Confusion reigns over who leads two major parties

NEWS AND OPINION:

There seems to be a distinct disconnect between some Americans and their elected leaders.

“Who would you say is the leader of the Republican Party?”

That is an open-ended question on a wide-ranging Associated Press poll of U.S. adults released Wednesday that included some interesting theoretical questions and some telling results.

It found that 21% said they “don’t know” the answer to that question. Yes, the results suggest that about a fifth of the respondents could not designate the “leader” of the Grand Old Party.

And 19% singled out former President Donald Trump, 18% skipped or refused the question, 10% cited Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, 9% sided with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, 9% said “no one” was the leader of the party and 5% simply offered “comments and descriptions,” according to the poll wording.

But wait, there’s more.

Another 3% cited Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 3% cited “other”; 1% cited Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and 1% offered “multiple mentions” of names.

The poll, by the way, specified that answers from less than 1% of respondents were “collapsed’ into the “other” category.

Meanwhile, continue reading. Public opinions about Democrats follow.

A LITTLE MORE CONFUSION

How did the Democratic Party fare with this very same question in the aforementioned poll? There’s intrigue on both sides of the aisle.

The AP poll found that 28% of the respondents said that President Biden was the leader of the Democratic Party. while 18% skipped or refused to answer the question, 17% did not know the answer, 9% cited Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, 6% offered “comments and descriptions,” 5% cited Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, while 5% said “no one” was the leader of the party. And 3% cited former President Barack Obama, 2% cited House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and 2% cited “other.”

But wait, there’s still more.

One percent cited Vice President Kamala Harris, 1% cited Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison, 1% cited businessman and philanthropist George Soros, and 1% offered “multiple mentions” of names.

Find more results and the poll particulars in the Poll du Jour at the column’s end.

NO VIRTUE SIGNALING

Sen. Mitt Romney has revealed his environmental concerns.

“I have no question about the impact of climate change. It’s going to be significant — devastating in some areas more than others. The question is whether we’re doing things that will actually make a difference and will lead to a different result. What I’m concerned about is that most of what we do here in the United States is — I’ll call it virtue signaling,” the Utah Republican declared at a Senate Budget Committee hearing on Wednesday.

“That term has been used recently, but we do a lot of things that make us feel good about ourselves but will have almost no impact on global emissions. If we want to do something serious about global emissions, we need to put a price on carbon,” he said.

So what does that mean?

“A carbon tax directly sets a price on carbon by defining a tax rate on greenhouse gas emissions or – more commonly – on the carbon content of fossil fuels,” notes an explanation published by the World Bank, which noted that some 40 countries and 20 cities, states and provinces already use “carbon pricing mechanisms” or are planning to implement them.

It’s complicated. Very complicated.

“We can talk about all these other things we’re doing, and getting more batteries for cars and so forth,” Mr. Romney advised.

“But the reason these things don’t make a big difference is because the U.S. is not the big contributor to emissions in the world. China is, and Brazil, and India, and Indonesia — and all the growth is going to come from them. China’s emissions are greater than [those of] the U.S., the EU, and Japan combined,” he said.

Then-House Republican Whip Steve Scalise and then-Rep. David B. McKinley, West Virginia Republican, previously reintroduced a resolution in 2021 to condemn a carbon tax — a resolution that has been introduced before every Congress since 2013.

“A carbon tax would be destructive for American families and small businesses and reverse progress made towards achieving American energy and economic prosperity,” the lawmakers noted at the time in a public statement.

THE PLANE TRUTH

Meanwhile, someone else has also revealed an environmental concern.

“Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry’s family quietly sold their private jet to a New York-based hedge fund following intense criticism of the plane’s carbon footprint in light of Kerry’s work fighting global warming,” says a new report from Fox News Digital, the online branch of the cable news network.

“The Kerry family’s private jet, a Gulfstream GIV-SP, is no longer owned by his family’s charter firm Flying Squirrel LLC,” according to Federal Aviation Administration registration information reviewed by Fox News Digital.

“Secretary Kerry travels commercially in his role as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. I can confirm the plane previously owned by his wife’s family was sold last summer,” Whitney Smith, a spokesperson for Mr. Kerry, told Fox News Digital in a statement.

POLL DU JOUR

• 79% of U.S. adults think Democrats in Congress should “compromise some of their positions in order to get things done.”

• 76% think Republicans in Congress also should compromise on some issues to get things done.

• 63% are pessimistic about the “state of politics in the U.S.”

• 47% are pessimistic about “the way leaders are chosen under the nation’s political system.”

• 51% are pessimistic about the “future of the Republican Party.”

• 42% are pessimistic about the “future of the Democratic Party.”

SOURCE: An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll of 1,068 U.S. adults conducted Jan. 26-30 and released Tuesday.

• Follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.