A new poll demonstrates another reason why false equivalencies between Democrats and Republicans are in fact false. Democratic policies are viewed as far more “mainstream” by most Americans than are Republican policies, say the results of a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. In fact, more than 50 percent of respondents said Democrats' views on climate change, health care, immigration, and abortion were "in the mainstream," whereas Republicans' views didn't cross the majority threshold on any single issue. On fiscal issues, Democrats and Republicans polled almost exactly even: 46 percent mainstream for Democrats, 47 percent mainstream for Republicans.
Climate change showed the widest disparity, with 56 percent viewing Democrats as having mainstream policies, while just 29 percent said the same of Republicans.
It's also important to remember that people's views about "mainstream" in this moment may not perfectly reflect the actual policies of Democratic and GOP lawmakers. For instance, the two parties poll nearly identically on "fiscal issues," which is a massive category. But the general view of taxing rich people at higher rates, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren's proposed wealth tax, polls much higher than the GOP's tax cuts for the rich. For instance, 61 percent of respondents favored the idea of putting a 2 percent tax on wealth above $50 million, according to a recent New York Times poll. That's compared to just 30 percent of respondents in a recent Civiqs survey saying they approve of Republicans’ new tax law.
Recent events may have also momentarily skewed some results of the poll too, as NBC noted.
While Democrats have a similar advantage over Republicans on the issue of abortion, recent public debate about proposals to expand late-term abortion in Virginia and elsewhere appears to have somewhat dampened the perception that the party’s positions are in the mainstream.
In 2015, 54 percent of Americans viewed Democratic positions on abortion as being in the mainstream, while 34 percent disagreed — a 20 point difference. In the latest poll, that’s down to a 10-point difference, with 51 percent calling Democratic policy positions on abortion in the mainstream and 41 percent saying they are out of the mainstream.
Immediate dips don’t always amount to permanent ones, and vice versa. But by and large, Democratic views and policies are supported and favored by many more Americans than Republican views are. When people say this is “a center-right country,” that’s so 1990s. At least partly because GOP views have grown so extreme, the party simply isn’t mainstream anymore.