Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ surge in the presidential race against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton continues to gain speed, but a new poll finds that his self-description as a “Democratic socialist” is a killer when it comes to eventually getting voted into the White House.
A new survey from Gallup found that of 11 background characteristics voters would consider in choosing their next president, that of socialist was dead last, with just 47 percent saying that they would vote for a socialist, and 50 percent saying they wouldn’t.
That is the most bias shown by voters in the poll of what traits Americans reject in the presidential choices.
By comparison, 92 percent would vote a woman, 81 percent for a Mormon, 74 percent for a gay or lesbian, 60 percent for a Muslim, and 58 percent for an atheist said Gallup.
At a recent media breakfast, Sanders, an “independent” in the Senate who caucuses with the Democrats, said, “philosophically, I am a Democratic socialist.”
While that has been a winning approach on the campaign trail, Gallup wasn’t supportive that it would be a winning approach in a general election.
Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigning for president. Michael Bonfigli/The Christian Science Monitor
Even Democrats are skeptical, putting “socialist” at the bottom of their choices, with 59 percent saying they’d choose one as president. Next to last on the Democratic list: Evangelicals, at 66 percent.
From Gallup:
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
