休斯顿和马里兰州埃奇沃特 — Shanna Berry 和 Alma Ong 是朋友，她们维持这份友谊的一种方式就是不谈政治。
HOUSTON and EDGEWATER, Md. — Shanna Berry and Alma Ong are friends, and one way they keep it that way is not talking politics.
1 月，这对朋友被问及对美国抓捕委内瑞拉时任总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗有何看法。两人坐在一家咖啡馆里，起初以友谊为由拒绝发言。
In January, the pair was asked what they thought of the U.S. capture of Venezuela's then-president Nicolas Maduro. Sitting in a cafe, they initially declined to speak, citing their friendship.
选举 还需要完成你的中期选举选票吗？点击此处查找你当地的选民指南 Berry 是一名基督徒、退休理发师和空军退伍军人，曾支持特朗普总统。在被追问下，她勉强谈了自己对委内瑞拉局势的看法。
Elections Still need to finish your midterm ballot? Find your local voter guide here Berry is a Christian, a retired hairdresser and an Air Force veteran who has supported President Trump. When pressed, she relented and offered her take on Venezuela.
“我觉得结束那个政权是必要的，”Berry 说道，她今年 50 岁出头，身穿一件亮黄色开衫。“我不确定抓捕行动的合法性如何，而且我对这件事也带有强烈获取委内瑞拉石油资源这一动机持怀疑态度，但我知道有很多委内瑞拉人对此感到非常高兴。”Berry 说话时，Ong 瞪大了眼睛。Ong 也在 50 岁出头，政治立场更偏自由派，信奉佛教。她在伦敦长大，90 年代来到美国，不喜欢这位总统。Berry 的回答让她感到惊讶。
"I feel like the end of the regime was necessary," said Berry, who is in her early 50s and wore a bright yellow cardigan. "I'm not sure of the legalities of how it was done and I'm a little jaded by the notion that it also had a very strong leaning towards having access to the oil in Venezuela, but I know that there are a lot of Venezuelan people who are really happy." As Berry spoke, Ong's eyes widened. Ong, also in her early 50s, is more liberal and a Buddhist. She grew up in London, came to the US in the 90s and does not like the president. She was surprised by Berry's answer.
“我完全同意她刚才说的每一句话，”Ong 惊讶地说道。“太棒了！” 政治研究人员表示，美国在政治上确实严重两极分化，但问题并没有人们想象的那么极端。调查显示，中间存在一个庞大而复杂的群体，他们的观点跨越党派界限。
"I agree with absolutely everything she just said," Ong said in astonishment. "That was amazing!" Political researchers say America is deeply polarized politically but that the problem is not as extreme as people think. Surveys show there is a messy majority in the middle who share views that cross partisan lines.
不列颠哥伦比亚大学心理学教授 Kristin Laurin 表示，Berry 和 Ong 的这番对话符合大量关于政治极化的研究文献。
Kristin Laurin a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, said Berry's and Ong's exchange matches a lot of research on political polarization.
“那就是一个非常完美的例子，展示了我在文献中看到的两个现象，”Laurin 说道。
"That was just such a perfect example of two things that I see in the literature," Laurin said.
只有在 NPR：我能信任民调吗？哪些竞选最重要？我们回答您的中期选举问题其中一个原因是，人们不想谈论政治，因为担心冲突。而这种不愿交谈可能导致人们高估彼此的政治分歧。“这两位朋友对彼此做出的假设结果完全错误，”劳林说。“结果发现，实际上他们有点相信同一件事。”是什么驱动了这种认知差距？
Only on NPR Can I trust the polls? And which races matter most? We answer your midterms questions One is that people don't want to talk about politics because they're concerned about conflict. And that failure to talk can lead people to overestimate their political differences "These two friends were making assumptions about each other that turned out to be totally wrong," said Laurin. "It turned out, actually, they kind of believed the same thing." What drives this perception gap?
劳林说，政客和政治精英试图将对手描绘成极端分子，以恐吓并激起其选民的热情。与此同时，社交媒体放大政治愤怒诱饵以推动互动。“我们感知到的两极分化远远超过了实际的两极分化，”劳林说。
Laurin said politicians and political elites try to paint their opponents as extreme to frighten and fire up their voters. Meanwhile, social media amplifies political rage bait to drive engagement. "Our perceived polarization far outstrips the actual polarization," Laurin said.
