathering the tumult of the Trump presidency, a pandemic, the Capitol insurrection, inflation, multiple presidential impeachments and far-right Republicans’ pervasive lies about fraud in the 2020 election, voters say they feel tired and angry.
In dozens of recent interviews across the country, voters young and old expressed a broad pessimism about the next presidential election that transcends party lines, and a teetering faith in political institutions.
The White House and Congress have pumped out billions of dollars to fix and improve the nation’s roads, ports, pipelines and internet. They have approved hundreds of billions to combat climate change and lower the cost of prescription drugs. President Biden has canceled billions more in student debt. Yet those accomplishments have not fully registered with voters.
A small group of hard-right Republicans drove the country to the brink of a government shutdown, then plunged Congress into chaos when they instigated the vote that, with Democratic support, removed Mr. McCarthy. Democrats are betting that voters will blame Republicans for the trouble. Many voters interviewed this week said they viewed the whole episode as evidence of broad dysfunction in Washington, and blamed political leaders for being consumed by workplace drama at the expense of the people they are meant to serve.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy leaving the House floor after being ousted as Speaker of the House.Credit...Maansi Srivastava/The New York Times
“They seem so disconnected from us,” said Kevin Bass, 57, a bank executive who lives in New Home, a rural West Texas town. He serves on the local school board and has two children in public school, and another in college. He describes himself as conservative who voted for former President Donald J. Trump both times. “I don't really look at either party as benefiting our country,” he said.
Voters said that Washington infighting and the Republicans’ flirtation with debt default and government shutdowns recklessly put people’s paychecks, health care and benefits at risk at a moment when they are preoccupied with how to pay rising health care and grocery bills, or to cope with a fast-warming climate unleashing natural disasters in nearly every corner of the nation.
“Disgust isn’t a strong enough word,” said Bianca Vara, a Democrat and grandmother of five in the Atlanta area who runs a stall at a flea market that crackles with discussions of politics.
She said she wanted leaders in Washington to address gun violence, or maybe just meaningfully crack down on the robocalls she gets. Instead, she watched with dismay as the Republican-controlled House was convulsed with an internecine melee.
“It’s worse than in elementary school,” she said, “Like a playground, like dodge ball: ‘You’re out! You’re not the speaker anymore! Hit him in the head with a red ball!’”
Several people said they purposely tune out political news, focusing instead on details like the price of cream cheese ($6.99), or matters wholly unconnected to politics — the Chicago Bears are 1 and 4, and Taylor Swift is showing up at Kansas City Chiefs games.
When Ms. Smith’s mother texted the news of Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as House speaker to the family text message chain, nobody responded. Eventually, Ms. Smith replied with a photo of new shelves she had just put up at home.
“Who’s McCarthy? I don’t even know,” said Rosemary Watson, 38, a registered independent in Mesa, Ariz., a battleground state that has narrowly elected Democrats over Trump-style Republicans in the past two elections. “I’ve purposely made that choice for my own health and well-being.”
Ms. Watson, a member of the Cherokee Nation, voted for Mr. Trump in 2020 and said she did not feel politically moved by actions President Biden has taken to conserve land sacred to Native Americans or to provide billions of dollars in new tribal funding. She said she would support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the 2024 presidential race as a jolt to the two-party system.
Whitney Smith, a bookkeeper in Gilbert, Ariz., said she did not want any part of the political turmoil in Washington. Credit...Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times
Cynthia Taylor, 58, a Republican paralegal in the Houston area whose husband works for a rifle manufacturer, was aghast at the ouster of Mr. McCarthy and the latest near-shutdown, calling the brinkmanship a symptom of growing lawlessness in American society.
“We seem to be starting to go down the line of, if I don’t agree with you, I’m going to kick you out,” she said. “Everybody is out for themselves. Everybody is out for their 15 minutes of fame.”
A survey that the Pew Research Center conducted in July found a country united by a discontent with their political leaders that crosses race, age and partisan divides. Sixty-five percent of Americans polled said they felt exhausted when they thought about politics.
