A new straw poll released from the progressive political action committee Democracy for America reveals that far-left activists prefer Senator Bernie Sanders as their 2020 candidate.
Socialist Bernie Sanders on top
Sanders, an avowed socialist, leads in the poll, and is followed closely by former Vice President Joe Biden and Texas Rep. and one-time Senate hopeful Beto O’Rourke. The rest of the tallies are as follows, via Politico:
Leading the field was Sanders, with 36 percent support. He was followed by Biden at 15 percent and O’Rourke at 12 percent. Warren and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), received 8 percent and 7 percent, respectively. No other potential candidate received more than 4 percent.
Sen. Bernie Sanders tops the first 2020 straw poll by the progressive political action committee Democracy for America by a wide margin https://t.co/8FcUYLlGcC
— POLITICO (@politico) December 18, 2018
The surprisingly un-progressive results
Now, like most polls, there are different ways to read the results. The group that conducted the poll is characterized as a progressive PAC, which makes sense seeing as how Sen. Sanders, the most progressive candidate on the typical Democrat 2020 shortlist, came out on top.
But look who came in at #2: Joe Biden. The former VP is nobody’s idea of an ardent progressive. Biden is your typical establishment Democrat.
As for “Beto,” despite the attention he received running for Senate, the Texas Rep. is not known as a hyper progressive in the vein of, say, socialist Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Senators Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, both arguably more progressive than Biden and O’Rourke, came in below the top three.
Where’s Hillary?
This is significant because one candidate is left conspicuously off the list: Hillary Clinton.
A recent poll from CNN and the Des Moines Register show a lack of enthusiasm among Democrats for another Hillary run. (RELATED: Poll Shows Democrats Prefer Michelle Obama and Oprah to Hillary.) And this latest poll suggests the far-left portion of the Democrat Party has no interest in Clinton taking a third shot at the presidency.
Clinton has reportedly been putting out feelers, suggesting she’s ready to run again in 2020. (RELATED: Hillary Clinton Advisor Suggests She Could Run Again in 2020.) But with these recent poll numbers, it’s hard to see Hillary making another go at it.
Perhaps she should sit this one out and stay home and drink wine instead. I think America overall would appreciate that more.
