A new poll found most voters think Democrats are too focused on far-left policies, corroborating previous polling that indicates Americans view the party as preachy and out of touch.
SO WHAT
The people have spoken: wokeness is out.
THE POLL
A survey released Sunday by Schoen Cooperman Research, a polling company run by two leading Democratic consultants, found 54% of voters want President Biden and his party to move toward the center on policy.
61% of voters agree with the statement: “Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress are out of touch with hardworking Americans. They have been so focused on catering to the far-left wing of the party that they’re ignoring Americans’ day to day concerns, such as addressing the rising prices for goods and gasoline and combatting violent crime.”
- 85% are concerned about violent crime in the country today.
- 52 percent blame Democrats for the spike in violent crime, compared 25% who blame Republicans.
OTHER NUMBERS
Last month, internal polling results prompted the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to warn Democrats of the need to distance themselves from the perception they support “defund the police” and teaching “critical race theory” in schools.
- According to DCCC polling and focus groups, voters in key swing districts view Democrats as “preachy,” “judgmental” and “focused on culture wars.”
- Democratic officials and operatives have urged endangered House members to rebut GOP attacks on these points or be part of a likely wipeout for the party in the November midterms.
- How bad could it get?: The politicos warned that doing nothing could allow a 4-point GOP lead in a generic ballot of swing districts to balloon to 14 points.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Moderate Democrats and progressives have been fighting openly over the direction of the party.
- “This only highlights the real tension between the socialist far left and the common-sense moderate wing, which is focused on crime, costs, tax cuts and affordability, and turning the page on COVID,” Centrist Democrat Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey told Axios last month, in reference to a progressive rebuttal to Biden’s State of the Union address.
- Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Texas, had even harsher words for her progressive party mates, telling Axios: “It is astonishing that the radical left continues to promote a Democratic death wish, and sees no problem relegating our party to the permanent minority.”
- Biden used the State of the Union to indicate which side of the “defund the police” issue he falls on: “The answer is not to defund the police. It’s to fund the police. Fund them. Fund them,” he said.
But it might be too late for Democrats to distance themselves from the public perception that they’re soft on crime.
- “Despite Biden’s more moderate rhetoric on law enforcement and policing lately, most voters still agree that Biden and Democrats are soft on crime (56 percent) and a plurality agree that Democrats in Congress support the radical defund the police movement (46 percent),” the pollsters wrote of their findings.