On the Democratic students' reluctance to date Republicans, versus the Republican students' relative willingness to date Democrats: You may think this illustrates tolerance in Republicans (and intolerance in Democrats). But it might just illustrate Republicans' limited dating pool. It might be more important to them to have sex than to have principles. Exactly what I would expect, and I don't mean that in a critical way.
You’re probably overthinking it. I’m reminded of a famous quote: “conservatives think liberals are stupid; liberals think conservatives are evil.” I’ve met more than enough progressives in my time (I worked in an environmental nonprofit) where that template completely matched reality. When you think Trump is evil incarnate, it’s really hard to convince yourself that the people who support him are worthy of respect.
Just read a fairly recent poll (April 2025; https://today.yougov.com/society/articles/51962-americans-unwilling-to-date-opposing-views-transgender-rights) where Democrats by a margin of 2:1 or greater would refuse to date people who disagreed with their opinion on Donald Trump, January 6th, or vaccines. But there were some issues where Republicans were more exclusionary, although to a much lesser degree: religion, gender roles, and transgender rights.
Surprisingly, people 65 and older were pickier and more exclusionary than younger Americans. I guess this makes sense if you think of older folks as more stubborn and set in their ways. But this is an online poll, so maybe you’re only getting input from the most tech-savvy retirees, who probably skew really left.
I think it also has to do with who's in the White House/Congress - when your party's in power, you're in an expansive, "everything's going my way" kind of mood, while Dems are still smarting mightily from the last election and boiling with hate for the opposition. When a Democrat is president, I'm pretty sure conservatives are pissed off most of the time, and would the dating dynamic reverse? Hard to say....
When can we stop pretending that the WSJ is conservative. You don't and I don't but lots of people still do. News pages went left long ago and now the editorial pages are following. I only occasionally read their articles now mainly because of the paywall but when I do, I tend to be annoyed. Legacy conservatives while not as dangerous as leftists are more annoying.
Richard, what do you read for news nowadays? I am one of those "lots of people still do" but am always open to change. I read Real Clear Politics but have not found anything consistently dependable there, either. Any suggestions appreciated. Txs.
It is almost like a full time job sifting through all the BS. The deadliest form of bias is the decision about what issues to cover. If you read something and know the ideological bent of the outlet, you can correct for bias. But you can't compensate for silence. Right and Left media not only cover issues differently, they cover different issues. So if you stay in the same space all the time you never find out there is an issue. I save time by ignoring anything about sportsball or celebrities. I scan headlines to see what the current thing is and then investigate further if I care. Increasingly, I gravitate to long form media.
Oren and Heritage, two peas in a pod. The "new" right. Using economic policy as a fig leaf, their real mission has been exposed as a cultural one. No wonder women have fled the R party. It's also no wonder that education level has become the dividing line between the parties, as educated voters flee the crazy culture warrior ethos of the "new" right, perfectly embodied by Heritage. When not defending Nick Fuentes, Heritage finds itself opposing gay marriage and abortion, fighting against oral contraceptives, espousing "administrative state" conspiracy theories, promoting marriage "boot camps", and a host of other loony ideas. Its own staff is fleeing along with many former external partners. I guess limited government is no longer tolerable in so called "conservative" circles:) Especially if it involves the heavy hand of the federal government in the regulation of the bedroom. Perhaps too many guys who can't get dates... Then there is the state taking ownership stakes in major firms, and the dear leader threatening and shaking down the corporate community in myriad ways. Welcome to the "new" right!
Alas, the actual founder and intellectual lodestar of the "new" right, Don, continues to define the movement with his actions. Oren may pretend Don is on a mission to revive the workin class, but last I checked, his leader seemed fixated on other things. Pocketing crypto corruption loot, naming buildings after himself, shredding global alliances with democratic states, sending masked, poorly trained agents to terrorize our neighbors instead of criminals-but only in blue jurisdictions, blowing up boats and invading countries in contravention of domestic and international law, pursuing retribution against political enemies, etc. And tellingly, the revealed economic policy preference of the "new" right is the BBB, a budget-busting hosing of workin stiffs and handout to Don's fellow plutocrats.
Does Oren understand the "other than that Mrs Lincoln" nature of what he writes on these pages? He prattles on about the mistakes of elites in 1985. Meanwhile, he sides with the ruling elites of today, who are basically a throwback to 1885. I wonder if Oren supports the "new" right policy on vaccines and scientific research...
