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This is a polarizing era in American politics that can put a strain on relationships with friends and neighbors. The good news is that there is increasing evidence that your neighbors are not as crazy as the politicians who represent them. This is especially true in deep-blue jurisdictions. Right on the heels of last week’s Harvard poll showing that Democrats overwhelmingly prefer free enterprise over socialism, along comes another poll showing that the loudest leftists do not speak for most Democratic voters. Jesse Arm writes for the Manhattan Institute on its new survey of Democratic voters: This study helps clarify a central question confronting the modern Democratic Party: is the median Democratic voter actually moving left—or is the party being pulled left by a smaller activist faction that dominates elite discourse and low-turnout politics? The findings point to a coalition that is often more moderate, more internally divided, and more pragmatic than what is found across left-leaning social media, cable news, and
donor-funded groups. More voters favor moving the party toward the ideological center than further left. Mr. Arm summarizes the moderation discovered among Democrats across a range of issues: On public safety, the coalition is divided over the criminal justice system in general, but it strongly supports aggressive prosecution of gun crimes, views the police as essential, and rejects political violence. On transgender issues, most voters support parental notification requirements, preventing biological boys from participating in girls’ sports, and age limits on medical transitions. On economics, the coalition favors redistribution and consumer protections,
but it shows limited appetite for “burn it down” politics, real concerns about welfare fraud, and a new interest in free trade as well as certain other supply-side policies. On Israel, most voters affirm the Jewish state’s right to exist, though younger voters are markedly less supportive and more open to antisemitic tolerance. And on national identity more broadly, two in three Democrats see America as historically a force for good in the world.
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