Fox News polls
There are two Fox News brains. There is the low-information, truth-is-socialist, facts-be-damned philosophy of the prime-time propagandists. And there are the vestigial traces of a news organization. The prime-time prevaricators get the ratings and attention. While the sober-minded news side — unsurprisingly, considering how many of the few reputable journalists have left — gets little attention. It is safe to say that few people think of Fox as an unbiased news source.
However, they still run honest polls. Mainly, because since 2011, they are conducted under the joint direction of Beacon Research, a company used by Democrats, and Shaw & Company Research, a Republican organization. With that in mind, let’s look at some recent Fox polls on social issues.
Guns
Forget the rhetoric. There is one thing Americans agree on. The best approach to reducing gun violence involves the government doing a better job of keeping guns away from people who should not have guns.
Background checks, favored by 87% of respondents, are the number one measure to reduce gun violence. Every rational person knows you cannot keep guns away from the wrong people if you do not at least check who is buying guns.
The respondents also have no problem enforcing existing laws (81%), keeping all guns away from those under-21 (81%), requiring mental health checks (80%), red flag laws (80%), and a 30-day waiting period (77%)
While all Americans largely agree the government should be more involved in who owns a gun, they disagree — in line with their political affiliation — which guns qualified gun owners should be allowed to own, specifically assault weapons. Most Democrats (84%) favor a ban on war weapons, while only 36% of Republicans do.
A division reflected, to a lesser degree, in the range of enthusiasm for more Americans carrying guns. Republicans (61%) support the idea, while only 27% of Democrats do.
The people have spoken. And, when the subject is guns, they are tired of living with a video game morality. Although sadly, the belief that stricter gun control will make a difference has declined.
Abortion
Americans favor choice. The number that does so has increased since the Supreme Court squashed a woman’s right to bodily autonomy in their June 2022 Dobbs decision, overturning Roe.
The next battleground in woman’s rights became medical abortion. Soon after the Supreme Court announced in April that it would continue to allow full access to mifepristone, while the lower courts continued to look at its legality, a Fox poll showed that 65% of Americans thought medical abortions should be legal.
Americans also prefer a 15-week limit on elective abortions over a 6-week ban.
The Supreme Court's popularity has diminished since it voted for theology over freedom. (Note: since Dobbs, the number of people who did not have an opinion on the Court fell from 13% to 4% — and most of those now disapprove of SCOTUS.)
LGBTQ/book bans/schools
Ron DeSantis has so far bet his presidential future on being the uber-anti-woke warrior. If that is where he will hang his political hat, he will not find his philosophy the general election vote-getter he must imagine it is.
Americans do not like book burnings and censorship. The topic even splits Republicans - with 48% against book bans.
Ron will find firmer ground on other school issues. Half of Americans say schools focus too much on race, do not allow parents to have enough input, and are wrong on transgender policies.
However, school issues, as a whole, are not the highest priority on many people’s lists. As always, the economy and personal financial security are the primary worries for most people. With crime close behind.
One thing that does come across in the Fox polls is that — and liberals will not want to hear this, but other polls, which do not have ‘Fox’ in their title, say the same — Biden is not doing well in public opinion.
He has been a consequential President, with one of the most productive first terms in American presidential history. However, he is not getting the credit he deserves. Take infrastructure, for example. The last guy had ‘infrastructure weeks,’ but no accomplishments. Joe has the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act under his belt.
I am not a marketing maven, so I cannot offer a magic bullet to cure what ails his poll numbers. However, the clock is ticking. And America needs him to win. So his team had better figure it out.
Americans, despite the bloviators for hire on Fox, support Democratic policies. Biden and his teammates in Congress need to make sure the voter realizes that the Democrats are responsible for the policies they like.