Well, there's pretty significant evidence that if you remove all partisan language and tribal markers, the majority of Americans believe in all sorts of Progressive policies...for themselves. The rub is that when you put the (D) next to them, that lets folks know that the Other will also benefit.
This is what the Republican Party knows. It's why their propagandists work so hard at keeping racial resentment at the forefront of their "culture."
If you remove all walks and hits from baseball, every pitcher is an ace.
In MO, people will routinely pass pretty progressive ballot measures on the same ballot that they will elect hard right reactionaries who will attempt to undo the ballot measures thru legislation. I dont know what to do with that.
Its because people have a zero sum mentality and this increases when their trust in the government and their perceived quality of life decreases. Meaning they want the money from the butter and the butter. They cannot accept the compromise ‘I have the money you have the butter’,
making it so they keep the butter even tho it makes life worst for everyone as they cannot eat all of it and it ends up rotting away. The only way to resolve this is to force their hand and show them directly how selling the butter makes their life better.
As I say here and earlier in that thread, most people world view skews towards zero sum mentality and when their quality of life stagnates or decreases they just go even more towards it. The bigger the crisis the stronger the current you fight against.