Super Tuesday voters prefer a practical Democratic nominee to an idealistic one, poll shows
Most Democratic voters in Super Tuesday states don't want to do any dreaming this election. Instead they want a candidate with some old-fashioned practicality, a new CBS News/YouGov poll shows.
Among the Democrats, or Democrat-leaning, voters polled, 59 percent said they prefer a practical nominee compared to just 19 percent who said they want a idealistic one. That's apparently a good thing for former Vice President Joe Biden who led among those surveyed who prefer a practical candidate. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is the favorite among the idealistic crowd, while the other top contender at the moment, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), held steady in both groups.
Somewhat surprisingly, the numbers are pretty consistent across demographics. Men and women prefer practicality at the same rate, as do millennials and baby boomers. And those who consider themselves to be more liberal in ideology are actually more in favor of practicality than conservative-leaning Democratic voters, who appreciate idealism at a higher clip. Black voters have one of the lowest rates favoring practicality at just 44 percent, but there's not much variation when it comes to idealism, which hovers at 22 percent. The difference, therefore, comes from the 34 percent who aren't sure which they prefer.
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The CBS Survey was conducted by YouGov between Dec. 3 and Dec. 11. The sample includes 10,379 self-identified Democrats and Democrat-leaning voters in 14 states expected to hold primaries on Super Tuesday. The margin of error is 1.3 percentage points. Read the full results here.
