The chart above (and the one below) are from a recent Gallup Poll -- done between April 17th and 30th of a national sample of 1,024 adults with a 4 point margin of error.
The poll should serve as a warning for Democrats as they consider who to nominate as their presidential candidate for 2020.
The good thing is that many of the things that would have been an impediment in the past are no longer one -- things like the candidate being a minority, a woman, a gay/lesbian, etc.
In fact, it seems that new concerns, like age, are not an impediment either. A clear majority would vote for those over 70 or under 40.
There is only one thing that less than a majority says they could vote for -- a candidate that is a socialist. A socialist candidate could only garner the support of 47% of the public. That's 13 points less than an atheist.
Republicans will try to label any Democrat as a socialist, but the public is smarter than that. It will take more than GOP claims to use the socialist scare against a nominee. But Democrats do have one candidate who has proudly proclaimed he is a socialist for many years -- Bernie Sanders. The GOP can use Bernie's own words against him.
I like many of the things Bernie stands for, but I believe his claims to be a socialist would give Trump a better chance to be re-elected than any of the Democrats. There are other progressives and liberals running, and Democrats would be better served to nominate one of them.
Remember, this election is about one thing -- beating Donald Trump. It will do Democrats no good to nominate a candidate that makes them feel good, only to have that candidate lose and give Trump another term.
