Is there a disconnect between political parties and voters?

There’s a growing rift


Despite whether you’re trying to Make America Great Again or you’re feeling the Bern, the presidential race from the beginning has been increasingly candidate-focused. Individual candidates’ beliefs have taken over the main stage from the traditional views of parties they claim to represent.

Whether this is a failure among party leadership to realize this disconnect or a result of the changing way that voters receive their political information, voters are now discussing candidates increasingly without regard to party lines and this is widening the gap between political parties and their candidates.

This rift is further exhibited by the increasing percentage of the American public who identify as independents, 39 percent as of 2014 – which is the highest polling percentage of independents in public opinion polls in over 75 years, according to the Pew Research Center.

This is especially important when considering many of these declared independents do not participate in the early political process that so far is responsible for shaping the race.

Source: People Press

High profile Republicans such as Speaker Paul Ryan along with former GOP hopefuls such as Ohio Governor John Kasich have not been hesitant in voicing their concerns about Trump as the Republican candidate, which in turn creates unrest and distrust among traditional declared Republican party members.

Because of the crowded GOP stage early on in the race, the Republican party has been increasingly portraying themselves as a disjointed group unable to get behind one candidate and as a result, media coverage was directly correlated to the success of the candidates without much regard to the opinions of respected party members. Making party affiliation even more obsolete, many have been expressed grief over the fact that Trump has switched affiliations multiple times perhaps indicating that he is not truly dedicated to any cause but his own.

The same discontinuity is also evident within the Democratic Party, as was seen with threats made by Bernie supporters to DNC representatives after a Nevada Democratic Party convention last month. Expressing their frustration, voters went so far as to make death threats against Chairwoman Roberta Lange accusing the party and its political systems of being unfair and biased towards more established politicians (Clinton won the caucus in February). This demonstrates increasing voter animosity towards parties and the widening gap between the parties and their supporters as both Republicans and Democrats scramble for the votes they’re going to desperately need come November.

When looking at timelines on Facebook or watching prime time news networks, there’s an increasing amount of attention dedicated to candidates only in terms of how the political process relates to them rather than the other way around. Ideology and voter identity is discarded in exchange for discussion on the personal character of candidates and their promises, the amount of media attention a candidate can receive seemingly more important than the opinions of party leadership and its members.

While the parties may play a role in their state primaries and caucuses, it is unknown whether or not they will continue to play a role in the opinions of American voters following the national conventions in July where the parties have to nominate their candidates.