There’s an old saying among political junkies about polls, and how the only one that counts is on Election Day. True enough, but while some pollsters are manipulative rather than analytical, there are some pollsters that are more reliable than others. And, once in a while, a poll will produce some results that are, to put it mildly, troubling.
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Case in point: A new Issues & Insights (I&I)/TIPP poll queried Americans on the direction the country is headed; more specifically, on whether they see the United States turning towards socialism. A strong plurality of respondents answered “yes.”
The national online I&I/TIPP Poll was taken from June 29 through July 2, and kicked off by asking 1,473 voters whether they agreed or disagreed with the following question: “The U.S. is evolving into a big government socialist state.”
Overall, 48% agreed the U.S. was “evolving” toward socialism either “somewhat” (31%) or “strongly” (18%), while a full third less, 32%, disagreed either “somewhat” (17%) or “strongly” (15%). Of those remaining, a sizable 19% said they weren’t sure.
And, as it turns out, respondents on the left and right agreed.
But there’s a surprising degree of agreement when it comes down to political affiliation. A majority of Republicans (57% agree, 29% disagree) see a trend toward socialism, but so do a plurality of both Democrats (42% agree, 37% disagree) and independents (47% agree, 33% disagree).
Now, the reasons both sides responded as they did couldn’t be more different; the left almost certainly answered with satisfaction, the right, with alarm. But both sides agreed.
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There’s more, but here’s the part I find most concerning:
I&I/TIPP also asked voters if they agreed or disagreed with this statement: “I believe the government should control or own key industries such as healthcare and energy.”
Of the sample, 42% agreed, while a slim plurality of 44% disagreed.
There was surprising political unanimity.
Among Democrats, 43% agreed, 43% disagreed, an even split. For independents, it was 41% agree, 44% disagree, not too different. But even Republicans were surprisingly close to both the other parties, with 43% agreeing, and 45% disagreeing.
Of those who identified themselves as liberals, 46% agreed and 41% disagreed; among moderates, it was 42% agreed, 44% disagreed; but even among those who self-describe as conservatives, 41% agreed, 47% disagreed.
Put bluntly, more than 40% of all political party affiliations and ideologies agree that public ownership or control of major industries is desirable.
Holy cow. Did you get that? Unanimity, among both Democrats and Republicans, left and right, with a plurality favoring the government seizure of key industries, like healthcare and energy. That’s actually what socialism involves: Government ownership and control of the means of production, and once it starts, it doesn’t stop.
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Now, here’s where my skeptic-o-meter starts going off. Granted, socialist (communist) candidates seem to be catching some seats in major urban districts, and those urban areas, in states like Illinois, Colorado, and even to some extent my own Alaska, wield a heavy influence on the rest of the state, just by numbers. But looking at this poll, it’s hard to credit the results that 43 percent of Republicans would agree with government control or ownership of key (or any) industries. That would seem anathema to conservative values – it is anathema to conservative values.
Again, the only poll that counts is the one on Election Day. But if even half the proportion of Republicans, nationwide, harbor the notion that government seizure of major industries is a good idea, we may well be in trouble in November. Fortunately for my peace of mind, I don’t find these results to be very credible.
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