Are Radical Leftist Ideas Gaining Traction With the Public at Large?

It seems the more radical the leftist idea is, the more the left wants to push it. It was bad enough that they wanted to push Obamacare, but now they want to ramp it up to eleven.

The problem, however, seems to be that a new poll claims a majority of Americans want these radical leftists ideas.

As Slate argues:

Last week, the group released results from eligible-voter polling on a number of left-leaning policy ideas, which showed that majorities support “community job creation” for anyone who can’t find employment (54 percent), having the government produce generic life-saving drugs (51 percent), and the creation of a public internet utility for those without internet access (56 percent), a proposal currently being pushed by progressive Michigan gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed. Ending cash bail, a criminal justice reform issue taken up recently by both Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris, has plurality support among eligible voters at 46 percent.

Sounds terrifying, right?

Well, there are a few things to keep in mind about this poll. First, it’s a poll. As we’ve seen in recent years, polling has become extraordinarily unreliable. After all, just how badly was Hillary Clinton going to stomp Donald Trump in November 2016? How did that pan out again?

Additionally, the wording of these question doesn’t give the respondents of the polls much to work with. It’s important to remember, for example, that there’s a broad range of options between “kick a few bucks in to help spur job growth” and “massive government program to hand jobs to people digging holes and filling them back up again.”

Consider this question: “Would you support or oppose the federal funding of community job creation for any person who can’t find a job?” One can easily see how a whole host of ideas could pop up in people’s heads after being asked this question.

In other words, this poll claims that people support this radical leftist agenda, but do they? Do they realize what’s really being talked about here? When it comes to jobs, for example, the government has often provided incentives to spur people to create jobs. It’s not difficult to see the question referring to something along those lines and answer accordingly.

Further, many of these ideas sound great the first time you hear them, but without debate, people know nothing about the pitfalls of these programs. They don’t get how these jobs will be funded or how the government, the same government that botched a website rollout, will manage an internet service provider worth a damn.

“Thank you for calling technical support. All operators are busy. The current wait time is four years, eight months and four days. Please hold.” You think the DMV is bad? Ugh.

In a poll with new ideas only vaguely explained, people will support a lot of things that they later won’t support after debate has been heard.

Assuming, of course, the poll is remotely accurate, which is doubtful based on recent history.

Either way, it’s highly unlikely that there’s anything to worry about here. Instead, it’s just leftists once again pretending their radical notions have a place in America and yelling to anyone who will listen that the sky is actually plaid.