Democratic pollster Nancy Zdunkewicz told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons on Monday that more liberals and progressives are not necessarily driving policy changes in the Democratic Party.
“That is actually not the thing that is driving changes and views on policy issues,” Zdunkewicz, managing director at Democracy Corps, said on “What America’s Thinking.” “You can actually see that moderates, conservatives, and liberals are all increasingly agreeing with certain ideas about policy.”
The new Democrat-controlled House has been dominated by discussions on various liberal issues such as Medicare for All and a Green New Deal to combat climate change. The party’s 2020 presidential candidates are also being questioned on the same issues.
A large number of Democratic voters appeared to embrace progressivism in the 2018 midterms through electing lawmakers such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).
“So across the board, you’re seeing more support for certain ideas that might be considered Democratic or liberal policies,” Zdunkewicz continued. “I think those things are where you’re going to be having a lot of the debate during the primary about what sort of policies are best fitting for the party.”
“There’s going to be more support for a lot of things [like] single payer, Medicare for All, health care, how to handle climate change,” she said. “Things like that have all become more common, more mainstream in the Democratic Party.”
— Julia Manchester
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