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Trump needs to make an effort to reach across the aisle and build legislative consensus.
Donald Trump and the GOP won decisively on election night. With their victory, the incoming administration claims to have “an unprecedented and powerful mandate.” This matches rhetoric used in a December interview with Time magazine when Trump claimed, “[T]he beauty is that we won by so much. The mandate was massive.”
But the surprise results of the November 5th election shouldn’t be misconstrued: independent voters that helped push Trump over the edge aren’t on board with the partisan MAGA agenda if it comes at the expense of bipartisan victories.
The Independent Center’s recent polling shows that for independents, success means working constructively with the opposing party to address the big challenges facing our country.
Key Takeaways
- 64 percent of independents want Donald Trump to succeed and to “work across the aisle and pass bipartisan measures for our country
- Only 37 percent wanted Trump to succeed at fully enacting MAGA/Republican policies
- Meanwhile, 58 percent wanted Trump to succeed at working across the aisle to pass bipartisan policies as President
A Desire for Leadership
- When asked what the most important focus area is for elected officials in Washington, the most popular response was leadership.
- In terms of what a successful first year in office would look like, 47 percent want Trump and Republicans to work to significantly reduce political divisions in our country
Looking Ahead
Independent voters supported Trump because he was deemed better on key issues like affordability and inflation. But, in the eyes of these voters, Trump also seemed to be the best choice to provide leadership for America after four years of what they saw as ineffectiveness from President Joe Biden.
The most important takeaway from independent voters is this: Trump needs to make an effort to reach across the aisle and build legislative consensus. First, the margins are too small for partisan electoral victories. Second, leaders build consensus; they don’t single-handedly ram stuff through. Independent voters value effective leadership.
Independents aren’t interested in “owning the libs” or purchasing Greenland, they just want effective government and constructive conversations amongst the two parties.
Expectations are high for the new administration. But these expectations aren’t necessarily tied to the MAGA agenda.
