Two-thirds of Americans are exhausted by a political narrative that doesn’t match how they actually see the world. Jason Mangone has the data to prove it and a roadmap for what to do about it.
Jason Mangone is the executive director of More in Common US, the American arm of a global organization founded after the assassination of British MP Jo Cox — whose maiden speech in Parliament included the line, “We have more in common than that which sets us apart.” Since launching its landmark Hidden Tribes study in 2018, More in Common has become one of the most cited voices on polarization, the perception gap, and what it will actually take to rebuild civic trust in America. Jason came to this work through a genuinely eclectic path: Marine infantry officer, Yale graduate student, co-author (with General Stanley McChrystal) of the bestselling Leaders: Myth and Reality, and yes, briefly the CEO of a Jersey Shore home maintenance company. He brings both the data and the disposition of someone who has learned to move across very different worlds — which, it turns out, is exactly what this moment requires.
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Key Takeaways
The exhausted majority is real, and it’s being ignored. More in Common’s Hidden Tribes research identified seven segments of the American public. The middle five — roughly two-thirds of the country — are what the research calls the exhausted majority. These are people whose politics don’t map neatly onto partisan narratives, who hold genuinely heterodox views, and for whom the current political environment is actively draining. They’re not disengaged because they don’t care. They’re disengaged because what they see on offer doesn’t reflect how they actually think.
The wings aren’t just louder, they’re more wrong about each other. A perception gap is the difference between what you think a group believes and what they actually believe. The research finds that the further left or right someone sits, the larger their perception gap. The heaviest news consumers also tend to have the biggest gaps — a finding that cuts against the assumption that more information produces more understanding. As a concrete example: 73% of Republicans said the US should be a world leader in developing clean energy. Democrats estimated that only 26% of Republicans held that view.
Trump’s coalition is not monolithic. More in Common’s Beyond MAGA study identified four distinct segments within Trump voters: MAGA Hardliners (29%), Anti-Woke Conservatives (21%), Mainline Republicans (30%), and the Reluctant Right (20%). Support for the war with Iran breaks sharply along those lines — 87% among Hardliners, down to just 25% among the Reluctant Right. About a quarter of that last group now say they regret their 2024 vote.
The priority gap may be the defining political story of 2025. In November 2024, Americans’ perception of Trump’s top priorities matched their own: cost of living, the economy, immigration. Today only 13% believe cost of living is his top priority. Nearly half point to immigration, and nearly half to the war in Iran. Jason is careful to stay nonpartisan, but the implication is clear: the exhausted majority that gave Trump his margin may not feel seen by what’s followed.
Institutions are where character gets formed — and they’re disappearing. Jason identifies three drivers of polarization: smartphones and the attention economy, the erosion of intermediary institutions (churches, little leagues, volunteer fire departments), and elite rhetoric that rewards conflict over compromise. The second one gets less attention than it deserves. These weren’t just places where people got along — they were places where people learned what kind of person they wanted to be.
Being religious might be the new rebellion. Hidden Tribes 2.0 is in progress, and one of the most intriguing signals from More in Common’s recent work involves generational attitudes toward faith. Among younger voters — Trump voters and non-Trump voters alike — being religious is now more likely to be seen as countercultural than being an atheist. Jason’s read: when the dominant culture trends progressive and secular, traditionalism becomes the counterculture. It’s not all that surprising. Countercultures, by definition, push against whatever’s dominant.
About Our Guest
Jason Mangone is the executive director of More in Common US. He began his career as a US Marine infantry officer, serving three deployments including western Iraq and Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. After graduate school at Yale, he served as a research associate at the Council on Foreign Relations, co-authored the bestselling Leaders: Myth and Reality with General Stanley McChrystal and Jeff Eggers, and served as COO of the Service Year Alliance. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey, with his wife and four kids, coaches little league, and volunteers as a firefighter — which he notes is primarily a strategy to remain cool in the eyes of his children.
Links and Resources
More in Common US
Hidden Tribes (2018) - hiddentribes.us
Beyond MAGA (2026) - beyondmaga.us
Leaders: Myth and Reality by Stanley McChrystal, Jeff Eggers, and Jason Mangone
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