Braver Angels

Americans were sharply divided over the public health response to COVID-19, including masking, remote learning, business closures and vaccines. Five years after the start of the pandemic, Judy Woodruff sat down with two people on opposing sides of that divide trying to figure out how to move forward. It's part of her series, America at a Crossroads.

Geoff Bennett:

Americans were sharply divided over the public health response to COVID-19, things like masking, remote learning, business closures, and later vaccines.

It was a low point in American politics—at least that seemed the view of both liberals and conservatives at an unusual debate watch party in Kenosha, WI.

The group of several hundred viewers had gathered on the campus of Carthage College at a convention of the organization Braver Angels. They were unsparing in their assessment of the performance of both candidates. "We want better and we deserve better," was the message I heard from both Democrats and Republicans once the debate concluded.

The latest national poll from The New York Times and Siena College shows former President Donald J. Trump leading President Biden by nine percentage points among registered voters — a pretty big shift in his direction in the week since the presidential debate.

It has become clear in the past week that there is no obvious path to replacing Mr. Biden as the Democratic Party’s nominee. But there is a strong desire among Americans for something different.