There’s a growing divide in American politics, but it’s not the one the mainstream media wants you to focus on. The real chasm isn’t between Republicans and Democrats (despite what cable news would have you believe). It’s between the American people and the politicians who claim to represent them. Over and over, everyday citizens find themselves united on issues their elected officials flat-out refuse to acknowledge.

This pattern has become a hallmark of Democratic leadership in recent years. When supermajorities of voters align on commonsense measures, you’d expect their representatives to take notice. Maybe even act on it. Instead, we’re witnessing something far more troubling: senators who seem more interested in pushing ideological narratives than reflecting the clearly expressed preferences of their own constituents.

From ABC’s “This Week”:

“There’s been a lot of polls on this, but in one recent Pew poll, 83% of adults support requiring photo ID to vote. Seventy-one percent of Democrats favor requiring photo ID,” host Jonathan Karl said to Senator Adam Schiff. “Is that something that you can support? And if not, why?”

“It’s still going to be something that disenfranchises people that don’t have the proper Real ID, driver’s license ID, that don’t have the ID necessary to vote, even though they are citizens. This is another way to simply try to suppress the vote,” Schiff responded.

The Numbers Speak for Themselves

Go ahead. Read those figures again. I’ll wait.

According to Pew Research polling from August 2025, an overwhelming 83% of American adults support requiring photo identification to vote. Even more striking: 71% of Democrats agree. Among Republicans, that number climbs to 95%. This isn’t a partisan wedge issue in the minds of actual voters. It’s practically unanimous.

Yet there stood Senator Schiff on national television, waving away a position held by nearly three-quarters of his own party’s voters as “voter suppression.” You have to wonder: who exactly does he think he’s representing?

When pressed specifically about photo ID—not passports, not birth certificates, but simple photo identification—Schiff pivoted to arguments about documents “millions of Americans don’t have.” It’s a neat trick. Answer the question nobody asked while dodging the one everyone did.

A Pattern of Willful Ignorance

Senator Schiff isn’t operating in isolation here. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has taken the rhetoric even further, comparing the SAVE Act’s voter ID provisions to “Jim Crow 2.0.”

“This is vicious and nasty,” Schumer declared on MSNBC, promising that Democrats would block any such legislation. “We’re not reviving Jim Crow all over the country.”

Let’s be clear about what’s happening. Schumer is comparing a policy supported by 83% of Americans to actual segregation-era voter suppression. The comparison isn’t just wrong. It’s grotesque. It insults the voters who support these measures. It trivializes the genuine horrors of Jim Crow. And it reveals just how detached Democratic leadership has become from where mainstream Americans actually stand.

Common Sense in Uncommon Times

Americans need photo identification to board an airplane. To buy certain cold medicines. To open a bank account. To pick up will-call tickets at a baseball game. Yet suggesting the same basic requirement for voting? Suddenly that’s “suppression.”

Yeah, Americans aren’t buying it. They understand that election integrity isn’t about keeping people from voting. It’s about ensuring every legal vote carries equal weight.

When elected officials so brazenly ignore supermajorities of their own constituents, it raises uncomfortable questions about representative democracy itself. Senators like Schiff and Schumer weren’t sent to Washington to substitute their judgment for the will of the people. Yet here we are. They’re lecturing 83% of Americans about what’s best for democracy while ignoring what those same Americans clearly want. Voters tend to remember that sort of thing. And they should.

Key Takeaways

• Pew Research shows 83% of Americans—including 71% of Democrats—support voter ID requirements.
• Senator Schiff dismissed this supermajority consensus as “voter suppression” on national television.
• Democratic leaders like Schiff and Schumer are prioritizing ideology over their own constituents’ stated wishes.
• Comparing commonsense voter ID to “Jim Crow” insults both American voters and historical truth.

Sources: Fox News