A poll conducted by Morning Consult and Vox shows that 54% of registered voters either strongly or somewhat agree with the statement that, In the next decade, a political revolution might be necessary to redistribute money from the wealthiest Americans to the middle class. Just 30% strongly or somewhat disagreed with the statement.
Majorities of registered voters also approved of Sanderss economic agenda when they were presented in isolation. 73% support raising taxes on the wealthy, 66% support raising taxes on big corporations, 55% support single payer health care and 59% support free college.
Bear in mind that this is simply one poll in a vacuum, and could easily change if, say, meaningful wealth redistribution became an issue in the general election and was subjected to months of conservative attacks. While a majority of registered voters agreed with the need for a political revolution to redistribute wealth from the top to the middle, a similar majority also agreed that big government is a greater threat to the countrys future than big business. Voters hold inconsistent political opinions; go figure.
However, this finding still serves as one point of vindication for Bernie Sanderss argument that he is as if not more electable than Hillary Clinton in the general election an argument based on the premise that he can expand the Democratic electorate by bringing in non-voters and social conservatives who are frustrated with the ongoing decline of the American middle class.
Case in point: Majorities of both Tea Party supporters and registered voters who sat out the 2012 election are in favor of redistribution:
There are a number of explanations for these findings. For starters, it isnt news that non-voters are more economically liberal than voters; whether an economically progressive platform is enough to turn them into voters without major changes to our electoral system remains a more open question. Additionally, members of the Tea Party are likely responding to the words middle class much more favorably than they would if the proposition was redistribution from the wealthiest Americans to the poor.
In any case, this poll goes to show that when Bernie Sanders says that Americans are hungry for a political revolution, and that they perceive the current distribution of wealth as unfair and in need of change, he isnt making stuff up.
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