So Republicans all over the country are either being racist about the “Chinese virus,” or still pretending it doesn’t matter.
We began one of our Civiqs daily trackers on the coronavirus a week ago. Now, we've ramped up data collection to offer a 50-state daily coronavirus tracker.
Results are changing fast, so daily tracking gives us a good picture of both how well people are heeding the dangers, and how well the government response is being received. Let’s look at some current trends.
Proving just how destructive (and SELF-destructive) Fox News and the conservative bias against science is, Republicans just aren’t taking this seriously.
The lone outlier is Washington state, where the early outbreak is about a week ahead of the rest of the nation in awareness. Texas and Georgia standout as particularly unconcerned. The Fox News must be extra strong in those places.
Want to see something utterly insane? Here’s Republicans over the age of 65:
This map should be completely orange. The coastal media seems to have gotten through in New York and Pennsylvania. It looks like family members are bombarding Arizona seniors (including Republican ones) with correct info. Florida should flip orange soon. But again, Texas and Georgia … given that both states are trending blue rapidly, and the only thing keeping them red is their senior population, you’d think Republicans would be extra motivated to keep those older Republicans alive. As I wrote a few days ago, Georgia seniors voted 67-31 Republican in the 2016 presidential election. Texas seniors were almost as bad, voting 64-35 for Donald Trump. And yet, those are literally the most resistant to taking this disease seriously!
Not sure why Republicans are so gung ho on, well, exiting their supporters from the electorate.
Given the federal governments (non) response to the crisis, from Trump claiming that this was a hoax, to shrugging his shoulders because it’s not his fault, no one could’ve predicted this, you’d thing the entire country would have pitchforks at the ready. But of course, in this partisanized nation, people stick to their tribe. Here are Republican views on the governmental response to the outbreak:
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In pretty much every single state, Republican disapproval of Trump’s response is at around 10% or less. And we don’t even use Trump’s name! If we did, I suspect it would be even lower. Obviously, Democrats are the complete inverse. We can see with our own eyes what’s going on, thank you very much. So it’s Independents who break the tie. Here’s what they look like:
No, your monitor isn’t suddenly washed out (something I seriously thought had happened). It’s just that the numbers are pretty close to that “0” in the middle of the chart, in most states. Independents are still trying to figure it out. Even so, they’re unsatisfied in almost the entire country, and—this should be worrying to the GOP—in every single battleground state.
And speaking of battlegrounds, let’s look at the big picture, everyone included:
Remember, there are seven states that will decide the 2020 presidential election. (It doesn’t mean that other states might not be in play, but if, say, Minnesota or New Hampshire goes red, we’ve already lost. And if Iowa or Ohio goes blue, Trump has already lost.)
Arizona: 46-51, Satisfied/Not satisfied
Florida: 44-53
Georgia: 46-50
Michigan: 43-53
North Carolina: 46-50
Pennsylvania: 43-55
Wisconsin: 44-52
These are terrible numbers for Trump, and we’re nowhere near the peak of the pandemic. As the number of infected and death toll increase, and the impact on the economy is felt by more, chances are popular discontent will rise. Consider these the starting point, and it’s not a good place for Trump to be.
And speaking of the stretch states:
Iowa: 50-47
Ohio: 47-49
Texas: 48-48
How about the Senate picture? We need a net gain of three. Assuming we lost Alabama’s (54-42 approval of the government response), we need another four gains. Colorado (40-56) has already been effectively ceded to us by the GOP. So we need another three. Best bets? Arizona (46-51), two in Georgia (46-50), Maine (47-51), and North Carolina (46-50). All of them underwater for the GOP.
Our stretch states, those that look pretty good for the GOP, but could be in play under the right conditions, are Iowa (50-47), Kentucky (60-37), South Carolina (49-47), and Texas (48-48). Yeah, Kentucky is … not looking good. There’s a reason all four of those are stretch states, though South Carolina is looking more promising than I expected. Imagine taking out Sen. Lindsey Graham?
Feel free to click through yourself and track how various groups are moving in various states. In addition to the maps view, you can drill down into the states. So, for example, here are Washington Republicans over the age of 65:
Their crossover point was just two days ago, and already, it’s a 15-point gap between concerned and not concerned. Things are moving fast, so expect this story to be obsolete in a matter of days, if not hours. Like everything else having to do with the coronavirus, things are moving at lightning speed.