We had been hoping that most Democrats don't support the Democratic Socialists of America agenda. Sadly, it looks like those hopes are quickly being dashed.
In a recent edition of his must-read Committee to Unleash Prosperity Hotline, our friend Steve Moore shared a new Quinnipiac poll that as he put it, “tells us that the socialism virus is rapidly infecting more Democratic voters.”
The DSA's own most recent survey of its members found that over 35% hold a graduate or professional degree versus only 14% of the general population. Nearly half of DSA members earn less than $60,000 a year, clustered in occupations like social work, teaching, health care and non-profit employment.
All of those areas have one thing in common: they are heavily dependent on government spending and grow in direct proportion to having more resources extracted from taxpayers, noted Steve.
Ever the optimist, Mr. Moore concluded by saying, “We are hoping and praying that sentiment against the DSA will grow after more voters learn about their new platform, released in June. It proposes to ‘draft a new constitution, and create a democratic socialist republic.’”
That democratic republic would have a new constitution destroying the free enterprise system and replacing it with socialism, abolishing “the police and prison system,” and rewriting the Constitution, to, among other things, “replace the President and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.” By Congress they mean an expanded and revamped House of Representatives, since they also want to abolish the Senate.
We wish we could share Steve Moore’s optimism, but other polls show similar results.
A CBS News poll found 58% of Democrats have a positive view of socialism, compared with 32% who view capitalism positively. The findings come as democratic socialist candidates and organizations have gained greater visibility in Democratic politics, while some of the party’s most prominent leaders are distancing themselves from parts of the progressive agenda.
This is up from a poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports showing forty percent (40%) of Democrats said socialism is better than capitalism.
And, 51% of Democrats said they were more likely to vote for a House candidate endorsed by the Democratic Socialists.
Yet, polls of the electorate at large show socialism is unpopular.
And according to a recent poll by Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll (a recurring national opinion poll) 63 percent of Americans are concerned about the rise of socialism and communism in U.S. politics. Specifically, 36 percent are “very concerned” and 27 percent are “somewhat concerned.” Only 13 percent are “not at all concerned,” while 16 percent “aren’t too concerned.”
The poll was conducted by Noble Predictive Insights and surveyed 2,533 registered voters across party lines, including 930 Republicans, 930 Democrats, and 673 Independents. This includes 330 “true independents,” i.e. registered Independents who do not lean towards either party.
As our friends at Powerline put it, “Every politician who runs under the Democratic banner should be assumed to be a stealth socialist, unless and until he or she specifically repudiates the radical agenda that is supported by most members of the Democratic Party. And for the foreseeable future, no sane American should even consider casting a vote for any Democrat running for any office.”
