Both political parties have a moderate and a less moderate wing. For Democrats, that is represented by Barack Obama (center left) and Bernie Sanders (far left). For the Republicans, it is George W. Bush (center right) and Donald Trump (far right). The question is what does the general voting public want.
I have said on this blog many times in the past that the voting public prefers their candidates to be more moderate. They like some progressive ideas and some conservative ideas, but they don't like candidates that go to the extremes in either direction.
This poll shows that. When asked whether Democratic candidates should be more like Barack Obama or Bernie Sanders, the public chose Obama by a 10 point margin. When asked whether Republican candidates should be more like George W. Bush or Donald Trump, the public chose Bush by a 7 point margin. In other words, they preferred the more moderate candidate in both parties.
The Democrats seem to have listened to the voters. They preferred their own candidates to be more like Obama than Sanders by a whopping 34 point margin. The Republicans are ignoring the public's wishes. They prefer Trump over Bush by a huge 45 point margin.
I think this is why the public is ready to initiate a blue wave in the coming election. They see the current Democratic Party as more moderate than the Republican Party -- and they want government by candidates like Obama rather than extremists like Trump.
The charts reflect the results of the newest Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between October 7th and 9th of a national sample of 1,500 adults, with a 2.7 point margin of error.
