Democratic voters in Texas, California view socialism more favorably than capitalism, new poll shows


Former Vice President Joe Biden now has a convincing Democratic presidential primary win under his belt after he soundly defeated the field in South Carolina on Saturday. But Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) remains the national favorite for the nomination, and a new poll from CBS suggests he's not giving up that standing anytime soon.
Sanders is 12 points ahead of Biden in California, per the poll, and he leads (though more narrowly) in Texas, as well. Both states will vote on Super Tuesday, and carry by far the most delegates of the 14 states participating, so winning would go along way.
The support for Sanders, who considers himself a democratic socialist, in the poll is seemingly backed up by the fact that likely Democratic voters in both Texas and California said they view socialism more favorably than capitalism.
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Sanders' democratic socialism, of course, has often been the source of controversy throughout the primaries, so his supporters will likely be pleased to see the new data.
The CBS News surveys were conducted by YouGov between Feb. 27-29, 2020. A representative sample of 2,200 registered voters in California was selected, including 1,411 self-identified Democrats, as well as independents who plan to vote in the Democratic primary this year. A representative sample of 1,600 registered voters in Texas was selected, including 635 self-identified Democrats, as well as independents who plan to vote in the Democratic primary this year. The margin of error is 4 points in California and 6.2 percent in Texas. Read more at CBS.
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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