I'm not sure if this is surprising or not:
The most vaccine skeptical folks are independents, not Republicans. And skepticism is highest among the middle-aged. Worth a ponder.
30 thoughts on “Independents really don’t trust vaccines”
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In that same dataset what fraction of respondents identify as Independent (or neither GOP nor DNC) and does that align with other sources for distribution of political affiliation?
The main reference for affiliation is presumably Gallup:
https://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx
"Independents" are the largest group at over 40% and have been growing. Most Independents actually lean one way or the other, but a large number of people are anti-vax in any case.
It might be more useful if pollsters asked people where they stand on the left-right scale, with maybe a number between 1 and 5 or something, rather than what political party are you registered under.
Good question. I always wonder how many so-called “independents” are actually MAGA but wary of admitting it in public.
A factoid that may explain why Trump was so eager to have Kennedy campaign with him. He might possibly have got out enough independents to win the key states.
It was always my perception that Independents were actually smart liberals or conservatives fed up with their parties politics. I think I'm wrong
I think people who call themselves independents are mostly people with a higher than average level of alienation from the established order. So they are skeptical of vaccines, Wall Street, big corporations, Ivy League universities, etc.
I mean, that's what makes them "independent", amirite?
I have a better definition for these good for nothings. They operate independent of a brain.
—s
Maybe these people are so flummoxed with all of life that it is just to hard to pick a side as to whether vaccines are good or not. Easier to just check out.
Is there any descriptor more useless in American politics than "Independent"?
+1
Agreed. "Independent" is a nice descriptor for people who want to tell themselves that they're too wise and free-thinking to attach themselves to a political party. In reality, they don't know fuck about much of anything. On the question of vaccines, these are the folks who "do their own research," which means they Google "are vaccines safe?," then click on the first YouTube hit (always a vaccine denier), and then click on all the other hits they get from the YouTube algorithm. Research!
+5.
no
+ another 1
I prefer the New Mexico designation of DTS: "Decline to State."
Like undecided voter. Heres a clip of Loius Black describing undecided voters. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DkY12SbF3J_4&ved=2ahUKEwjw5sDtobeKAxUQv4kEHQiJPSAQo7QBegQIDRAG&usg=AOvVaw0DxjU6eCHQkxGnW0bgL19-
Polls on topics like this are terrible. Do they measure actual opinion? Or do they create the illusion of a strongly held opinion by asking someone a question about a topic they've never thought about and generate a thoughtless response?
Oh well. I hope these fine folks stop taking all medications and stop going to doctors. Can't trust any of them!
Independents aren't moderates. They are people who don't trust political parties. The same people don't trust a lot of things.
agreed. they are liberal or conservative and just don't like the party aligned with their ideology
Independents are really just embarrassed or disgruntled partisans.
The real difference between the two parties is that one is driven by bigotry and resentment, while the other is tolerant.
All the issues- economy, foreign policy, crime, etc pale in comparison to thei one big difference.
This is why people as wildly different as Bill Kristol and Rashida Tlaib are one the same side, and Matt Taibbi and Elon Musk on the other.
In order for someone to be "independent" one needs to be accepting of bigotry and hate.
Which means they are essentially Republicans, even if they are embarrassed by it.
Kevin says: “Independents really don’t trust vaccines.”
But only 27% of independents said vaccines are “not very” and “not at all safe.” So 73% gave more positive answers to the question.
Granted, this 27% is 9 points higher than Republicans and 19 points higher than Democrats but is still a small minority.
As always my age bracket are the leading idiots.
People who thought Happy Days was a masterpiece, something aspirational.
I refused to watch "Happy Days" fluffing the 1950s. The idea that it was a "happy time", with the red scares, duck'n'cover drills, fallout shelters, blatant discrimination against non-whites, raging sexism, and kids the alleged age of the main characters being condemned as "juvenile delinquents" and worse... well, if one lived in the 1950s and wasn't a privileged white male, maybe it did look okay.
But "happy days"? Give me a break!
I always despised the 50s nostalgia gimmick in the 1970s, and I've never seen Grease.
That nugget about vaccine skepticism being highest among middle-aged people is particularly interesting to me. Perhaps a demographic old enough to have developed a mindset of conspiratorial mistrust, yet young enough to have never known anyone who got crippled by polio?
"a demographic old enough to have developed a mindset of conspiratorial mistrust"
Which means, old enough to remember Vietnam and Watergate. Trust in government collapsed in that era.
These days "Independent" generally means "I'm a preening narcissist who has sources of information superior to those that those sordid partisans believe."
I'm registered as no party but end up voting for Democrats as the lessor evil, however I am very much pro vaccination. Vaccinations along with antibiotics and clean public water supplies are the greatest life savers ever invented. Its beyond comprehension that anybody would want to bring back polio, mass flu deaths, or mass COVID deaths.