REPUBLICANS VS. AMERICANS

I say this all the time: Despite the mainstream media narrative that the typical American is a MAGA-hat-wearing white blue-collar retiree in a rural Pennsylvania diner, poll after poll shows that Republicans are the ones who are out of step with the rest of America.

We see this again in a new CBS poll:

Sixty-six percent of Americans overall say President Trump should not declare a national emergency if Congress does not fund a border wall, although most Republicans (73 percent) think he should.

If government funding runs out on Feb. 15 and there's still an impasse over wall funding, Americans don't want either side to force another shutdown.

Seventy-three percent of Americans want Mr. Trump to continue negotiating while keeping the government open, rather than demand wall funding if that forces a shutdown....

But ... Republicans are split on what Mr. Trump should do on Feb. 15 if there is no deal. Fifty percent of Republicans say he should demand funding for a wall, even if it means another shutdown....

Fifty-eight percent of Americans don't think there should be another summit [with North Korea] right now, while 42 percent think there should be. Partisan splits drive this as well: most Democrats (77 percent) and independents (57 percent) don't want a second meeting, while seven in 10 Republicans do....

Most Americans say the Russia investigation is either a critical matter of national security (43 percent) or at least a serious one (22 percent). A third, including 73 percent of Republicans, call it a political witch hunt and a distraction.

Fifty-four percent of Americans think special counsel Robert Mueller is conducting the investigation fairly, while 46 percent believe he's conducting it unfairly, including most Republicans who say so....

Among Americans overall, fewer than half think Mr. Trump brought back manufacturing jobs, specifically (45 percent) made the borders more secure (38 percent) or reduced the influence of lobbyists and big donors (29 percent)....

Republicans ... feel he has brought back jobs (89 percent) and made the borders more secure (78 percent), [and] reduced the influence of lobbyists (60 percent)....

On most issues, Democrats and independents are roughly in agreement. Republicans are the outliers. They're not the norm. It's time for our political culture to start acknowledging this.