NEWS AND OPINION:
Should the United States remain the world’s police officer and guardian of freedom — or retreat, go home and take care of its own challenges and problems?
“Americans remain divided on whether the U.S. should have an active role in the world: 49 percent say the United States should pay less attention to problems overseas and concentrate on problems here at home,” reports a new Pew Research Center poll.
It’s complicated.
“Support for an active U.S. role in world affairs is concentrated among white Democrats: 63 percent of white Democrats and Democratic leaners say the U.S. should be active globally, while just 39 percent of white Republicans say the same. Among nonwhite Democrats, fewer than half (38 percent) support an active U.S. role, placing their views closer to those of white Republicans than white Democrats,” the analysis noted.
America may be the only nation on Earth which can take care of things, however.
“Since 2016, the share of Americans who say global problems would be worse without U.S. involvement has increased seven percentage points, from 57 percent to 64 percent. All of the change has come among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents: Currently, 76 percent say problems would worse without U.S. involvement, up from 60 percent three years ago,” Pew Research said.
In comparison, 56 percent of Democrats agree with that. See more numbers in the Poll du Jour at column’s end.
BLOOMBERG REAWAKENS
Make room, now. Another entry could soon arrive in the White House derby. Now that former Vice President Joseph R. Biden is struggling with his public image — a phenomenon now deemed “Bidenfreude” by some wags — a onetime presidential hopeful may take his place. That would be billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who had a serious flirtation with a White House run only last year.
“Michael Bloomberg might still run for president in 2020, especially if former Vice President Joe Biden winds up not getting in, according to people who have discussed the matter with the former New York mayor,” writes Axios founder Mike Allen.
“Between the lines: These people tell me that Bloomberg, 77, who announced March 5 that he wouldn’t run, might reconsider if a centrist lane were to open up. The most likely scenario for that would be if Biden, 76, whose displays of public affection have burst into a major issue, were to stay out or fade fast,” Mr. Allen said.
Mr. Bloomberg was terse when he revealed last month he would not make a run.
“I believe I would defeat Donald Trump in a general election. But I am clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in such a crowded field,” Mr. Bloomberg said at the time.
He has gotten considerable buzz in the meantime, his potential return to the political arena picked up by The Hill, The New York Post, New York Magazine, and The Week, among others.
“Mike Bloomberg wondering if there’s a silver lining in the Biden debacle,” proclaimed Vanity Fair on Tuesday.
“Bloomberg would be a voice of more moderate practicality in a field where the early campaigning has been dominated by leftish idealism,” Mr. Allen of Axios observed, also noting that Mr. Bloomberg — currently worth $58.2 billion — “could command a hearing and impose a footprint in a way that few candidates can.”
A PRO-LIFE PHENOMENON
“The pro-life film ’Unplanned’ has now surpassed Planned Parenthood in followers on Twitter despite the platform censoring and restricting them,” noted the independent feature movie’s Twitter account, which takes a stand against abortion and cleaned up at the box office despite a temporary Twitter ban and little to no press coverage.
Indeed, @UnplannedMovie has 333,000 followers, compared to @PPFA — Planned Parenthood — which has 259,000 followers. The movie’s Twitter connection also has more followers than @NARAL, a pro-choice activist group, which has 181,000 followers.
FOXIFIED IN A BIG WAY
Fox News continues to rule the cable news landscape, proving to be a relentless foe to CNN and MSNBC. Fox News now marks 69 consecutive quarters as the most-watched cable-news network daylong and through the critical prime-time hours, according to Nielsen Media Research. That is exactly 17 years and three months.
In addition, Fox News also has won the much-coveted 25- to 54-year-old demographic during those prime-time hours for 44 quarters in a row — which is 11 years.
Non-news rivals such as HGTV and ESPN also have been dominated by Fox News, which has led the ratings during the day and through prime time across the entire cable realm for 11 consecutive quarters, or almost three years.
The network’s victories are consistent and promising. Compared to a year ago, Fox News prime-time ratings are up 11 percent while CNN’s ratings fell by 11 percent. MSNBC’s ratings dropped 3 percent during the last 12 months. During daytime viewing hours, Fox News audience numbers rose by 7 percent, MSNBC got a bump of 1 percent, and CNN’s fell by 11 percent.
How many viewers typically tune in? In March, Fox News drew 2.5 million prime-time viewers while MSNBC had 1.8 million and CNN 921,000.
Nielsen numbers also reveal the individual stars of cable news, with four of those top five shows being Fox News programs.
In first place for the month of March was “Hannity” with 3.1 million viewers, followed by “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (3 million), MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” (2.8 million), “The Five” (2.53 million) and “The Ingraham Angle” (2.51 million).
POLL DU JOUR
• 77 percent of Americans say their nation’s NATO membership is “good for the U.S.”; 71 percent of Republicans and 82 percent of Democrats agree.
• 15 percent overall say the nation’s membership in NATO is “bad for the U.S.”; 18 percent of Republicans and 11 percent of Democrats agree.
• 64 percent overall say the world’s problems “would be worse without U.S. involvement”; 76 percent of Republicans and 56 percent of Democrats agree.
• 54 percent overall say the U.S. should consider the interests of its allies and be open to compromise; 35 percent of Republicans and 69 percent of Democrats agree.
• 49 percent overall say it’s better for the U.S. to “pay less attention to problems overseas”; 57 percent of Republicans and 43 percent of Democrats agree.
• 44 percent overall say it’s better for the U.S. future “to be active in world affairs”; 37 percent of Republicans and 51 percent of Democrats agree.
Source: A Pew Research Center poll of 1,503 U.S. adults conducted March 20-25.
• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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