Are You Afraid To Talk To Pollsters?

If you're not, then you're in the minority of Americans. Even worse, there's a good chance that means you're a "staunch liberal".

Poll: 62% of Americans Say They Have Political Views They’re Afraid to Share

And the numbers of those who fear to express their views is going up since 2017. We've all heard of how many people won't talk to pollsters at all, as well as of people who won't express their true views, preferring to say something closer to what they believe they're expected to say. This poll, commissioned by the Cato Institute, puts some numbers to those seat of the pants suspicions, and those numbers are revealing for what they tell us about polls results:

Strong liberals are “the only political group who feels they can express themselves” without fear of repercussions, a new Cato Institute survey finds. Is there any result that could be less surprising than that low information people who are out of touch with the real world--strong liberals--feel free to shoot their mouths off and feel unashamed to put their ignorance on full display? The MSM constantly affirms them in their ignorance and bolsters their belief that they're the best and brightests and most numerous in society.

Highlights:

In a national survey of 2,000 Americans at least 18 years old, conducted July 1-6, 2020, Cato asked respondents to agree or disagree with the following statement:

“The political climate these days prevents me from saying things I believe because others might find them offensive.”

Sixty-two percent (62%) of Americans agreed, up from 58% in 2017, leading Cato to conclude that “self‐​censorship is on the rise in the United States.”

Republicans were the most likely to be afraid to share their views (77%), followed by 59% of Independents. Slightly more than half (52%) of Democrats said they were afraid to voice their opinions.

By ideology, staunch liberals were the only cohort where a majority said they felt free to voice their opinions, as even centrist liberals felt unsafe – signaling a divide between the far-left and moderate liberals, Cato reports:

“Strong liberals stand out, however, as the only political group who feel they can express themselves. Nearly 6 in 10 (58%) of staunch liberals feel they can say what they believe. However, centrist liberals feel differently. A slim majority (52%) of liberals feel they have to self‐​censor, as do 64% of moderates, and 77% of conservatives. This demonstrates that political expression is an issue that divides the Democratic coalition between centrist Democrats and their left flank.