Maybe a reality check or two?
LOL ... coming from a person who pooh poohed the idea Trump could possibly think about not leaving the WH and could possibly lead an insurrection against the Constitution and the US .... yikes!!!!
So lets consider your stats. I believe I have always referred to my favorite non scientific stat most Americans are too ignorant to vote and you verify that with numbers. This leaves a small number of people to actually consider. A large percent of these folks are partisans i.e. they follow the party line with their talking points, propaganda, etc. So when I refer to Democracy loving Americans I am referring to only a very small group of people. Remember it was a small group of future Americans who actually participated in the Revolutionary War. My conclusion has always been there is but a very small number of people who think on a philosophical level of the nature of the idea of Democracy. The rest are as you suggest either take Democracy for granted or have, as you did not suggest, become anti-Democratic.
Regarding "negative campaign ads": if the information contained in the ad is accurate and the intention is to alert voters to deficiencies in an opponent on a number of levels, then I have no problem with them. I am sure you can think of some examples but I'll type a couple for your consideration. If the presidency is all about a person of character and one candidate is a habitual liar, sexual predator, fraudster, etc I think it would incumbent on that persons opponent to warn people of such bad character ... if character is important to the office. Another example would be if one candidate rails against the very institutions which embody our Democracy with calls for weaponization of the government to go after political opponents unjustifiably or to put it a different way, someone who is an existential threat to Democracy, I think people should be alerted to the dangers of that person .... if Democracy has any importance.
I have fairly good understanding of why people support Trump but no idea why he would be polling at 50%. Spitballing ... people have become enamored with autocracies ... people actually believe the vile elixir coming from his mouth ... people are completely ignorant or partisan (see above) ... or ???
As for a number ... 1 ... yep I know I am such a person and I feel I may become an enemy of the state if Trump should be elected
