Nearly a third of U.S. likely voters say the Democrat Party should “officially declare itself a socialist party,” a new Rasmussen survey reveals.
With Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) - a self-described “Democratic Socialist” - a top contender to be its presidential candidate and the emergence of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) “squad” of Democrat congresswomen promoting socialist policies, 31% of likely voters responded “Yes” to the following question:
“Should the national Democratic Party officially declare itself a socialist party?”
· Yes: 31%
· No: 49%
· Not Sure: 20%
Only 18% of those who identify as Democrat voters said the party should embrace the socialist label, while 61% said it should not and 21% were “not sure.”
Nationally, 59% of likely voters said they have either a “very unfavorable” (42%) or “somewhat unfavorable” (17%) impression of socialism, compared to just 38% of Democrat voters:
Impression of Socialism:
· Very Favorable: 9% (Dems: 13%)
· Somewhat Favorable: 20% (Dems: 32%)
· Somewhat Unfavorable: 17% (Dems: 17%)
· Very Unfavorable: 42% (Dems: 21%)
· Not Sure: 11% (Dems: 17%)
Half (50%) of U.S. likely voters who have a “very unfavorable” impression of socialism say the Democrat Party should officially declare itself socialist, while 38% oppose the idea and 13% are unsure.
Of those who have a “very favorable” view of socialism, 40% say the party should embrace the label, topping the 38% who say it shouldn’t and 21% who are “not sure.”
Rasmussen’s national survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted February 24-25, 2020 and has a Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.