Claims by left-wing journalists that President Trump’s revocation of AFFH won’t help him win suburban voters strike me as confirmation that this line of attack might very well have that happy effect. It seems to me that the Democratic left doth protest too much.
A new Rasmussen poll shows that Trump’s attack on Joe Biden for making “war on the suburbs” is, indeed, potentially powerful:
A poll released Tuesday by Rasmussen Reports found that 73% of likely voters thought the federal government should not play a role in deciding where people can live. 65% of respondents said it is not the government’s job to diversify neighborhoods based on income.
(Emphasis added)
Opposition to forced diversification comes not just from Whites and Republicans, but also from Blacks and Democrats:
56% of Democrats and 73% of Republicans said it is not the government’s job to diversify neighborhoods. 68% of unaffiliated voters said the same. . . .
52% of black respondents and 71% of white respondents said it is not the government’s job to diversify neighborhoods. 53% of non-black minority respondents said the same.
The poll surveyed 1,000 American adults via automated calls between August 2-3. It has a margin of error of +/- three percentage points.
A strong majority of Blacks polled– 63 percent — think that their neighborhood’s racial or ethnic make-up is important when it comes to deciding where they live. Only 35 percent of white respondents and 44 percent of non-black minority respondents share this view.
Make what you will of this interesting finding. The main point for present purposes is that all racial and ethnic groups agree that it’s not the government’s job to help determine who lives where. Yet, AFFH is the government’s attempt to do just that.
I think the key now is for the Trump campaign to show, not just assert, that this is what AFFH is all about.
