In all of my 40+ years observing the U.S. political scene, I believe at least a slim majority of American voters—more precisely: Democratic voters––are finally seeing the (income inequality) light; and, it’s a beautiful thing.
I’m talking about the results from the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, released via the two MSM outlets’ websites on Sunday, which tell us that roughly half of all Democrats cite their primary concern with the 2016 elections being that the wealthy and corporations maintain too much influence over the outcome.
(Per notes within the NBC article, below, I’m assuming this poll will be released via NBC Nightly News, early Monday evening.)
Stating the obvious, this bodes quite well for the resonance of the Sanders’ (“not the billionaires”) campaign message.
Here’s Mark Murray, from Press the Meat…
Poll: Voters Pick Top Concerns About 2016 Election
by Mark Murray
Meet the Press (NBC)
Jun 21 2015, 9:08 am ET
American voters say their top concerns about the upcoming presidential election are wealthy individuals and corporations who might have too much influence who over wins, as well as campaigns that spend more time on negative attacks than proposing solutions, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
Thirty-three percent of voters say the influence of wealthy individuals and corporations is their top concern, while 25 percent say they're more worried about negative attacks.
Another 16 percent are more concerned that nothing will change no matter who wins, and 12 percent believe that too many wealthy candidates don't understand the economic problems of average Americans…
Interestingly, just 4% of responding voters stated their primary concern with the 2016 presidential race was with regard to candidates from dynastic families that have run for the White House in the past (i.e.: Bush, Clinton and Paul).
The NBC piece informs readers that the poll was conducted from June 14th through 18th, with a MoE of 3.1%.
The folks over at the WSJ have provided readers with a bit more substance…
Influence of Money in Politics a Top Concern for Voters
Patrick O'Connor
Wall Street Journal Blog
Jun 21, 2015 9:00 am EDT
Americans express far more alarm about the influence of money in politics than the fact that another Bush and Clinton are running for the White House, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.
Asked to rank their top concerns about the upcoming presidential election, one-third of Americans pointed to the sway that companies and wealthy individuals may have over the outcome, more than for any of five other issues tested.
Democrats were most likely to cite the influence of corporations and wealthy individuals as the top concern, with roughly half of self-described liberals and Democratic primary voters ranking it as their primary anxiety as the 2016 White House race gears up. Only 21% of core Republican voters said it was their top concern…
Of course, considering the source, we’re informed by the WSJ that,
“Republicans, meanwhile, are more worried about the tone of the campaign, with a plurality of 37% saying they worry most about the emphasis on negative advertising at the expense of more substantive policy debates. The influence of wealthy donors was the primary concern for independents, according to the survey, conducted June 14-18.”
Other key concerns noted in the poll for “Democrats, Republicans and independents alike was the notion that nothing will change in Washington, whoever replaces President Barack Obama in the White House in 2017. Some 16% of people in the survey cited that concern.”
Another 12% of Americans were of the opinion, the WSJ reported, that “…the candidates are too wealthy to ‘understand the economic problems of average Americans.’” (i.e.: Romney’s biggest problem in 2012.)
A total of 1,000 people were surveyed.
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