One of my favorite work-related pastimes is to comb through public opinion polls. Like a miner panning for gold nuggets, I’m searching for a new insight or something that illustrates a point more clearly. The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, conducted jointly by Fred Yang of the Democratic polling firm of Hart Research and Republican Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, is one of my favorites. One thing that jumped out of their latest survey spells bad news for Republicans—and it’s only bound to get worse. It boils down to the two Americas we have now—how the differences in outlook are generational and how Republicans should worry about aligning themselves in ways that, over time, will increasingly put them at a disadvantage. Nostalgia is great in its place. But in politics, getting caught up in the past is perilous. Look at the responses of 828 registered voters when they were asked, “in thinking about the next president,” which of two statements came closer to their point of view. The first choice: “It is time to have a president who will
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