Heartland Institute/Rasmussen Reports Poll: Half of Likely Voters Would Not Vote for a Socialist

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Justin Haskins

Editorial Director and Research Fellow at The Heartland Institute

Justin Haskins is the Editorial Director and a Research Fellow at The Heartland Institute.

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Latest posts by Justin Haskins (see all)

• Heartland/Rasmussen Poll: Likely Voters’ Views on Climate Change - December 12, 2019
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• Heartland/Rasmussen Poll: Likely Voters Reject Socialism, Socialist Candidates, Repeal of Second Amendment - November 25, 2019

The following is a national survey of likely voters published by The Heartland Institute, a national free-market think tank, and Rasmussen Reports, one of America’s leading polling firms. The survey is published here (as well as on StoppingSocialism.com) publicly for the first time. It will also be published by Rasmussen Reports the week of November 25.

For questions about the survey or to book a Heartland policy expert to discuss the results of the survey, contact Heartland Editorial Director Justin Haskins at Jhaskins@heartland.org.

1* Which is better – a free-market economic system or socialism?

69% A free-market economic system
12% Socialism
18% Not sure

2* Would you vote for a presidential candidate who identifies himself or herself as a socialist?

26% Yes
50% No
24% Not sure

3* Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable impression of Bernie Sanders?

18% Very favorable
29% Somewhat favorable
17% Somewhat unfavorable
31% Very unfavorable
5% Not sure

4* Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable impression of Elizabeth Warren?

17% Very favorable
25% Somewhat favorable
15% Somewhat unfavorable
34% Very unfavorable
9% Not sure

IMPORTANT CROSSTABS Related to These Questions

*Note that in the following results, those who answered “other” when asked for party affiliation are referred to as “independents” below. Respondents were given three options for party affiliation: “Republican,” “Democrat,” and “other.”

• 31% of Democrats and 50% of independents said they would not “vote for a presidential candidate who identifies himself or herself as a socialist.”
• 36% of respondents who said they work for the government said they would “vote for a presidential candidate who identifies himself or herself as a socialist,” the highest of any employment demographic we tested.
• 20% of respondents with a “very favorable” impression of Bernie Sanders said they would not “vote for a presidential candidate who identifies himself or herself as a socialist.” 17% of respondents with a “very favorable” impression of Sanders said they were “not sure” if they would “vote for a presidential candidate who identifies himself or herself as a socialist.”
• 19% of respondents with a “very favorable” impression of Elizabeth Warren said they would not “vote for a presidential candidate who identifies himself or herself as a socialist.” 19% of respondents with a “very favorable” impression of Warren said they were “not sure” if they would “vote for a presidential candidate who identifies himself or herself as a socialist.”

NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.