Iowa Democrats overwhelming favor strong progressive policies, according to a new poll published by the Des Moines Register on Saturday.
The Iowa Poll found 91 percent of respondents want a candidate who supports the Green New Deal, with 65 percent preferring a quick implementation of those environmental policies rather than doing it in steps. Almost as many — 89 percent — favor new taxes on those with $50 million or more in assets, while 84 percent said they wanted a candidate who would implement a Medicare-for-all, single-payer system to provide universal health care.
According the poll’s findings, Iowa Democrats are much more interested in hearing candidates address policies rather than the potential impeachment of President Trump. Respondents were asked about how much time a candidate should spend talking about impeachment, and 75 percent selected either “a little” or “not much.”
The poll also asked participants to select who they would vote for in a caucus from a list of 20 active or potential candidates. (There are currently 14 declared candidates for the Democratic nomination.)
Only former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders were the first choice of more than 10 percent of respondents, with 27 percent selecting Biden and 25 percent choosing Sanders. But even larger percentages said that both men should step aside for a new candidate. Forty-three percent said “the time for Sanders as a candidate had passed” and 31 percent said the same of Biden.
Sanders, who is 77 years old, and Biden, 76 and still deciding whether to run in 2020, were the oldest politicians included in the survey.
The poll was conducted for the Register, Mediacom and CNN by Selzer & Co., who surveyed 401 likely Democratic caucus participants, between March 3 and 6. It has margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points, according to the polling company.
