DARTFORD, England (AP) — Distrust gripped the campaign in the United States and Britain before July 4 like a soggy summer fog.
On that day, British voters will choose a new Parliament in an election that is expected to end with a Labor government, after 14 years under the Conservatives. Americans across the pond, deeply polarized by the rematch between the Democratic president Joe Biden and republican donald trumpwill mark Independence Day in something like unity with barbecues and fireworks before voting on November 5th.
There is a lot to celebrate on the 4th of July for the world greater democracy and the venerable kingdom that gave rise to it, 248 years after they divided and began a slow and troubled journey to guarantee all citizens the right to vote. Both remain rooted in Magna Carta, the English document signed in 1215. It set out in writing the idea that leaders – including kings, presidents, and their governments – are not above the law. Nations have become close friends and loyal allies.
That’s how it all started.
As for how things are going, the period leading up to July 4, 2024 – Independence Day for a land, Election day to the other — offers a snapshot of the stress test voters face in each country.
“I’m actually very discouraged, because I don’t think either party knows what they’re doing,” Jacqueline Richards, 77, a resident of Dartford, England, said of her country’s election. “But then, looking at yours in America, it’s not so good, is it?”
Confidence took a beating in both countries
All democratic elections are based, at their core, on who voters trust to govern their country, so they can manage their lives.
Debates are real-time tests of candidates’ aptitude, never more so than during Thursday’s clash between Biden, 81, and Trump, 77. Biden’s halting performance has done the opposite of boosting confidence, even among some of his most loyal supporters. Trump, however, repeated his lies about the January 6, 2021 insurrection and his record as president.
This is just the latest example of why distrust and a sense of resignation dominate the emotional landscape in both countries, according to voters interviewed by The Associated Press in recent weeks. From the battlefield of Wisconsin to the bellwether of Dartford, England, voters said years of disinformation, scandal It is lies they drained them of the kind of optimism or enthusiasm they might have felt about their right to vote or their future.
In Britain, 45% said they “almost never” trust governments to put the nation’s interests first, up from 34% in 2019, according to one study. research published on June 12 by the National Center for Social Research. The pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war and the country’s cost of living crisis have affected living standards and the economy, it said. Two conservative prime ministers were deposed. Furthermore, there were Boris Johnsonwho resigned rather than be expelled from Parliament over boozy parties at 10 Downing Street when the country was under COVID-19 lockdown.
A vote to remove the Conservative government from power is not necessarily a vote in favor of the opposition leader Labor Party Keir Starmer recognized during a debate on May 27. Voters, he said, “still have questions about us: has Labor changed enough? Do I trust them with my money, our borders, our security?”
Starmer’s own answer was yes, of course. But British voters told the AP in the weeks before the election that they were far from certain.
“They promise, promise, promise and nothing changes,” said Shane Bassett, 34, manager of a pub in Dartford, England, where the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 is said to have begun. “It doesn’t matter who comes in – if it’s Labour, if it’s Conservative, it’s all the same. They all lie.
In the United States, trust has been eroded by deepening political polarization, misinformation and Trump’s lies about Biden’s victory in the 2020 elections – all amplified by social media.
About 2 in 10 Americans say they trust the U.S. government to do what is right “almost always” or “most of the time,” according to the a recent Pew Research Center survey. About 6 in 10 say they can trust the government “only sometimes” and about 2 in 10 say they can never trust the government to do what is right.
Nearly three-quarters of American adults blame the media for dividing the nation, according to a 2023 AP-NORC survey. Families and friends have I learned to avoid discussing politics around Thanksgiving tables and other gatherings. In many places, even celebrations of the Fourth of July – a national holiday in which Americans mark the ratification of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776 – fall into this practice of containment.
In Racine, Wisconsin, Rebecca Eisel, 48, wondered how the vast United States, home to 262 million eligible voters and the world’s largest economy, faces a rematch that few Americans wanted.
“How did our democratic process result in something that the majority of the population doesn’t like?” Eisel, 48, while eating a sandwich at the Maple Table restaurant.
United States: ‘The country is in difficulties’
The last time Kathleen Barker, 64, was excited about a candidate was Ronald Reagan, who served two terms in the 1980s and left office referring to the country as a “shining city on a hill.”
“He was a very real person, very respectful and family-oriented,” she said while walking her dog near the river in Racine. “You could identify with him. He felt like just an ordinary man.”
Now, she says, the “nasty back and forth” between Biden and Trump — who both insist the other is unfit for office — suggests that neither can be trusted to investigate the major problems facing the United States.
“People are poor. The country is struggling. And this is their focus?” she said.
Emmanuel McKinstry, a 58-year-old businessman, expressed similar frustration. The economy, he said as he waited in line to hear Trump speak in Racine, is his main problem. The next morning, McKinstry said he would still vote for Trump — with reservations.
“I’m tired of politicians working on their own and not asking the people what we really want,” McKinstry said. “We’re putting you in the position. What will you do for us?
The last presidential candidate to excite high school teacher Marcus T. West, 49, was Democrat Barack Obama, who served two terms.
“He realized the importance of educators. He meant well,” West said over breakfast at Mrs. Betty’s Kitchen. “He was the last person I felt spoke like me, he spoke to me, he passed policies that I liked.”
This year, he said of Biden and Trump, “they’re not looking out for us.”
Great Britain: ‘Not very optimistic’
In Britain, the distrust is less personal. It’s about scandal – think Johnson and “partygate” – and the cost of living crisis.
On May 22, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak he had good news and a bombshell: inflation fell to 2.3% for the first time in three years, and he was dissolving Parliament immediately, which triggered a clock that called for elections on July 4th.
But the visual is what is remembered that day. Rain soaked his shoulders as Sunak spoke where his predecessors had stood for 275 years, in front of the iconic black door of 10 Downing Street. Nobody protected him with an umbrella. Protesters almost drowned out his words as they played “Things Can Only Get Better”, a rival Labor campaign song used in the Tony Blair era.
“Things can only get wetter,” read reports on several news sites.
That’s what worries Bassett, manager of the Wat Tyler Pub, named after a leader of the Peasants’ Revolt that began there. You shouldn’t talk about politics in British pubs, he says – the counterpart, perhaps, to the American reluctance to stir up trouble on the same topic at parties.
But Bassett looked around the empty dining room at lunch. There were no customers to offend. So he let it fly.
The pub’s energy bill last winter jumped from the usual 800 pounds a month (about $1,000) to 1,200 pounds (about $1,500). It has struggled since Christmas time to attract customers for a quality beer, £4.50. He thinks the owners will probably sell the place just four years after buying it.
“I’m not very optimistic.” he said. Thinking about his family members in Canada, Bassett added, “If I could leave the country, I would.”
___
Fernando reported from Racine, Wisconsin. AP Writer Jill Lawless contributed from London.
