When President Trump at his North Carolina rally Wednesday night said that the GOP is “the party of the American dream,” he highlighted how the national ethos has turned partisan.
And now there is proof of that division.
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While 70% believe the American dream, described by some as financial success, individual freedom, personal fulfillment and expectations of a solid future, is achievable, political partisanship has entered.
The latest Gallup survey, for example, found that 88% of Republicans feel the dream is achievable versus just 60% of Democrats.
And 38% of Democrats believe that the Dream is unattainable, versus just 11% of Republicans.
Gallup compared those numbers to 2009, when former President Barack Obama was just beginning his first term, and found that Republicans have greater expectations under Trump, while the percentage of Democrats expecting to achieve the American dream has dropped.
Gallup noted that the partisan divide comes as more Democrats also say that they are less proud to be Americans.
Its bottom line pulled from the new analysis:
While Democrats are increasingly less likely than Republicans to say the American Dream is achievable, this could simply be a reaction to the current administration. It remains to be seen whether views on the American dream have become as subject to partisan swings as other metrics Gallup tracks, such as assessments of the economy. In 2009, Republicans were not less likely than Democrats to view the American dream as unattainable, even under the Democratic Obama administration.
