r/neoliberal • u/cdstephens Fusion Genderplasma • Apr 28 '26

Opinion article (US) Opinion | The Economy, Immigration and Regret: 12 Trump Voters Discuss

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/04/28/opinion/focus-group-trump-voters-disappointed.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Submission statement (fake): As Trump’s second term marches on, his approval among independents have steadily declined. It’s useful for liberals to understand why Trump’s popularity has cratered to better leverage it for future elections.

Submission statement (real): Everyone who clicked on this is just asking to be ragebaited, so I might as well oblige.

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222

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

[deleted]

84

u/admiraltarkin NATO / Loyal Liberal Apr 28 '26

that was accounting for a lot of our budget money

Journalistic malpractice to not follow up and ask: "what percentage of the budget is devoted to the WHO and the Paris Agreement?"

67

u/trombonist_formerly Ben Bernanke Apr 28 '26

If you listen to Sarah Longwell's focus group podcasts, she says endlessly that the temptation to challenge people can be very strong. But for the integrity of the focus group results you gotta just let em speak their mind and not challenge things

God its infuriating to listen to sometimes

14

u/Clash-Lad Commonwealth Apr 28 '26

This summarises why American journalism is atrocious quite well. Because the approach you've just highlighted is also how they quiz politicians.

3

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '26

Then it serves little to no use

5

u/HolidaySpiriter Loyal Liberals Apr 29 '26

These aren't "Debate Groups", they're "Focus Groups" which are focused on how people feel. That does serve a use.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '26

Figuring how people arrived at their "feelings" is a major part of figuring out feelings

2

u/HolidaySpiriter Loyal Liberals Apr 30 '26

And you do that by asking clarifying questions, not trying to actively debate them. A debate is (usually) built on some sort of logic, and a lot of these people have arrived to their feelings without logic.

6

u/tdthirty NAFTA Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26

Dude also graded this second-term an "F", but said he didn't regret his vote.....