Progressive? Moderate? Turns Out, Democratic Voters Aren't So Divided After All

Democratic voters are split, 54% to 46%, between being moderate and progressive, a new poll finds. But this is not some gaping chasm across which moderates and progressives are fighting for the soul of the party.

The Public Policy Polling survey, for Progress Now, asked Democratic voters about a series of policies and found that majorities of both progressives and moderates would be more likely to support a candidate who backs Medicare for All. The same goes for a wealth tax, the Green New Deal, stronger gun violence measures, and abortion rights.

On Medicare for All, the progressive-moderate split is just 59% to 52%. On the wealth tax, 82% to 72%—eye-popping support from the moderates, there.

In other words, however the Democratic presidential primary goes, Democratic voters are not that far apart on the issues. But where voters are on those issues is a world away from where debate moderators want to make them fight it out, and where moderators presume the national political debate to be happening. That chasm between media perception and voter reality is the real divide here.

Published with permission from Daily Kos.