Do Democrats Even Know What The DSA Stands For?

A Fox News poll finds that a majority of Democrats say they have a favorable view of the Democratic Socialists of America. But our I&I/TIPP Poll found that Democrats reject – sometimes overwhelmingly – key DSA policy proposals.

What explains the gap?

The Fox Poll also found that 52% of Democrats have a favorable view of socialism, compared with 11% of Republicans and 17% of independents. Support for the Democratic Socialists of America is even stronger, with 59% of Democrats expressing a favorable view, compared with 6% of Republicans.

As NBC News remarked, “step outside the Democratic Party, it’s a totally different world.” (Yet, we are constantly told that Republicans are the extremists.)

You’d think socialism’s 100-plus-year record of failure would be enough to dissuade people from embracing tenets that led to the horrors of Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, etc. But hope springs eternal, apparently.

(And, just for the record, despite what Bernie Sanders says, the Nordic countries are not socialist. Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway come in seventh, eighth, 10th, and 11th, respectively, in the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom. Switzerland comes in second place. The U.S. ranks 22nd.)

What’s even more unfathomable is why Democrats have such a positive view of the DSA when they reject many of its central positions.

Our I&I/TIPP poll found that not one of the DSA’s key policy positions we asked about gets a majority of Democratic support. (See: “Americans Reject The DSA’s Policy Platform: I&I/TIPP Poll.”)

For example, the DSA – like all socialists everywhere – calls for government ownership of the largest corporations and key industries. But only 37% of Democrats say they support that, while 47% oppose.

How about amnesty for illegal immigrants? Only 44% of Democrats like that idea.

Defund the U.S. military? That’s in the DSA’s platform. Yet only 40% of Democrats say they agree with this idea (which, while a shockingly high number, is far from a majority).

How about abolishing jails and prisons? That’s also in the DSA’s platform. It gets the support of only 27% of Democrats.

And do Democrats agree with the DSA that we should, for the betterment of mankind, get rid of the presidency and the Supreme Court? Only 30% of them do, while 53% oppose the idea.

So, what gives?

Are those Democrats who say they like the DSA – and who are letting it take over their party – ignorant of its radical planks? Do they think the DSA isn’t serious about its own proposals? (The DSA itself says you have to buy into its platform to get its support.) Are they too blinded by Trump hatred to bother looking at the particulars?

As Democrats try to figure out what to do about the surge in support for DSA candidates, they might consider mounting an educational campaign among their own rank and file.

— Written by the I&I Editorial Board