Only 16 percent of American adults said they trusted the federal government, close to the lowest levels in seven decades of polling. Nearly 30 percent of people said they disliked both the Democratic and Republican parties, a record high. Yet in recent years, Americans have turned out to vote in record numbers — mostly to re-elect incumbents.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaking at a news conference before Congress narrowly averted a shutdown.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York Times
“I never thought I’d live in times like this,” said Cindy Swasey, a 66-year-old widow in Dover, N.H. Ms. Swasey, who voted twice for President Trump but thinks of herself as an independent, said she used to like Representative Matt Gaetz and the infusion of newer, younger energy he had brought to Congress — before he played a central role in the turmoil this week.
She has recently decided to skip watching future presidential debates.
Working-class and middle-class Americans have seen their wages rise lately, but many say the gains pale in comparison with the rising cost of living. Thousands of union workers, from the automotive industry to health care to Hollywood, have voted with their feet by striking for better contracts.
“Right now, it’s just been about getting back to work — figuring out how to put food on my plate and keep a roof over my head and put gas in my car,” said McKinley Bundick, a writer’s assistant for the CBS program “SEAL Team” who was out of work for five months while the Writers Guild of America was on strike.
Several Democratic voters said their revulsion with the state of American politics was rooted in Mr. Trump’s brand of angry grievance and the election lies that stoked the Jan. 6 rioters. At the same time, several said they were dreading the prospect of another contest between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden, and would rather fast-forward through the next presidential cycle and find someone — anyone — new.
“This is the best you can give us from both parties? Are you kidding me?” said Joseph Albanese, a 49-year-old technology product specialist in Chicago who voted for Mr. Biden in 2020, but is considering skipping next year’s election altogether.
For people living on an entirely different coast from the Capitol — especially younger voters — Washington’s dysfunction can seem like sensational infighting in a distant world.
“It’s overwhelming, it’s a lot going on,” said Dionna Beamon, 28, who lives in the Watts neighborhood of South Los Angeles. “So really, ignorance is bliss.”
Ms. Beamon, a hair stylist, said she and her friends were more concerned about issues like mental health. Her mother died of a heart attack less than two years ago and she has grappled with how to address her grief.
“I feel like a lot of people are depressed now,” she said. “That’s a huge topic for my age group. The world hasn’t been the same after Covid, and when it started, we were in our early 20s. ”
Howard University senior Vivian Santos-Smith wants to be a political scientist, but is dismayed by political infighting. “It seems as if ‘House of Cards’ is reality now,” she said.Credit...Jason Andrew for The New York Times
Vivian Santos-Smith, 21, a senior at Howard University, said her biggest concern was the $10,000 of student debt she would have to start repaying after graduation. President Biden canceled $9 billion in student loan debt this week, but his wider efforts to cancel some $400 billion more were scuttled by the Supreme Court.
She wants to be a political scientist, and one of her first challenges is trying to make sense of this moment.
“It seems as if ‘House of Cards’ is reality now,” she said. “The outlook is just bleak.”
Corina Knoll, Jacey Fortin, Robert Chiarito and Darren Sands contributed reporting.
Jack Healy is a Phoenix-based national correspondent who focuses on the fast-changing politics and climate of the Southwest. He has worked in Iraq and Afghanistan and is a graduate of the University of Missouri’s journalism school. More about Jack Healy
J. David Goodman is the Houston bureau chief, covering Texas. He has written about government, criminal justice and the role of money in politics for The Times since 2012. More about J. David Goodman
Jenna Russell is The Times’s New England bureau chief, based in Boston. More about Jenna Russell
Alan Blinder is a national correspondent for The Times, covering education. He has reported from more than 35 states, as well as Asia and Europe, since joining The Times in 2013. More about Alan Blinder
See more on: President Joe Biden, Donald Trump, 2024 Elections, U.S. Politics
