Link to poll

It seems like “radical left policies” are supported by a significant majority of Americans.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
    28·
    4 months ago

    When even a majority of Republican voters agree with Bernie…

    It’s pretty fucking weird when Dem politicians don’t.

    Conducted by Data for Progress, the poll shows that Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump are locked in a dead heat in the six battleground states with three months to go before the November 5 election. A slim majority of voters across the states examined feel that neither Democrats nor Republicans “have clear solutions for the biggest issues facing the country,” suggesting there’s a significant opportunity for either candidate to win over voters with a concrete policy agenda thatcenters the material needs of the working class.

    The survey makes clear that progressive policy objectives have widespread appeal across the political spectrum. For example, the poll shows that 71% of voters in the battleground states—including 89% of Democrats, 67% of Independents and third-party voters, and 55% of Republicans—want the wealthy to pay more in taxes, a sentiment that aligns with progressive goals and contrasts with those of Trump and the GOP.

    The poll also indicates broad support for raising taxes on big, profitable corporations; expanding Social Security by “making the wealthy pay the same rate as the working class”; hiking the long-stagnant federal minimum wage; and expanding Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing benefits.

    • Coelacanth@feddit.nu
      194·
      4 months ago

      55% of Republicans—want the wealthy to pay more in taxes…

      These aren’t Republicans then. They’re just confused morons.

      • InternetCitizen2@lemmy.world
        13·
        4 months ago

        True, but they are still Republican; even if they support some of our position. They are not approaching it from making society better.

  • tisktisk@piefed.socialEnglish
    181·
    4 months ago

    Is there potential for Bernie to get a cabinet spot?

    How Naive am I for asking and wanting this to be a thing?

  • Not_mikey@slrpnk.net
    161·
    4 months ago

    Overall pretty promising results, but the one that baffles me is the majority opposition to cutting military spending. Maybe I’m in a bubble but who the fuck looks at current spending levels and thinks that’s a good thing, especially now that we aren’t even at war. I guess the new cold war is ramping up with China but last I checked were still spending orders of magnitude more then them.

    I always thought support for military spending was shallow and manufactured by the military industrial complex, but these polls seem to show a lot of people actually strongly support military spending. Looks like age is the biggest contributing factor, with under 45 supporting cuts while over 45 strongly opposing cuts. Maybe it’s a cold war thing, of nostalgia and pride for the Reagan / top gun era american empire.

    • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.caOP
      6·
      4 months ago

      Perhaps it’s manufactured well. I wonder how large of an employer is it. I can find data that shows it’s in the millions of jobs but I don’t know how many.

    • angstylittlecatboy@reddthat.comEnglish
      5·
      4 months ago

      I think the Ukraine situation does more to increase the favorability of military spending than anything with China.

      But mostly I think America being late to intervene in WWII still hangs over the American public’s heads (to me it would seem this is the point when anti-interventionism stopped being the norm.)

    • P00ptart@lemmy.world
      4·
      4 months ago

      The problem is that we don’t really need to add money to make the country more secure. What we need to do is change the way the supplies are handled and it’s save billions. When I was in, (02-08) I was talking to the SSG of the cooks and he complained that a microwave cost the unit $1,100. If instead he was able to just use cash from an account, he could have gotten the same one for $300. But instead he had to use the system in place. Everything cost WAY more than it should. This doesn’t include mass supplies like clothing, guns and ammo, but regular items. If we could change that, we would be able to cut a little bit of funding and still save billions for development of new tech.

    • IonAddis@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      4 months ago

      I wonder if Ukraine is having an effect on attitudes.

      Anyway, I can’t speak for others, but one thing I’ve come to realize through life experiences is that the best way to resolve differences is to behave civilly and talk. BUT. I’ve also seen that there are people who do not ascribe to or live by my preferences and ideals for this. There are people who don’t value rationality, there are people who can’t be shamed or pressured by society into behaving nicely and getting along with others. Those people respect the stick, and only the stick. I don’t want to use the stick. But these people do not live by my ideals (which are to talk things out and behave civilly), no matter how I say pretty please to them, and it’s foolish to project my values onto them when I see with my own eyes that they behave and react in patterns different to my own. They respect things that scare them or directly threaten them only, and continue to misbehave if all they’re going to get for it is a finger-wagging and a scolding.

      So it seems very wise to “speak softly and carry a big stick”. The military is our stick. There are people out there who will behave in the most horrific uncivil ways right up until the moment they realize you have a big stick, then they’ll suddenly rein themselves in, and you can then be civil and talk things out. But that opportunity to talk doesn’t appear unless you actually have the stick when you’re dealing with folks of that sort of mentality.

      It’s very important to look at your opponents with clear eyes and see what they ARE doing, not what you wish they would do, and not what you would do if you were in their shoes. As the saying goes, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.”

    • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.caOP
      10·
      4 months ago

      I think what isn’t as obvious is that independents who are typically catered to by Democrats by “being more moderate” do in fact support “radical left policies.” This invalidates the argument behind the constant push for Democrats to abandon “radical left policies” in order to win over independents. It’s just a narrative that serves Democrats’ wealthy donors and perhaps makes it harder to win elections.

      • crusa187@lemmy.ml
        4·
        4 months ago

        That argument always seemed flimsy at best. The real reason establishment dems don’t support pro-labor policies is just like you mentioned - because their donors pay them not to do so. This definitely hurts their electoral prospects, as this is just one of a great many polls showing the majority of Americans support progressive policies.

        In a lot of ways, it’s a disservice to the underlying ideas to call them leftist or progressive. Yhey’re just genuinely populist, and appeal to a lot of MAGA folks too. Those poor saps just get hoodwinked constantly by fake populists like Trump.

        • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.caOP
          2·
          4 months ago

          Right but the argument is presented in the media as a legitimate one. There’s a complete theater performance with concerned media personalities who write op-eds that present the argument, others that agree, politicians that nod, until the whole thing feels real.

          • crusa187@lemmy.ml
            2·
            4 months ago

            Yeah, truly kabuki theatre. It starts to make much more sense once you realize the vast majority of that bribe money goes straight back to the media corporations for advertising buys.