DARTFORD, England (AP) \u2014 Distrust has settled over the campaign trails in the United States and United Kingdom ahead of July 4 like a soggy summer haze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On that day, British voters will choose a new Parliament in an election expected to finish with a Labour government after 14 years under the Conservatives. Americans across the pond, deeply polarized by the rematch between Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump, will mark Independence Day in something resembling unity<\/u><\/a> with barbecues and fireworks ahead of their vote on Nov. 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s much to celebrate on the Fourth of July for one of the world\u2019s biggest democracies<\/u><\/a> and the venerable kingdom that gave rise to it, 248 years after they split and set off on slow, troubled journeys toward granting all citizens the right to vote. Both remain rooted in the Magna Carta<\/u><\/a>, the English document signed in 1215. It set in writing the idea that leaders \u2014 including kings, presidents and their governments \u2014 are not above the law. The nations have become close friends and stalwart allies<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s how it started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for how it\u2019s going, the run-up to July 4, 2024 \u2014 Independence Day<\/u><\/a> for one land, Election Day<\/u><\/a> for the other \u2014 offers a snapshot of the stress test facing voters in each country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m just very disheartened, really, because I don\u2019t think any of the parties know what they\u2019re doing,\u201d Dartford, England, resident Jacqueline Richards, 77, said of her country\u2019s election. \u201cBut then looking at yours in America, it\u2019s not that great, is it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every democratic election is, at its core, about who voters trust to run their country so they can go about running their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Debates are candidate aptitude tests in real time, never more so than during Thursday\u2019s showdown between Biden, 81, and Trump, 77<\/u><\/a>. Biden\u2019s halting performance did the opposite of building confidence, even among some of his most loyal supporters. Trump, meanwhile, repeated his lies about the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and his record as president<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s only the most recent example of why distrust and a sense of resignation dominate the emotional landscape in both countries, according to voters interviewed by The Associated Press in recent weeks. From battleground Wisconsin to bellwether Dartford, England, voters said years of misinformation<\/u><\/a>, scandal<\/u><\/a> and lies<\/u><\/a> have drained them of the sort of optimism or excitement they might once have felt about the right to vote or the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Britain, 45% said they \u201calmost never\u201d trust governments to put the nation\u2019s interest first, up from 34% in 2019, according to a survey published June 12<\/u><\/a> by the National Centre for Social Research. The pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine War and the country\u2019s cost-of-living crisis affected living standards and the economy, it reported. Two Tory prime ministers were ousted. Also, there was Boris Johnson, who resigned rather than be thrown out of Parliament over boozy parties at 10 Downing Street when the nation was under COVID-19 lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A vote to turn the Conservative government out of power is not necessarily a vote for Labour, opposition leader Keir Starmer<\/u><\/a> acknowledged during a May 27 debate. Voters, he said, \u201cstill have questions about us: Has Labour changed enough? Do I trust them with my money, our borders, our security?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Starmer\u2019s own answer was yes, of course. But British voters told the AP in the weeks before the election that they\u2019re far from sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey promise and promise and promise and nothing ever changes,\u201d said Shane Bassett, 34, the bar manager at a pub in bellwether Dartford, where the Peasants\u2019 Revolt of 1381 is said to have started. \u201cNo matter who gets in \u2014 if it\u2019s Labour, if it\u2019s Conservative, it\u2019s all the same. They all lie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the United States, trust has been eroded by deepening political polarization, misinformation and Trump\u2019s lies about Biden\u2019s victory in the 2020 election \u2014 all amplified by social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roughly 2 in 10 Americans say they trust the U.S. government to do what is right \u201cjust about always\u201d or \u201cmost of the time,\u201d according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.<\/u><\/a> About 6 in 10 say they can trust the government \u201conly some of the time\u201d and about 2 in 10 say they can never trust the government to do what\u2019s right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nearly three-quarters of American adults blame the news media for dividing the nation, according to a 2023 poll by AP-NORC<\/u><\/a>. Families and friends have learned to avoid discussing politics<\/u><\/a> around Thanksgiving tables and other gatherings. In many places, even celebrations of the Fourth of July \u2014 a national holiday when Americans mark the 1776 ratification of the Declaration of Independence from Britain \u2014 fall under this practice of restraint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Racine, Wisconsin, Rebecca Eisel, 48, wondered how the vast United States, home of 262 million eligible voters and the world\u2019s biggest economy, faces a rematch that few Americans wanted<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow did our democratic process result in something that the majority of the population doesn\u2019t like?\u201d Eisel, 48, said over a sandwich at the Maple Table restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The last time Kathleen Barker, 64, was excited about a candidate, it was Ronald Reagan, who went on to serve two terms in the 1980s and exited office by referring to the country as a \u201cshining city on a hill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe was a very real person, very respectful, family-oriented,\u201d she said while walking her dog near the river in Racine. \u201cYou could relate to him. He felt like just that average man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, she says, the \u201cnasty back-and-forth\u201d between Biden and Trump \u2014 who each insist the other is unfit for office \u2014 suggest neither can be trusted to dig into the major problems facing the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople are poor. The country is struggling. And this is their focus?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Emmanuel McKinstry, a 58-year-old businessperson, voiced similar frustration. The economy, he said while waiting in line to hear Trump speak in Racine, is his top issue. The next morning, McKinstry said he\u2019d still vote for Trump \u2014 with reservations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m tired of politicians working for themselves and not really getting down and asking people what we really want,\u201d McKinstry said. \u201cWe\u2019re putting you in office. What are you gonna do for us?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The last presidential candidate to excite high school teacher Marcus T. West, 49, was Democrat Barack Obama, who went on to serve two terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe got the importance of educators. He had good intentions,\u201d West said over breakfast at Mrs. Betty\u2019s Kitchen. \u201cHe\u2019s the last person I felt talked like me, talked to me, passed policies that I liked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, he said of Biden and Trump, \u201cthey aren\u2019t looking out for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Britain, the distrust is less personal. It\u2019s about scandal \u2014 think Johnson and \u201cpartygate\u201d<\/u><\/a> \u2014 and the cost-of-living crisis<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On May 22, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had good news and a bombshell: Inflation was down to 2.3% for the first time in three years, and he was dissolving Parliament immediately, which started a clock that required an election on July 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the visuals are what\u2019s remembered about that day. Rain soaked his suited shoulders as Sunak spoke where his predecessors had stood for 275 years, before the iconic black door of No. 10 Downing Street. No one sheltered him with an umbrella. Protesters nearly drowned out his words by playing \u201cThings Can Only Get Better,\u201d a rival Labour campaign song used in the Tony Blair era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThings can only get wetter,\u201d led the reports on several news sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s what concerns Bassett, the manager at the Wat Tyler Pub, named for a leader of the Peasants\u2019 Revolt that started on that site. You\u2019re not supposed to talk about politics in British pubs, he says \u2014 the counterpart, perhaps, of the American reluctance to stir up trouble on the same topic at parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Bassett looked around at the empty dining room at lunchtime. There were no customers to offend. So he let it fly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pub\u2019s energy bill last winter jumped from its usual 800 pounds a month (about $1,000) to 1,200 pounds (about $1,500). It has struggled since the Christmas season to bring in customers for a beer. He thinks the owners are likely to sell the place only four years after buying it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not very optimistic.\u201d he said. Thinking of his family members in Canada, Bassett added: \u201cIf I could leave the country, I would.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nTrust has taken a beating in both countries<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The United States: \u2018The country is struggling\u2019<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Britain: \u2018Not very optimistic\u2019<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n