Plenty of polls and surveys have demonstrated that Republicans and Democrats view the coronavirus threat quite differently.
As an example, Pew found in June that 61% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents believed that the worst of the coronavirus is behind us, while only 23% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning voters believed the same. Some 76% of the latter group thought the worst of the virus is still to come. The research shows disparities between the groups on other questions, like how comfortable those surveyed feel about getting a haircut or eating out.
The trite Right suggests that Democrats live in fear and are hungry for control. Facile liberals think it’s because Republicans don’t believe in science. These and similar characterizations generally ascribe too much to bad faith. What really seems to account for the divergence is differences in judgment about the consequences of lockdowns and their extension through strict rules and school closures.
Narrow definitions of “essential” activities have been preventing people from participating in some of the most fundamental human experiences. Rules are prohibiting spouses and partners from accompanying the mothers of their children to critical appointments during pregnancy. Those are big moments in life. A family friend in Alabama had a surgery postponed for two months that would remove a tumor from her neck. A doctor originally said the tumor had a small chance of being cancerous, so the surgery was delayed as “nonessential” for that reason. The tumor ended up being partially cancerous, and she had to hold on to the malignancy for two extra months.
Cursory combings of social media yield similar stories. A priest outlined how he performed last rites on a parishioner whose children could only be with her one at a time during her final moments. I have seen numerous other accounts of those who were unable to be with loved ones as they died or attend religious services. Funerals are not being considered essential in California even though protesters are parading through the street. How can any of the former be considered less essential than protests?
Scores of people have surely experienced similar suffering from nonessential restrictions, irrespective of any particular political affiliation. The thing to recognize is that conservatives and Republican lawmakers, in advocating for reopening, have demonstrated more flexibility because their tolerance for lasting restrictions is lower, recognizing the perhaps unintended but dehumanizing effects of broad restrictions. It’s not because they largely don’t believe the virus can kill but because they have come to terms with the fact that COVID-19 is here to stay. We have to coexist with it, and Lockdown 2.0 does not constitute existing.
