While several moderate Democrats accused and blamed progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the loss of 12 seats in the House of Representatives and the Warnock/Ossoff ticket being the deciding factor for the fate of the Senate, all House Democratic candidates in swing districts who endorsed Medicare for All had won their races, with none of the incumbent Democrats who lost their reelection supporting it. In addition, only one of the 93 co-sponsors of the Green New Deal lost to their challenger. This brings up the question: Are progressive ideas actually popular? Did progressives actually win last year?
Throughout the campaigning process for the 2020 election, Republicans focused hard to smear and misrepresent their Democratic opponents using terminology like “socialism,” “radical,” and “defund the police” to define them. One would think that these more progressive policies only appeal to the younger generation of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren supporters. But, newer research conducted reveals surprising results.
An Ipsos poll showed that, in 2020, 46% of Republicans and 72% of Democrats would support a universal basic income of $1000 per month (some may remember this being a distinctive characteristic during Andrew Yang’s candidacy). A study by Pew Research Center indicated that a majority of Americans, and especially lower class Republicans, agree with raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Even in the battleground state of Florida, which went to Donald Trump in 2020, passed this same measure on their ballot with 61% of voter support. On Election Day, Fox News aired results of their voter analysis exit poll. One finding was that 72% of participants either somewhat or strongly favor a government-run health care plan, with 29% in opposition. Another 72% of viewers responded that they are somewhat to very concerned about climate change’s effects, having 28% disagreeing. Finally, 70% favor increasing spending toward renewable energy, with 31% against it. Results to other questions summarized that a majority of respondents want the government to do more, think racism is a serious problem in the U.S., support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, and want the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v Wade to be left as is. A poll by Student Defense, the Defend Students Action Fund, and Data for Progress revealed that 67% of those who participated “support some form of widespread student loan forgiveness - whether it is universal, tied to income, or based on specific program eligibility,” with 58% of Republicans among that support (Forbes).
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https://www.dataforprogress.org/polling-the-left-agenda
https://www.levyinstitute.org/publications/trump-wins-while-americans-vote-for-progressive-policies/
https://www.citizen.org/news/progressive-policies-are-popular-policies/
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/03/27/majority-of-americans-support-progressive-policies-such-as-paid-maternity-leave-free-college.html
https://yipinstitute.org/article/analyzing-popularity-of-progressive-views