13 August 2019

New Survey Research: Left’s Lurch To Socialism Is Unpopular Across The Country

American Action Network (@AAN) today released new survey research examining diverse constituent groups across 30 congressional districts to better understand how Americans are perceiving, understanding, and reacting to the left’s move towards socialism.

The survey finds both that Americans recognize and overwhelmingly oppose the liberal shift toward socialist policies. Yet in order to fully persuade the public, it is crucial that conservatives explain what the left’s socialist policies are and the consequences these ideas would have on their lives.

A third of the interviews were conducted among respondents in “Strong President Trump” districts, while a third were conducted among respondents in “Presidential Battleground” districts, and the remainder among respondents in “Suburban Core” districts.

“Folks across America are seeing the left embrace increasingly extreme ideas, and recognize that this is socialism, pure and simple,” said American Action Network President Dan Conston. “In order to build support for conservative solutions, it’s crucial that we explain what these socialist policies are and the tremendous negative impact they would have on Americans’ lives. We must win the battle of ideas in Congress, and we do it by making it clear how the left’s socialist ideas will specifically and personally affect American families from coast to coast.”

Key findings from the survey follow. Click here to see a presentation of the survey’s results. Click here to see the full polling memo.

Key findings:

  1. Key respondents recognize and oppose the move toward socialist policies.
    • Highlighting policies as “socialist” creates a net 10-point lift in opposition to leading liberal policies.
    • After learning about key liberal policies proposed in Congress, 61% of respondents agree this is a socialist agenda.
  2. Conservatives must explain the consequences and impacts of these socialist policies in order to drive opposition to them.
    • Informing respondents of the consequences of Medicare for All increases opposition to 60%.
    • Informing respondents the consequences of the Green New Deal increases opposition to 61%.
  3. Guaranteeing an income to those unwilling to work is a remarkably unpopular proposal
    • Guaranteeing an income to those unwilling to work is remarkably unpopular among all demographics. It’s opposed by 81% of respondents with 71% saying they “strongly” oppose it.

See more in the full memo HERE.