Americans remain deeply divided over politics, but researchers say the distance between them is often smaller than they imagine. Beneath Republican and Democratic identities, surveys reveal a large middle whose opinions overlap across party lines. Avoiding political conversations can make that common ground harder to recognize.
Friends Shanna Berry and Alma Ong encountered that gap between expectations and reality during a conversation in January about the U.S. capture of Venezuela's then-president Nicolas Maduro. The two initially declined to discuss the subject at a cafe because they wanted to protect their friendship. Berry, a Christian, retired hairdresser and Air Force veteran, has supported President Trump. Ong, a more liberal Buddhist who grew up in London and moved to the United States in the 1990s, dislikes him.
When Berry eventually answered, she said ending the regime had been necessary but questioned the legality of the operation and the apparent interest in Venezuela's oil. She also acknowledged that many Venezuelans were pleased. Ong, who like Berry is in her early 50s, was surprised to find herself in complete agreement with her friend.
Kristin Laurin, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia, said the exchange illustrated a familiar research finding: People fear that political discussions will lead to conflict, and their reluctance to talk can reinforce mistaken assumptions about one another. Politicians and political elites contribute by portraying opponents as extreme to alarm and energize supporters, she said, while social media amplifies provocative political content to attract engagement.
Shared values also surfaced after former FBI director James Comey was indicted in April over a photograph of seashells that the Department of Justice characterized as a death threat against the president. Democrats and many conservatives objected. At a riverside restaurant near Maryland's Chesapeake Bay shortly afterward, Republicans and Democrats defended Comey and the First Amendment. Restaurateur Stan Fletcher, who voted for Trump three times, said people should never face indictment for expressing an opinion.
Fletcher argued that political extremes receive disproportionate attention while most Americans are moderate. Research from the nonpartisan Pew Research Center describes a more varied political landscape than party labels alone suggest. Its classification divides Americans into nine groups according to their values and attitudes, revealing both differences within parties and similarities between them.
One category, which Pew calls the Pragmatic and Polite Right, includes 56% who are Republican or lean Republican and 37% who are Democratic or lean Democratic. With the oldest average age among the groups, its members prioritize political civility, favor conservative economic positions and take more moderate approaches to race and immigration.
Pew estimates that the broad political middle accounts for about 60% of the electorate. Its two furthest-right groups, the No Apologies Right and Faith First Conservatives, together represent 21% of the population. Jocelyn Kiley, who leads Pew's politics research, said the middle is larger than the groups on the ideological left and right. Political polarization is real, she said, but substantial nuance exists beneath it.
