Do Americans prefer a populist agenda? Here's what a new poll found

Miami Herald

29-05-2025

Populist policies resonate strongly with many Americans, more so than a newly articulated alternative, according to new polling.
In the latest Demand Progress survey, respondents were asked to choose between two options for how to help ordinary Americans: a 'populist' agenda and an 'abundance' agenda.
It comes after the publication of 'Abundance,' a book by journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, which argues that the U.S. has failed to build what society needs — including affordable housing and clean energy — in part because of excessive regulation.
Klein, a New York Times columnist, has argued that, if Democrats want to win elections going forward, they should take up the 'politics of abundance.'
Breaking down the poll
The poll — which surveyed 1,200 voters May 8-13 — described the abundance view by saying: 'The big problem is 'bottlenecks' that make it harder to produce housing, expand energy production, or build new roads and bridges … Frequently these bottlenecks take the form of well-intended regulations …'
In contrast, it described the populist view by saying: 'The big problem is that big corporations have way too much power over our economy and our government. … We need to hold these corporations accountable and reduce their power …'
For most respondents, the latter view was seen as more persuasive.
Fifty-six percent said they would be more likely to vote for someone — whether for Congress or the White House — who articulated the populist view, while 44% said they'd probably vote for a candidate who held the abundance view.
When the results were broken down by partisan affiliation, some significant differences emerged, according to the poll, which has a margin of error of 3.09 percentage points.
The vast majority of Democrats, 73%, favored a candidate making the populist argument — as did 55% of independents. In contrast, 59% of Republicans said they were more likely to vote for someone making an abundance argument.
Additionally, respondents were asked which view they agreed with more — even if neither lines up perfectly with their beliefs.
A plurality, 43%, said they agreed more with the populist view, while 29% selected the abundance view. Again, Democrats and independents preferred the populist argument, while Republicans favored the other option.
'What these voters want is clear: a populist agenda that takes on corporate power and corruption,' Emily Peterson-Cassin, the corporate power director at Demand Progress, a progressive organization, said in a release. 'The stakes are too high for Democrats to fixate on a message that only appeals to a minority of independent and Democratic voters.'
However, Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat — who has called for embracing economic populism — expressed some skepticism with the poll's findings.
'It's a weird juxtaposition,' he wrote in a post on X. 'Why not craft a message where we aggressively reduce concentrated corporate power AND we fix bottlenecks and build more stuff?'