Overview
- An NBC News poll reports 82% of Republicans and 64% of Democrats say they have at least one close friend in the opposite party.
- Among ideological intensity groups, core Republicans register 77% versus 90% for soft Republicans, and core Democrats 57% versus 73% for soft Democrats.
- Self-identified moderates are more likely to have cross-party friends than ideological voters, including 87% of moderate Republicans versus 79% of conservative Republicans and 78% of moderate Democrats versus 57% of liberals.
- Religious attendance shows divergent patterns by party, with frequent churchgoing Republicans slightly less likely to report a Democratic close friend and frequent churchgoing Democrats roughly 10 points more likely to report a Republican close friend.
- Age, gender and college education show little association with cross-party friendships, according to the national survey of 1,000 registered voters fielded Oct. 24–28 with a margin of error of ±3.1 points.