New Poll Shows Democrats Want the Party to Move Further Left

BY: Conor Beck Follow
@cb0321

October 24, 2017 7:50 pm

A new poll found that 52 percent of Democrats polled say they support “movements within the Democratic Party to take it even further to the left and oppose the current Democratic leaders.”

That belief was especially strong among younger Democrats: 69 percent of Democrats ages 18-34 said they supported those movements, according to an October Harvard-Harris poll. The Democratic Party has had an ongoing feud between its left wing and the party establishment, while younger voters have supported candidates further to the left.

Urban Democrats were more likely to support a leftward push than suburban and rural Democrats.

Although a majority of Democrats polled wanted a leftward push, only 29 percent of Democrats said that would help their party’s politicians to win elections.

The only age group that said a more liberal Democratic Party would help Democrats win is the youngest demographic, Democrats aged 18-34.

Investigations into President Trump’s ties with Russia also broke down along age lines. Older Democratic voters don’t trust that the investigations are beneficial to the country as a whole.

Far more young voters support the investigations, but even still, only 51 percent of Democrats say they’re helping the country. Overall, only 37 percent of voters think the Russia investigations are helping the country.

The poll also showed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) has the highest favorability ratings of any major politician.