Welcome back to the race. As the 2024 campaign accelerates, America seem to be divided on a host of issues ranging from inflation and immigration to reproductive rights. But a new AP Nork poll finds we may not be as divided as you think. So according to that poll, nine out of ten Americans say the right to vote, freedom of speech and equal protection under the law are extremely or very important.

The vast majority of Americans also agree on the importance of the right to privacy, freedom of religion and freedom to assemble peacefully.

But the poll discovered some key differences as well.

Only three out of ten Americans believe the nation's democracy is functioning well,

while 14% say the U.S. isn't even a democracy at all. So here now to talk about this poll is

Scripps News political analyst Steve Schmidt. Steve is also founder of the warning newsletter

and podcast. Steve, thank you for joining us tonight. I want to start with what Americans agree on.

So with the vast majority of Americans value the same rights, why is politics still so partisan?

Why is there such a big disconnect?

Well, the simple answer to that question is that partisans, hyperpartisans look at the other side as the threat to those rights.

So your Republican partisan looks at your Democratic partisan and says that person is a threat to my way of life and vice versa.

Though both sides claim fidelity to the same way of life, which is based on these rights,

I think it's important to mention, regardless of what the answer is, 90%, 70%, it really doesn't

matter.

It doesn't matter if it's 3%.

Those rights are the cornerstone of our way of life,

and they don't go away if they become unpopular.

That's why we have a bill of right,

so they can never be taken away.

The freedom of speech, of conscience, of religion.

These things are inviolate.

And all of them depend on an election process

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