The leftist Democracy for America political action committee that promotes impeaching President Donald Trump has released the results of a 2020 presidential race poll that shows socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) leading the field by double digits.
In the Presidential Pulse Poll, Sanders garnered 36.14 percent of the support, with Joe Biden at a distant 14.88 percent for second place. Beto O’Rourke came in third with 12.34 percent and Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris earned single digits — 7.89 percent and 6.95 percent, respectively.
“The poll, which ran from Thursday, November 29th through midnight (ET) Friday, December 14th, is the first DFA has conducted of its membership regarding the 2020 presidential election,” the press release announcing the poll results said.
“DFA members cast a total of 94,163 votes for potential candidates in this Presidential Pulse Poll, with each member being able to rank order their votes for up to three potential candidates on their ballot,” the press release said.
The PAC boasts that it is “pressuring presidential candidates to be progressive leaders,” and said it would conduct another poll in the first six months of 2019.
“These results make clear that, while Bernie Sanders’ has a strong early lead, no single potential presidential candidate has full command of the Democratic Party’s progressive base heading into 2019,” Yvette Simpson, incoming chief executive officer of Democracy for America, said of the poll results.
“With more than 14 months before Iowa, we expect these results to change as grassroots progressives hear the messages the candidates are running on, see the campaigns executing on the ground, and watch them construct the broad-based coalition of the New American Majority of people of color and white progressive voters it will take to beat Donald Trump.”
Charles Chamberlain, who is currently the executive director and incoming chairman of the PAC, said the eventual Democrat nomination is “up for grabs” and DFA is not yet endorsing anyone.
“Unlike 2016, no candidate has support strong enough for the Democratic Party establishment to clear the field, which means progressives will have an excellent opportunity over the next year to kick the tires on a wide range of different candidates and find the best one to take on Trump,” Chamberlin said. “With a clear majority of the top five candidates being champions of Medicare for All, these results illustrate that Americans are eager for bold, progressive candidates who will fight for the multiracial inclusive populism America needs in 2020 and beyond.”
The PAC did not cite the fact, however, that the top three choices in the poll are white men, followed by a white woman.
“Democracy for America is a member-driven, people-powered progressive PAC with more than one million members nationwide committed to taking on income inequality, money in politics, and structural racism,” the press release said.
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