Democrats Are Too Liberal For Their Own Voters

The Democratic Party has undergone a shift since 2020 in which its own voters believe it has veered too far to the left.

A Morning Consult poll conducted between August 29 and September 1 and released Monday found, by a nine-point margin, that voters believe the Democrats are more ideologically extreme than Republicans. Voters also find the GOP more capable of governing, tackling big issues, and keeping the country safe.

About 47 percent of respondents said the Democrats have become "too liberal," a 7-point increase since 2020. Republicans, meanwhile, have remained at the same 38 percent level as it pertains to being "too conservative." Also, 32 and 31 percent of Democrats and Republicans, respectively, are either "appropriately" liberal or conservative.

"President Biden entered office pledging to go big on government in the vein of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and while some of his most ambitious plans such as Build Back Better were ultimately pared down, Democrats have still spent a ton of money to provide new benefits for Americans," Morning Consult politics analyst Cameron Easley told Newsweek via email. "So, some of this may well just be a case of voters believing what Democrats are telling them."

The poll shows a role reversal when compared to the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, and it is attributed to the Democratic Party's own voters souring on ideals.

"The trends against the Democratic Party are largely driven by worsening perceptions among its own voter base, which suggests that the party will have to rely more than ever on negative partisanship to keep control of the White House," the poll adds.

Easley said the perception of the leftward shift can be attributed to "thermostatic dynamics in public opinion," in which the public often sways from the party in power on the margins—due to particular policies or more general views of a party as a whole.

The poll also found that the Democratic Party has become more "stale" since 2020, increasing seven percentage points, while in the same time period, Republicans decreased by three points.

Biden probably has more to do with the current perception of Democrats than anyone else, Easley added.

"We know that the Democratic primary electorate was not particularly excited about Biden's candidacy in 2020, and his age has been a key concern for the broader electorate as well," he said. "As long as he is the head of the party, that is likely a perception that Democrats will have a hard time fighting."

Biden received bad news on Sunday when a Washington Post-ABC News poll found him trailing GOP frontrunner Donald Trump by 10 points in a hypothetical 2024 matchup, 52 percent to 42 percent.

While House Republicans threaten a government shutdown, Easley said most voters don't pay attention to the ins and outs of Washington, D.C.—even if a hypothetical shutdown could impact the economy as a whole.

However, Easley doesn't believe it's a drastic shift in ideology but more so "a more marginal movement" resulting from close elections and hyper-partisanship.

"Ultimately, the buck stops with the president, who sets the agenda, but we can't ignore that politicians are most responsive to the parts of the electorate and party apparatus that are most involved," he said. "On both the Republican and Democratic side of things, these parts of the electorate are the most ideologically extreme."

The ramifications to the 2024 election are too early to tell, he added, saying that Democrats' efforts could prove fruitful depending on messaging and how salient issues—like abortion, for example—are to the American public.

"But if there's a recession that Republicans are able to pin on Democrats the way they have inflation, voters might punish them for their big government spending," Easley added.

The poll included responses from 1,610 Democrats, 1,481 Republicans and 891 independents. Between one in 10 respondents and one in five, respectively, responded that they "don't know" or had no opinion regarding certain questions.