The Vermont senator and self-described democratic socialist has overtaken former Vice President Joe Biden, who’s lost his lead after a pair of underwhelming performances in Iowa and New Hampshire. Biden’s in second in the national Washington Post-ABC News poll, with 16% of the likely Democratic vote. Sanders surged up to 32%, with a 3-to-1 lead over his rivals among voters under 50. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg took third, with 14% of likely Dem voters saying he’s their pick.
That’s a big change from the last round of polls. In January, a Post-ABC News poll had Biden leading the pack with 32% of Dem voters leaning toward him. Bernie was then at 23%. Bloomberg was way down at 8%.
Socialism, however, isn’t quite as popular as Bernie.
Sanders has emphasized that his version of socialism is avowedly small-d democratic and anti-authoritarian. “We must recognize that in the 21st century, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, economic rights are human rights. That is what I mean by democratic socialism,” the senator said last year in a speech where he defined his views.
The results of a separate poll, also released Wednesday, indicate that maybe socialism isn’t quite enjoying the surge that Bernie is. Only 28% of Americans said they had a favorable view of the Sanders-embraced ideology — and 58% said they had an unfavorable impression, according to an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.
