Fox News released a poll on Thursday which revealed that a majority of Democratic voters prefer socialism over capitalism. The results, Ronn Blitzer says in his write-up for FOX Business, indicates a "drastic shift from last year" and a "sharp reversal from just a year and a half ago."
The poll was conducted August 7-10 with 1,002 registered voters.
Among total respondents, 32 percent have a favorable view of socialism, while 61 percent have an unfavorable view. These numbers are nearly reversed, however, among Democratic voters, with 59 percent having a favorable view and 31 percent having an unfavorable view. Democratic men, at 64 percent, and liberals, at 63 percent, had the highest favorable ratings of socialism.
Other demographics where a majority had a favorable view of socialism included Blacks at 59 percent, Non-white women who had a favorable-unfavorable viewpoint breakdown of 50 to 42 percent, Democratic women whose favorable-unfavorable breakdown was 56-32 percent, and Biden voters, where the breakdown was 56 percent favorable and 34 percent unfavorable.
When it comes to capitalism, 56 percent of respondents had a favorable view, while 37 percent had an unfavorable view. While 49 percent of Democrats had a favorable view of capitalism, compared to the 44 percent who had an unfavorable view, one can clearly see that more Democrats have a favorable view of socialism than capitalism, by double digits. Further, many more Democrats have an unfavorable view of capitalism than they do of socialism.
Blitzer referenced poll results from February 2020 in his write-up, noting:
In February 2020, when the question was last asked, 50% of Democrats who participated said they had a favorable view of capitalism, with just 40% saying the same about socialism.
The poll showed that 44% of Democrats had an unfavorable view of capitalism, and 31% had a negative view of socialism.
The poll results, especially when considering the shift over time, may feed into a narrative which wonders if squad members and self-described Democratic-Socialists, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are the future of the Democratic Party, and to what extent.
It's worth highlighting though, for a President Joe Biden who may want to distance himself from socialism and members like AOC, that 56 percent of his voters had a favorable view of socialism and 52 percent had a favorable view of capitalism.