On the Democratic students' reluctance to date Republicans, versus the Republican students' relative willingness to date Democrats: You may think this illustrates tolerance in Republicans (and intolerance in Democrats). But it might just illustrate Republicans' limited dating pool. It might be more important to them to have sex than to have principles. Exactly what I would expect, and I don't mean that in a critical way.
You’re probably overthinking it. I’m reminded of a famous quote: “conservatives think liberals are stupid; liberals think conservatives are evil.” I’ve met more than enough progressives in my time (I worked in an environmental nonprofit) where that template completely matched reality. When you think Trump is evil incarnate, it’s really hard to convince yourself that the people who support him are worthy of respect.
Just read a fairly recent poll (April 2025; https://today.yougov.com/society/articles/51962-americans-unwilling-to-date-opposing-views-transgender-rights) where Democrats by a margin of 2:1 or greater would refuse to date people who disagreed with their opinion on Donald Trump, January 6th, or vaccines. But there were some issues where Republicans were more exclusionary, although to a much lesser degree: religion, gender roles, and transgender rights.
Surprisingly, people 65 and older were pickier and more exclusionary than younger Americans. I guess this makes sense if you think of older folks as more stubborn and set in their ways. But this is an online poll, so maybe you’re only getting input from the most tech-savvy retirees, who probably skew really left.
Probably mostly related to gender differences in political afiliation
I think it also has to do with who's in the White House/Congress - when your party's in power, you're in an expansive, "everything's going my way" kind of mood, while Dems are still smarting mightily from the last election and boiling with hate for the opposition. When a Democrat is president, I'm pretty sure conservatives are pissed off most of the time, and would the dating dynamic reverse? Hard to say....
When can we stop pretending that the WSJ is conservative. You don't and I don't but lots of people still do. News pages went left long ago and now the editorial pages are following. I only occasionally read their articles now mainly because of the paywall but when I do, I tend to be annoyed. Legacy conservatives while not as dangerous as leftists are more annoying.
Richard, what do you read for news nowadays? I am one of those "lots of people still do" but am always open to change. I read Real Clear Politics but have not found anything consistently dependable there, either. Any suggestions appreciated. Txs.
It is almost like a full time job sifting through all the BS. The deadliest form of bias is the decision about what issues to cover. If you read something and know the ideological bent of the outlet, you can correct for bias. But you can't compensate for silence. Right and Left media not only cover issues differently, they cover different issues. So if you stay in the same space all the time you never find out there is an issue. I save time by ignoring anything about sportsball or celebrities. I scan headlines to see what the current thing is and then investigate further if I care. Increasingly, I gravitate to long form media.
Oren and Heritage, two peas in a pod. The "new" right. Using economic policy as a fig leaf, their real mission has been exposed as a cultural one. No wonder women have fled the R party. It's also no wonder that education level has become the dividing line between the parties, as educated voters flee the crazy culture warrior ethos of the "new" right, perfectly embodied by Heritage. When not defending Nick Fuentes, Heritage finds itself opposing gay marriage and abortion, fighting against oral contraceptives, espousing "administrative state" conspiracy theories, promoting marriage "boot camps", and a host of other loony ideas. Its own staff is fleeing along with many former external partners. I guess limited government is no longer tolerable in so called "conservative" circles:) Especially if it involves the heavy hand of the federal government in the regulation of the bedroom. Perhaps too many guys who can't get dates... Then there is the state taking ownership stakes in major firms, and the dear leader threatening and shaking down the corporate community in myriad ways. Welcome to the "new" right!
Alas, the actual founder and intellectual lodestar of the "new" right, Don, continues to define the movement with his actions. Oren may pretend Don is on a mission to revive the workin class, but last I checked, his leader seemed fixated on other things. Pocketing crypto corruption loot, naming buildings after himself, shredding global alliances with democratic states, sending masked, poorly trained agents to terrorize our neighbors instead of criminals-but only in blue jurisdictions, blowing up boats and invading countries in contravention of domestic and international law, pursuing retribution against political enemies, etc. And tellingly, the revealed economic policy preference of the "new" right is the BBB, a budget-busting hosing of workin stiffs and handout to Don's fellow plutocrats.
Does Oren understand the "other than that Mrs Lincoln" nature of what he writes on these pages? He prattles on about the mistakes of elites in 1985. Meanwhile, he sides with the ruling elites of today, who are basically a throwback to 1885. I wonder if Oren supports the "new" right policy on vaccines and scientific research...
Good luck America.