Two Americas, Two Colorados--But One Majority

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by: Colorado Pols

President Joe Biden.

A new poll of Colorado voters from Keating Research on behalf of Onsight Public Affairs shows President Joe Biden enjoying comfortable majority approval in our state, in line with national polling showing Americans are happier with the Biden than they ever were with the previous administration:

Having reached the 100-days-in-office mark, President Joe Biden continues to be viewed favorably by a majority of Coloradans — who also give high marks to the president’s proposed $2 trillion American Jobs Plan — according to the latest Keating–OnSight–Melanson (KOM) Colorado Poll™ released today…

Biden’s +14 on favorability (56% favorable, 42% unfavorable) is even higher than in our October KOM Colorado Poll (+7: 53% favorable, 46% unfavorable). His favorable standing is driven by Democrats (89% favorable, 10% unfavorable) and unaffiliated voters (57% favorable, 41% unfavorable).

“Biden continues to find strong support with the voters that propelled him to a convincing, 13-point win against Trump in Colorado in November,” said Curtis Hubbard, principal at OnSight Public Affairs. “Whether it’s his disciplined, thoughtful response to the COVID-19 pandemic or his plans to create jobs and spur economic growth via making long-overdue investments in infrastructure, voters clearly feel like Biden is delivering.”

But on the other side of the starkest political divide of our lifetimes so far, a very different view prevails:

While 61% of voters said “Joe Biden legitimately won the election” the 28% who said it was “stolen from Donald Trump” was driven largely by Republicans (with 67% of all Republicans saying it was stolen).

“Most Coloradans believe that President Biden won fair and square,” said pollster Chris Keating. “However, as we see in this poll and recently when the Republican chair of Colorado’s Congressional Redistricting Commission was removed from that post, election conspiracies are not a fringe view among Republicans in Colorado — and frankly that’s dangerous for our democracy.”

In short, you have a united political bloc of Colorado Democrats who are delighted with Biden’s early bold action on long-sought policy goals, and the state’s plurality of unaffiliated voters who also strongly approve of Biden’s performance so far. In opposition to this reality-based majority coalition you have a large majority of Colorado Republicans who, not surprisingly, don’t support Biden’s agenda–but more importantly, by a 67% supermajority, do not even believe that the current President holds power legitimately.

There’s no analogue on the left to this phenomenon. It is not a dispute over, say, the Electoral College as an anti-democratic historical anachronism. This is a supermajority of Colorado Republicans who simply have decided without any factual basis that an election they didn’t like the result of was stolen. Especially in the likely event that Colorado Republicans continue to lose elections as the state continues its demographic march leftward, it’s is a disturbing portent. A democracy in which only one side respects the results is, needless to say, in serious trouble.

The one saving grace, at least for today, is that GOP supermajority view only adds up to 28% of everybody.

9 thoughts on “Two Americas, Two Colorados–But One Majority”

JohnInDenver says:

May 3, 2021 at 11:42 am

67% of Republicans doesn't work out to 28% of everybody. The KOM poll said it had Republicans as 27% of their sample; if my math is correct, it would be 18% of everybody.

New registration info out from Secretary of State today. The 6-month change is from November 1, during the General Election shows them losing 23,416 active voters and going from 27.29% to 26.37%.

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1. Colorado Pols says:
  
  May 3, 2021 at 11:49 am
  
  We're strictly basing that on the 28% total in the poll who say the election was stolen vs. 67% of Republicans who said the same. There are some number of independents who also think the election was stolen making up the difference–just not a majority. We're editing slightly to clarify and thanks.
  
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bullshit! says:

May 3, 2021 at 11:59 am

I personally believe the percentage of Republicans who TRULY believe the election was stolen is much lower than 67%. There are a lot of Republicans who know better who just don't give a fuck about democracy anymore and only respect the results if they win. So they say the election was stolen. If democracy is just a game, nothing matters.

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1. Moderatus says:
  
  May 3, 2021 at 3:10 pm
  
  I accept Joe Biden is President now. I'm pretty sure Nixon beat Kennedy in 1960 but Kennedy became President. Joe told his son not to buy any more votes than necessary!
  
  Democrats never accepted George W. Bush because of Florida, but he was President for eight years. You never accepted Trump either, so don't preach about accepting the results. Liberal sour grapes aren't sacred.
  
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  1. spaceman2021 says:
    
    May 3, 2021 at 3:19 pm
    
    Okay, Qaren. Most Dems accepted that Bush won, albeit very narrowly, in 2000. And Gore conceded, unlike your messiah, who got his ass royally kicked in 2020. Kennedy beat Nixon narrowly in 1960, your beliefs notwithstanding. Now go find Scott Gessler and wring your hands and clutch your pearls
    
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  2. unnamed says:
    
    May 3, 2021 at 3:37 pm
    
    Hey nutlid. Can you stop your whataboutism for a few minutes to enlighten us as to when Democrats tried to storm government buildings to kill elected officials and overturn an election while being egged on by either Al Gore, John Kerry or Hilary Clinton?
    
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    1. bullshit! says:
      
      May 4, 2021 at 9:51 am
      
      Beat me to it. There is no comparison to what Repugs did in 2020. Democracy may never recover from it. Moderanus can't admit the truth of what his party has become just in the last year let alone all the years he's been gracing us with his hit and run stupidity.
      
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  3. kwtree says:
    
    May 3, 2021 at 3:45 pm
    
    It wasn’t the narrowness of their victories, but their dumbassitude and warmongering (Bush) and hate-mongering, divisiveness, and disrespect for democracy (Trump) that made Democrats never accept them. We did acknowledge reality, though, and as unnamed noted above, we didn’t riot and attack the Capitol in order to try to overturn the results. Your folks did.
    
    As a planet, and human species on that planet, we all would have been better off if Florida hadn’t “found” those extra 537 votes for Bush, or if SCOTUS hadn’t stopped the recounting. But that’s blood under the bridge.
    
    Karma’s a bitch, though….Much of Florida will be inundated by the climate change Al Gore accurately predicted 20 years ago.
    
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    1. Conserv. Head Banger says:
      
      May 3, 2021 at 6:30 pm
      
      "we all would have been better off if Florida hadn't "found" those extra 537 votes for Bush, or if SCOTUS hadn't stopped the recounting……"
      
      We can count on you to leave out the primary reason for Gore losing Florida: the Green Party candidacy of Ralph Nader's Ego.
      
      But as you say, that's fluid under the bridge.
      
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