Democrat Socialist label not undermining Democrat vote in November
By Ray Hanania
Chicago, IL – A recently released Zogby poll shows that the label “Democratic Socialist” will not undermine the performance of Democrats against Republicans in the November 3, 2026, General Elections.
Both Republicans and Democrats, including former US Senator Hillary Clinton and President Donald Trump, have predicted the rise of “Democratic Socialists” in the wake of the election of Abdul El-Sayed as Michigan’s Democratic Party US Senate candidate will sink the Democratic Party in November and benefit conservatives and Republicans.
But Jeremy Zogby, managing partner of John Zogby Strategies which has conducted polling since 1984, said a recent poll shows that the real label turning off voters is MAGA, the “Make American Great Again” label embraced by Trump.
“We took four generic labels. Uh, here are the scenarios: the Democratic socialist versus the MAGA Republican, the Democratic Socialist versus the establishment Republican, and then on the flip side, the MAGA Republican versus the establishment Democrat, and then, of course, you have to round it off with the establishment Democrat versus the establishment Republican,” Zogby said.
“We found in all four cases today, the question was if the 2028 November general election for president were held today, for whom would you vote? In all four simulations, in all four scenarios, Democratic candidates beat the Republican version.”
Zogby explained that the poll, conducted between August 4 and 5, used the 2028 election in order to allow for trending during the next four years, but that the data applied directly to the upcoming November 3, 2026 General election.
Clinton, who also served as Secretary of State under President Barack Obama, said political attacks by Trump and other Republicans that “Democratic Socialists” are “Communists” will be “very effective” in undermining Democratic Party hopes to block the president.
Zogby said the polling in fact shows that Democratic Socialists perform very strongly not just against ultra Republican conservative MAGA voters, but also against “Traditional Republicans,” but are “a little weaker” than the “Traditional Democrats.”
“The polling shows 42 percent go with the Democratic Socialists, but 39 percent go with the establishment Republican. What we’re seeing here in these three scenarios is really the electorate longing for something more established,” Zogby said.
“The Democratic socialist wins in those scenarios because the electorate is tired of the chaos coming from the Trump administration. Um, but you can see that when we pit the Democratic socialist against the establishment Republican, you know, they’re only three percentage points behind.”
Zogby said that Trump is losing support among Hispanics, young voters under 30, and also among the newest voters.
“Trump won the youth vote, albeit by a narrow margin. He actually won the under-30 vote. He won the vote from the first-time voters, those who 2024 was their first time turning out in a general election. He did well with the independent voters,” Zogby said.
“But Trump’s coalition in 2024 was nothing like 2016. We are seeing a ‘buyer’s remorse’ against the Republican Party because the Republican Party is so heavily dominated by MAGA.”
Zogby said voter attitudes can change as there are still 11 weeks until the General Election.
By the numbers:
Dem Socialist VS Established Rep 42 to 39
Dem Socialist VS MAGA Rep 45 to 33
Established Dem vs Established Rep 46 to 37
Established Dem vs MAGA 50 to 32
Trump approval 38 / disapproval 59
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
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