Popular… you're gonna be pop-u-lar!

It’s not looking great for the Democratic Party, folks. In terms of popularity among the general public, they’re giving more season eight of Game of Thrones than season one. And that’s not a great sign for anyone that wants to, you know, win elections.

But in a new piece for DFP Insights, Representative Greg Casar, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, writes that “When we name our opponents clearly — corruption, soaring costs, and concentrated wealth — and show how we’ll deliver for everyday Americans, we win.”

In our new polling, we find that a Democratic candidate running on a populist message (fight corruption, costs, and billionaires) beats a Republican by 15 points — compared to just 6 points for a candidate running on a more generic Democratic message.

And we tested nearly 40 (!!!) progressive policies based on current bills that have been introduced in Congress and find that strong majorities of voters support them across the board.

I know you're probably thinking, “I ain't reading all that,” but as Rep. Casar writes, “The agenda tested in this new polling is a commonsense roadmap for action. It includes cracking down on corporate price fixing, eliminating hidden junk fees, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, expanding Medicare benefits, and ending political corruption…

But more importantly, this agenda shows that voters will support Democrats if we fight clearly for our voters and against special interests. This approach directly names the villains that Americans understand are rigging the system: corrupt politicians, price-gouging corporations, and billionaires hoarding wealth while working families fall further behind.”

When Glinda told Elphaba that she was the toughest case she’d yet to face, that’s because she hadn’t looked at the Democratic Party’s approval numbers. But by standing behind a popular, common sense agenda laser-focused on lowering the cost of living and evening the economic playing field, the party may just start to rebuild trust among the voters that have drifted away from them in recent years.

Read the full DFP Insight here.

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Here are some other highlights from DFP this week:
 

The summer the economy turned sh*tty

Between nonsensical tariffs, the rise of AI taking all our jobs, and the NFL adding ads to RedZone, every headline we read about the economy these days feels like another blow.

Our new poll finds that voters are feeling the economic pressure — a plurality of voters (32%) say that “economy, jobs, and inflation” is the issue they consider the most when deciding which candidate to vote for, and a strong majority of voters (72%), including 73% of Independents, say inflation is getting worse for people like them.

However, much like this newsletter author when called on in math class, it doesn’t seem like anyone has a solution.

Voters are more confident that Trump (39%) and the Republican Party (35%) have a solution for inflation than the Democratic Party (29%) — and a majority say that none of them do. 

Folks, let’s get creative with some ideas here. Cracking down on price gouging in the labubu resale market? Forcing Netflix to let us all share passwords again? Or maybe let’s run on some of those extremely popular progressive agenda items designed to lower costs on groceries, health care, housing, and more. Just a thought!

Read the full poll here.


Vax over feelings

These days, it feels like you can’t turn anywhere on the Internet without some influencer with a degree from WebMD telling you what is and isn’t good for your health. And now, one of those influencers is Secretary of Health and Human Services… Great!!

Over the past several months, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has directed numerous changes to U.S. vaccine policy, including limiting eligibility for COVID-19 shots and canceling funding for mRNA vaccine research. 

But 72% of voters agree with the statement that “vaccines are safe,” while a majority of voters disagree that “the coronavirus vaccine is the deadliest vaccine ever made” and that “vaccines cause autism."

Now following in the Trump administration’s lead, the state of Florida (where else?) recently announced that it would plan to end vaccine mandates in schools. That decision is opposed by 63% of voters overall.

Let’s be honest — our president, a noted “pal” of Jeffrey Epstein, is probably not the best person to speak on what is or isn’t safe for our children. Just saying!

Read the full poll here.



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