'Burned out on outrage': Insiders worry 'crises-ed out' Trump opposition is giving up
Democratic voters are dreading the prospect of a rematch between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump — and they're tired of being tired.
Opposition to the reality TV star-turned-politician spurred Democratic gains in 2018 and fueled a stronger-than-expected showing in 2022, but anti-Trump factions are having a hard time getting enthusiastic about this year's election, reported the New York Times.
“Some folks are burned out on outrage,” said Rebecca Lee Funk, the Washington-based founder of the progressive activism group Outrage. “People are tired. I think last election we were desperate to get Trump out of office, and folks were willing to rally around that singular call to action, and this election feels different.”
Nearly 40 percent of Democratic voters chose "exhaustion" from a list of sentiments in one recent poll — with "dread" a close second — and surveys are showing left-leaning voters have soured on the president over his support for Israel and concerns about his age.
“Exhaustion is underlying the entire attitude toward our presidential election,” said veteran Republican pollster Whit Ayres. “When you’ve got two people that are opposed by 70 percent of Americans who want a different choice, it creates frustration, anxiety and discouragement.”
Trump is a powerful motivator to his political opponents, but Democratic strategists must still make an affirmative case for the president's re-election, strategists told the Times.
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“They hear it every cycle: This is the most important election ever,” said Democratic strategist Leah D. Daughtry. "[Trump is an] existential threat [but] people want to vote for something and not necessarily against something.”
Opposition to Trump has sustained Democratic campaigns for nearly a decade, but that anger seems to be dimming somewhat as an electoral issue.
“We’re kind of, like, crises-ed out,” said 36-year-old Shannon Caseber, a security guard in Pittsburgh. "It’s crisis fatigue, for sure.”
Casebar would still back Biden over Trump, although she called the rematch a "dumpster fire."
"Any sense of urgency that we had with the 2020 election — I think it’s still there in the sense that no one wants Trump to be president, at least for Democrats, but it’s exhausting," Casebar said.