When Barack Obama won the 2008 election, some wondered if this signaled the end of conservatism. Democrats knew how to connect with a winning coalition; they knew how voters felt about the issues. Now, that coalition is dead, with the younger voters, working-class families, and healthy shares of the union rank-and-file becoming Trump supporters. What happened? That’s a long discussion for another time, but it shows that nothing is permanent in politics.
As for the Trump agenda and the work Elon Musk is doing at the direction of the president through the Department of Government Efficiency, a focus group in Arizona was asked about their feeling toward this new directive to shrink the size of government. It’s not going to please Democrats. The answer from this group could be summed up in three words: keep it going (via Axios) [emphasis mine]:
Every Arizona swing voter in our latest Engagious/Sago focus groups said they approve of President Trump's actions since taking office — and most also support Elon Musk's efforts to slash government.
Why it matters: Public opinion can constrain presidents when Congress does not. But these 11 voters — all of whom backed Joe Biden in 2020 but switched to Trump last November — said they're good with Trump aggressively testing disruptive, expansionist expressions of presidential power that are piling up in court challenges.
It's needed to "get America back on track," one participant said.
What we're watching: One notable area of disagreement with Trump: The idea of the U.S. displacing Palestinians and taking over and redeveloping Gaza. These swing voters want Trump to stick with Americans' needs inside the U.S.
Some would like to see him do more, sooner, to rein in consumer costs. But several said they don't mind that Trump's early actions haven't primarily focused on inflation — even when that was their top issue in the election — and said they can be patient if prices don't come down for a while.
Several doubt the warnings that tariffs may translate to long-term price increases for American consumers.
Several expressed views that "waste, fraud and abuse" are so prevalent that government agencies can be slashed or eliminated without hurting services on which they depend.
And, of course, there will be some contradictions here. No doubt, none of these people want entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security to be touched. However, reforming them would be crucial in getting America’s financial house in order. That’s a more extended policy discussion, but the notion that Democrats are fighting against slashing the federal workforce and reducing the size of government again exposes that this party doesn't know how voters think anymore.
Democrats might have a hook in framing some form of attack line with the entitlements stuff, but Trump vowed, as he did during his first presidency, to protect Social Security and Medicare at all costs. The Gaza stuff is all hypothetical, though that hasn’t stopped liberal media pundits from having heart attacks. Squeezing Washington is popular. The work DOGE is doing has the stamp of public approval, and no one believes that reducing Washington’s footprint is a constitutional crisis.
Democrats think attacking Trump for shrinking the government is good politics. It’s not. Most say the government has too much power. And now, new research finds that every swing voter approves of Trump’s actions and “most also support Elon Musk’s efforts to slash government.” https://t.co/1FPL1K2b97 pic.twitter.com/KDdqGJFPZw
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) February 14, 2025
I’m sorry, but this is pure comedy.
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