The Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol is not a top-tier issue for voters. According to my colleague Melanie Mason in The Times, there is little sign that it — or the precarious condition of American democracy it has come to symbolize — will draw many people to the polls in November or determine a swing voter's choices.
Similarly, climate change, the looming catastrophe that scientists say will upend our lives in the years ahead, ranks 24th on a list of 29 issues that voters say they'll think about when deciding whom to vote for in the upcoming midterms, according to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
So how about the war in Ukraine, which could reshape the map of Europe and even escalate into a nuclear conflict? That's not of enormous concern to American voters either. Nor is the U.S. relationship with China, despite its obvious ramifications for long-term global peace and prosperity.
