Socialism is unpopular...in the Iowa Democratic Party.
That's one takeaway from the latest Iowa Poll sponsored by the Des Moines Register, Mediacom, and CNN:
The least popular position tested is whether candidates should endorse “moving the country in a socialist direction.” The plurality, 37%, say it's bad policy. Twenty percent of poll respondents say they are comfortable with the position and think candidates should run on it; 32% are comfortable with the position but worry about the political costs.
Those who think it's bad policy include above-average proportions of independents (46%), moderates (57%), seniors (47%) and those living in rural areas (50%). Fifty-five percent of Joe Biden's supporters think it's bad policy; 21% of Elizabeth Warren's supporters agree.
One reason for this - most Americans believe that this country will eventually make them wealthy:
A new survey finds that while 51% of Americans believe they will be wealthy one day, Millennials are even more confident, with 66% believing they will become wealthy. As for what Millennials plan to do to build their wealth, investing in real estate and investing in the stock market are their two most popular strategies.
So, what does it actually mean to be wealthy? Well, across all generations 55% of people define wealthy as the ability to live comfortably without having to worry about finances. Other definitions of wealthy include:
Feeling financially secure (43%)
Net worth of over $1 mil (18%)
Annual household income of $500K+ (16%)
Six figure salary (15%)
Investments in the stock market (7%)
Diving a luxury car (6%)
When it comes to just putting a monetary value on wealthy, 20% of Millennials believe it’s having $550K or more, while only 8% of Baby Boomers agree. Interestingly, 18% of both generations believe it’s having a net worth of over $1 million.
I've often said on the show that socialism should be defined as "being fair by making people equally miserable." Americans aren't buying it - looking at you, Bernie.