The breakup of the Soviet Union caused Americans to have a much better view of Russia. Since it was no longer communist, many Americans no longer viewed it as an enemy. Back about 2006, only23% of Republicans and 22% of Democrats saw Russia as a major threat to the United States.
But then the public began to see Putin for the tyrant that he really is, and by 2014 a majority once again viewed Russia as a major threat -- and the political parties generally agreed on this (58% of Republicans and 50% of Democrats).
For a long time, both Democrats and Republicans viewed the Soviet Union (and then Russia) the same. But that was before the electoral college election of Donald Trump. Trump has cozied up to Putin, and still refuses to admit that Russia attacked our electoral system in 2016. It has become obvious that Trump views Putin (and Russia) as a friend rather than an enemy.
That has had a remarkable effect on Republicans -- even though everyone but Trump knows Russia interfered in the 2016 election, and continues to interfere in our system today. Republicans and Democrats no longer have similar views of Russia. Currently, 65% of Democrats view Russia as a serious threat while only 35% of Republicans share that view. That's a massive 30 point difference.
It seems that Republicans don't see Russia's electoral interference as something to be worried about -- as long as Russia is helping their own party to win. That's just sad. They view their own electoral victories as more important than the survival of our democratic system.
The chart above is from the Pew Research Center. They questioned 1,502 adults, and the poll had a 3 point margin of error. The margin of error for the 691 Republicans and 683 Democrats was 4.4 points for each group.