研究人员还发现，尽管存在合理的政治分歧，许多人拥有相似的价值观。例如，4 月，前联邦调查局局长詹姆斯·科米因在海滩上发布一张贝壳照片而被起诉，司法部称这构成了对总统的死亡威胁。不仅民主党人感到震惊，华盛顿内外的许多保守派也是如此。
Researchers also have found that despite legitimate political differences, many people share similar values For example, in April, former FBI director James Comey was indicted for posting a photo of seashells on a beach that the Department of Justice said constituted a death threat against the president. Not only were Democrats appalled, so were many conservatives inside the beltway and beyond.
“我一定身处平行宇宙，才会在谈论詹姆斯·科米的贝壳艺术，”乔治·华盛顿大学法学院宪法学教授乔纳森·特利对福克斯新闻表示。
"I must be in a parallel universe to be talking about the shell art of James Comey," Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University Law School, told Fox News.
商业 埃隆·马斯克有多大权力？他的政治影响力与美国往昔巨头相比如何起诉发生后不久，在马里兰州切萨皮克湾畔一家临河餐厅里，共和党人和民主党人都站在了科米和第一修正案一边。
Business How powerful is Elon Musk? How his political influence compares to past U.S. moguls Shortly after the indictment, at a riverside restaurant near the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, both Republicans and Democrats sided with Comey and the first amendment.
“科米一直是个爱发表意见的人，”投了特朗普三次票的餐馆老板斯坦·弗莱彻说。“但任何人永远都不应该因其观点被起诉。”虽然人们可能认为左派和右派是两个交战的阵营，但弗莱彻看到的是另一番景象。
"Comey has always been an opinionated guy," said Stan Fletcher, a restaurateur who voted for Trump all three times. "But no one should be indicted for their opinion, ever." While people may think of the left and right as two warring camps, Fletcher sees something different.
弗莱彻说：“我认为美国 95% 的人都处于正态分布曲线之下，我们都是温和派。”但“听到的却是左边的怪人和右边的怪人。”无党派的皮尤研究中心表示，弗莱彻的看法有道理。皮尤称，政治版图比许多人所认为的更加多元。该中心根据价值观和态度，将美国人划分为九个不同群体。
"I believe that 95% of America falls under a bell curve where we are all moderates," Fletcher said. But "what you hear is the wackos on the left and the wackos on the right." The non-partisan Pew Research Center suggests that Fletcher is onto something. Pew says the political landscape is more diverse than many appreciate. It classifies Americans into nine separate groups based on values and attitudes.
皮尤将其中一个群体称为“务实且礼貌的右派”。在该群体中，56% 是共和党人或倾向共和党，37% 是民主党人或倾向民主党。这个平均年龄最大的群体高度重视政治文明，在经济问题上持保守立场，在种族和移民问题上则相对温和。
Pew calls one group, the "Pragmatic and Polite Right." Among that group, 56 % are Republicans or Republican-leaning and 37% are Democrats or Democratic-leaning. The group, which has the oldest average age, places a high value on civility in politics, are conservative on economic issues and more moderate on race and immigration.
皮尤政治研究负责人乔斯林·基利说：“一旦你透过共和党和民主党的标签往深处看，就会发现党内存在大量差异，党派之间也有大量重叠。”“事实上，这种混杂的政治中间派比意识形态右派和意识形态左派那些群体规模更大。”实际上，皮尤估计，混杂的中间派约占选民的 60%。而位于最右端的群体——皮尤称之为“不认错的右派”和“信仰至上的保守派”——合计仅占人口的 21%。皮尤提供了一项测验，供人们查明自己属于哪个群体。
"Once you look beneath Republican and Democratic labels you see a lot of variation within the parties and a lot of overlap," said Jocelyn Kiley, who leads politics research at Pew. "Actually, this kind of messy political middle is larger than those groups on the ideological right and the ideological left." In fact, Pew estimates the messy middle makes up about 60 % of the electorate. While the groups farthest to the right, which Pew calls the "No Apologies Right" and the "Faith First Conservatives," make up just 21 % of the population. Pew offers a quiz for people to find out to which group they belong.
基利表示，美国的政治分裂是真实存在的，但人们在共识方面比自己想象的要多。
Kiley said political division in America is real, but people agree on more than they may think.
她说：“我们是一个高度两极分化的国家，但在那之下也存在大量细微差别。”
"We are a highly polarized country and there's also a lot of nuance underneath that," she said.