Republicans Are More Willing To Risk Deaths, Illness to Get Country Going Again

Republicans are a lot more eager than Democrats to emerge from the coronavirus lockdown even if it means more sickness and death. But most voters regardless of party affiliation agree America can’t remain like this indefinitely.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 57% of Likely Republican Voters believe it is time for Americans to begin returning to their everyday lives even if it may lead to more illness and more deaths due to coronavirus. Seventy-three percent (73%) of Democrats and 52% of voters not affiliated with either major party disagree.

Among all likely voters, 33% say it’s time for Americans to begin returning to normalcy despite the risk of more illness and death. Fifty-three percent (53%) disagree. Fourteen percent (14%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

By a 53% to 32% margin, voters agree with Illinois Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker that “until we have a vaccine or an effective treatment or enough widespread immunity that new cases fail to materialize, the option of returning to normalcy doesn’t exist.” Fifteen percent (15%) are not sure.

But just 25% of voters believe the United States can afford to remain largely shut down for an indefinite period to limit the spread of the coronavirus. That’s down from 36% in late March. Sixty percent (60%) say the country can’t stay shut down indefinitely, up from 49%, while 14% remain undecided.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted May 6-7, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

The coronavirus has done little to dent voters’ optimism about America’s future, and most believe the country will be great again.

Men feel more strongly than women that it is time for Americans to begin returning to their everyday lives. Only 18% of blacks feel that way, compared to 33% of whites and 43% of other minority voters.

Given their reluctance to begin returning to normalcy yet, it’s not surprising that 73% of Democrats agree with Pritzker that a return to normalcy is not possible until new cases of coronavirus fail to materialize. Just 38% of Republicans and 48% of unaffiliated voters share that view.

Democrats (41%) are also a lot more likely than GOP voters (17%) and unaffiliateds (16%) to think America can afford to remain largely shut down for an indefinite period.

Those who work in the private sector feel more strongly than entrepreneurs and government employees that the country cannot remain shut down indefinitely.

Forty percent (40%) of Americans now say they or someone in their immediate family has lost their job because of the coronavirus outbreak. 

Forty-three percent (43%) of voters think it’s time for America to get back to work, but 65% are concerned about getting the coronavirus if they return to the workplace. 

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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