The one idea Americans can agree on this summer
Over half of Americans — 55 percent — say they plan to take at least two nights away from home on a vacation this summer, according to a new survey from the Institute of Politics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. But as America has become more politically and culturally polarized, Mileah Kromer, the director of the IoP at UMBC, told POLITICO Nightly that she expected the survey would reveal different vacation preferences for Republicans and Democrats.
In fact, the opposite was the case. The study showed few gaps between each party on questions of the types of travel they prefer, across beach trips, road trips, romantic getaways or family-friendly vacations. The main notable difference was travel to a city; 39 percent of Democrats said they are considering visiting an urban place this summer, compared to just 16 percent of Republicans.
When diving into details, differences may arise: There are some specific beach destinations, for example, that might be more popular among Republicans or Democrats. (Palm Beach vs. Rehoboth Beach, for example.) But even the fact that there's generally very little difference in preference for one type of vacation over another was a surprise to Kromer, especially as members of each party increasingly divide over everything else: what television shows or movies to watch, what newspapers to read, where to shop for groceries.
It could be as simple as this: Everyone likes getting some time off from work. The results of the survey, though, also point to the possibility that many American cultural differences are constructed out of thin air rather than preordained based on where someone grew up or their political affiliation.
To better understand the study and what it tells us about America today, Nightly spoke with Kromer right as summer begins. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What was the most surprising part of the poll results?
I've long been fascinated by these big partisan differences over seemingly non-political things, like baby name preference, where you shop, what car you buy. And so that's the reason we did this poll — I wondered if attitudes towards summer vacation are as pronounced. What stood out to me was that in the midst of all the polarity in these seemingly non-political areas, you really don't see it too much here. This is one thing that Americans share: their attitude towards summer vacation. Frankly, I was expecting to see some bigger partisan division, because it seems like it's everywhere these days.
Where did you expect that partisan division to manifest itself? I noticed a fairly stark division in interest in urban vacation results, with Democrats much more likely to vacation in cities than Republicans.
Certainly, urban tourism wasn't surprising at all. But I expected there to be some greater division among questions like where Democrats and Republicans plan to take a vacation, just because there are so many lifestyle choices that are so heavily polarized. Everyone still wants to go to the beach.
What our survey can't tell you is some of the more granular questions. So, every beach vacation is not the same. The funniest or most politically pertinent point there is that Rehoboth Beach is not the same as Palm Beach, where Mar-a-Lago is.
How much have decisions that we've considered non-political for a long time become imbued with politics more generally?
The first book that I read on this that really opened my eyes to this phenomenon was The Big Sort by Bill Bishop [which was published in 2008]. Bishop talks about how people are clustering in like-minded communities, and that the more you put yourself in a partisan silo, everyone around you begins to like the same things that you like. It really intensifies when you're doing that with geographic location.
So, with neighborhoods, even at the county level, there's fewer and fewer of what we'd consider swing counties. And when people don't spend time around folks with a diversity of opinions, they start to get a huge confirmation bias. People are now not only self-selecting into where they live, they're also self-selecting what media they consume and what they buy. That leads to an increase in specialized products directed at one group or another.
In the case of vacations, then, why has this behavior stayed similar when everything else has changed?
I'm thinking about that myself. The simplistic answer is everyone likes some time off. If we think about the flow of American culture on a calendar, every summer, school ends. When you have this break, a lot of people really relish the opportunity to take even a couple of days off, away from work, away from the stresses of life, to be with family and friends.
I actually think it's sort of nice that there's some agreement. There's always these funny pieces that are something like: 'How to talk to your uncle or your aunt who you disagree with politically at your Thanksgiving dinner.' Here's something that you can talk about — vacation. If you ever want to have a non-political conversation with someone, maybe someone who you know you don't share any political views with, talk about vacation.
Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight's author at cmchugh@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @calder_mchugh.
What'd I Miss?
— Judge blocks Trump administration's attempt to crush Harvard's foreign student enrollment: A federal judge barred the Trump administration today from rescinding Harvard University's ability to enroll foreign students, granting the school's emergency request to stave off 'immediate and irreparable injury.' U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs granted Harvard's requested restraining order just hours after the university sued the Department of Homeland Security, accusing the administration of unconstitutional retaliation for refusing to capitulate to President Donald Trump's demands.
— Justice Department agrees to end Biden-era felony case against Boeing: The Justice Department announced an agreement today to end its felony case against Boeing for the plane-maker's role in two passenger jet crashes that killed a total of 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia — less than a year after the company agreed to plead guilty as part of a deal with the Biden administration. In return, Boeing must pay over $1.1 billion in fines, safety improvements and compensation for families of the people who died in the crashes in October 2018 and March 2019. Those disasters, involving Boeing's 737 MAX 8 jet, kicked off years of still-unresolved questions from lawmakers and safety experts about the federal government's oversight of the giant manufacturer and defense contractor.
— Trump turns the screws on big companies amid tariff fight: President Donald Trump has publicly targeted companies which have expressed concerns surrounding the administration's tariff plan in recent days, threatening major brands including Apple and Walmart. The latest target of his ire was iPhone manufacturer Apple, which Trump threatened with a company-specific tariff in a Truth Social post this morning.
— Trump approves Nippon purchase of US Steel: President Donald Trump said today he approved a deal for Nippon Steel to buy U.S. Steel, reversing a position he took during the presidential campaign after the Japanese manufacturer agreed to pour more investment into the United States. 'This will be a planned partnership between United States Steel and Nippon Steel, which will create at least 70,000 jobs and add $14 Billion Dollars to the U.S. Economy,' Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. 'The bulk of the investment will occur in the next 14 months.'
AROUND THE WORLD
LANGUAGE WARS — The rejection of Catalan as an official language in Brussels stands to trigger a political crisis in Madrid. In exchange for key support needed to form a new minority government in 2023, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez entered into an elaborate deal with Catalan separatist lawmakers in which he committed to getting Catalan, Basque and Galician recognized as official languages of the EU.
The move requires unanimous backing of the bloc's 27 member countries, and Spanish officials spent the past two years lobbying European capitals for support. Next week, Spain intends to bring the issue to a vote in the General Affairs Council, the body that prepares periodic meetings of the bloc's leaders in Brussels. But documents summarizing this week's meeting of the bloc's ambassadors, seen by POLITICO, indicate serious doubts regarding Madrid's bid.
HEIRS NOT WELCOME HERE — Belgium's heir to the throne could be forced to leave Harvard University after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a ban on foreign students at the prestigious institution. Princess Elisabeth, who will be the next queen of Belgium, is enrolled in a two-year master's degree in public policy at Harvard, one of the world's most elite universities.
But the Trump administration revoked Harvard's ability to enroll international students on Thursday, accusing the university of promoting violence and antisemitism and failing to comply with a request to hand over foreign students' information that could lead to their deportation.
The 23-year-old princess, who is the eldest child of Belgium's King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, has completed the first year of grad school but will not finish for another year. She graduated from the U.K.'s Oxford University last year.
She's first in line to inherit the throne, after Belgium's constitution was changed in 1991 to abolish male-only succession.
Nightly Number
RADAR SWEEP
PICS AND PRAYERS — Since the pandemic, India's religious sites have experienced a surge in popularity. The country's Hindu temples attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every day, and experts see no signs of it slowing down. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pushed for India to become a more openly Hindu nation since gaining power in 2014, and social media influencers have helped his cause, marketing spiritual spaces around the country as 'eminently Instagrammable', writes Satviki Sanjay for Bloomberg.
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