Do Democrats Want Revolution or Relief?

The Iowa caucus results confirm that the party remains divided between its heart that wants a candidate who represents them on the issues, and their mind, which wants a candidate who will win the election – idealism or pragmatism, revolution or get rid of Donald Trump? Of course, they would prefer a nominee who satisfies both desires, but given many of the party’s purest issue positions, some of which are outside the mainstream, they will likely have to choose.

Iowa’s top two choices – Pete Buttigieg (26%) and Bernie Sanders (26%) – and Elizabeth Warren (18%) and Joe Biden a weak fourth (15%) highlight the divide among four-fifths of Democrats voting.

When voters were asked in the Berkeley IGS California poll to choose between a candidate that can defeat Trump (53%) or a candidate that most agrees with them on the issues (47%), a narrow margin selected pragmatism. Most Biden, Michael Bloomberg and Amy Klobuchar voters wanted to defeat Trump, and Sanders, Warren and Andrew Yang supporters wanted a candidate that most agreed with them on the issues. Buttigieg was nearer the middle.