Which wedge issues do you think aren’t really wedge issues?

@JLeslie I think you’re slightly misunderstanding the term “wedge issue.” It’s an issue that divides a party, not splits Left v Right. For example reparations are a wedge issue designed to divide people on the left and get them fighting each other. In particular, it may create tension between the descendants of slaves and other communities of color in the party. It may help cleave off some of the Latino vote to swing Red for example. IVF is arguably a wedge issue on the Right because it’s pitting the religious zealots against the bona fide small government Republicans. Other examples on the right are things like the legalization of cannabis where you pit the “law and order” or religious crowd against the “don’t tread on me” Republicans.

The trouble with trying to “divide and conquer” the Right is that Republican voters seem to have no problems accepting ideas that are logically inconsistent and they tend to rally around whoever is at the top of the ticket anyways.

I guess it can apply to dividing Americans too along Left v. Right, but the idea is about keeping people from uniting on other issues to make progress. Arguably we have one party that’s split into two factions warring over culture war wedge issues primarily. Poll the American people on taxing billionaires and you’ll find widespread agreement across all party affiliations. And yet this never seems to get addressed.

Despite the semantics lesson, I think I know what you mean. I view abortion as one of those issues. It is used as a scare tactic. RvW got reversed only from the perspective that it shouldn’t be a federal issue. Not everything needs to be at the federal level. And I think most people on both sides of the aisle are realistic about it. Looking at the state laws that have come out there are very few that are out and out banning abortions. If there are, they are in the process of being changed. Most have limitations, that is true, but then most people aren’t in the abortion up to the point where the baby is born anyway. Most people believe in exceptions for rape or incest or life of the mother.

Most of these “wedge issues” are brought about by politicians that want to scare people. They generally make some wild, untrue claim about their opponents and they keep repeating it in hopes that they can convince people it is true. Your IVF example is perfectly representative of this. The “national abortion ban” is another.

There are other things like racism that are blown way out of proportion with no facts backing it. But these things are repeated over and over to try making people scared by them.

@gorillapaws I think you are right about how I was defining it, but let’s see what answers I get anyway. I can ask another Q if mine isn’t written well.

The problem is this: there are not monolithic republican beliefs, any more than there are monolithic democratic beliefs. For every wedge that supposedly appeals to Party A, there will be plenty of people in Party A that will disagree with that stance. And so on.

A so-called wedge issue to Democrat A may be a huge issue to Democrat B. And the same for the republicans.

I think race IS a wedge issue. The right is still living in the past. I think it’s hilarious that Trump actually drove this wedge, by confusing his sheep.

The Harris campaign, has had a field day, with Trump’s weird and meandering attacks on her.
I think it has many on the right, suddenly unsure of how to act.
Trump proclaimed that she could be one, of two ethnicities. But. He never told his sheep, further instructions.

Trump’s rhetoric in Atlanta, has turned the nation’s eyes on the right. They are having to defend themselves, or take an actual stance based solely on race.

I do hear conservatives who are starting to distance themselves, from Trump. They haven’t cut ties, but they’re thinking about it more now.

In this instance, the democrats have driven a wedge in the right, by simply having a candidate of color. Regardless of whom is responsible, I have seen a portion of the right struggling with the sudden race against Harris, AND Vance’s wife.

Of course it’s ridiculous, but it’s real…

Abortion, IVF, border security, police brutality, etc.. On so many of these issues we generally agree.
You all know my stance on abortion but am I going to outlaw it, no. Like all states who have voted on it, I see we all believe it should be a choice, personal beliefs aside.
We all want a secure border with good people coming in, bad people kept out.
No one wants police brutality or racial profiling, except some racists.
We really feel far apart sometimes, especially here, but I believe a lot of that can be blamed on govt/MSM so we are easily manipulated.

^It’s my experience, that we agree on most subjects, across all party lines. The difference, is in how each party’s majorities wish these issues were addressed…

(We used to be “Americans.”)

Not leftists, or right-wingers…

@MrGrimm888 Well said. I have not and will not be lead by my government, religion or party to hate my fellow Americans for making choices I would not. Period. I feel like if we buy into that collectively, we fail together.

I love this old clip of Bernie talking about wedge issues and how they’re weaponized.

^Bernie is not even the same species, as most in DC.
We don’t reward politicians for being people of character though…

Bernie is a Jewish Brooklyn-Vermont guy. First generation American on his dad’s side from the same area as my paternal great grandparents Austria Galicia. :)

I feel like he is one of our most honest politicians.

@JLeslie ”...on his dad’s side from the same area as my paternal great grandparents Austria Galicia. :)”

That’s pretty cool. I heard he’s actually related to Larry David (who famously portrayed him on SNL sketches before it was known).

@gorillapaws Yes! His DNA showed the relation to Larry David.

I only recently found out about my great grandparents being from Galicia. I had been told they were Austrian, but my mom thought maybe actually Swiss before Austria. My sister found some of their documents and I posted them on the Jewish genealogy group on Facebook and the group helped me read the documents and look up other information about them. Amazing group. I’m in that group and the Latvian Lithuania Jewish genealogy group. Both are amazing. People are so helpful.

I highly recommend joining genealogy facebook groups for your national backgrounds. The stories and the research, so interesting.

There are some people in the Jewish group who get DNA results back and didn’t know they were Jewish. Sometimes the small percentages are probably incorrect. Anyway, they seem genuinely interested.

@JLeslie “There are some people in the Jewish group who get DNA results back and didn’t know they were Jewish.”

That certainly could be true for me (I think I’ve got DNA from a bunch of random European countries), but I’m not letting one of those companies have my DNA. I just don’t trust them with something that powerful. It’s very cool that those groups exist though, and I’m happy it’s brought you joy and a deeper connection with your heritage.

@gorillapaws I’m afraid to do the DNA also, I do think about doing it though.

Realistically, it isn’t hard for someone to get a hold of our DNA if they wanted to. My sister has done it and my husband’s sister has done it, so by relation we are at some risk so to speak if they come after the Jews. I am at least. I don’t think my husband’s side comes up Jewish, just West Asian and Southern European countries. I don’t think Mizrahi Jews are identified like Ashkenazi Jews in the tests. My sister was close to 100% Ashkenazi Jewish.

You’re maybe more concerned about health information. A legitimate concern too.