To win in 2008 and beyond, the Dems need to represent mainstream American values. For example:
Is it the responsibility of government to care for those who can’t take care of themselves? In 1994, the year conservative Republicans captured Congress, 57 percent of those polled thought so. Now, says Pew, it’s 69 percent. (Even 58 percent of Republicans agree. (Pew Research Center)
Americans who believe government should guarantee every citizen enough to eat and a place to sleep is 69 percent
Even 69 percent of self-identified Republicans — and 75 percent of small-business owners! — favor raising the minimum wage by more than $2
54 percent, think “government should help the needy even if it means greater debt”
54% of Americans making more than $75,000 a year believe “labor unions are necessary to protect the working person.”
“a majority say they generally side with labor in disputes and only 34 percent with companies
53 percent think unions help the economy and only 36 percent think they hurt.
More than twice as many Americans want “government to provide many more services even if it means an increase in spending
A 2005 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that 53 percent of Americans thought the Bush tax cuts were “not worth it because they have increased the deficit and caused cuts in government programs.”
CNN/Opinion Research Corp. found that only 25 percent want to see Roe v. Wade overturned
NPR/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard found the public rejecting government-funded abstinence-only sex education in favor of “more comprehensive sex education programs that include information on how to obtain and use condoms and other contraceptives” by 67 percent to 30 percent.
Public Agenda/Foreign Affairs discovered that 67 percent of Americans favor “diplomatic and economic efforts over military efforts in fighting terrorism.”
The public is in love with rehabilitation over incarceration for youth offenders. Zogby/National council on Crime and Delinquency found that 89 percent think it reduces crime and 80 percent that it saves money over the long run.
“Amnesty”? Sixty-two percent told CBS/New York Times surveyors that undocumented immigrants should be allowed to “keep their jobs and eventually apply for legal status.”
NBC News/Wall Street Journal found 58 percent favoring “tougher gun control laws,” and Annenberg found that only 10 percent want laws controlling firearms to be less strict, a finding reproduced by the NES survey in 2004 and Gallup in 2006.
Nearly two-thirds think corporate profits are too high (30 percent, Pew notes, “completely agree with this statement … the highest percentage expressing complete agreement with this statement in 20 years”).
Almost three-quarters think “it’s really true that the rich just get richer while the poor get poorer,” eight points more than thought so in 2002.
Which party is more in step with these “mainstream values?”
When you compare Americans who either identify themselves as Democrats or say they lean toward the Democrats, Dems win by fifteen points, 50 percent to 35, the most by far in twenty years. As recently as 2002 it was a tie, 43 to 43.
