After emphatically losing 2024 election, Democrats are hoping their party changes – even if it means a more moderate stance. While Democrats saw an increase in party support in the 2020 presidential election and 2022 midterm elections they quickly lost momentum leading up to the 2024 presidential election where President Donald Trump picked up every swing state to secure the White House. High inflation, unaffordable housing, rising consumer prices, the pandemic’s impact on individual freedoms and other factors all contributed to empowering the conservative movement.
But the new polling indicates that the country’s shift toward conservatism has struck a chord with 45 percent of Democrat and Democrat-leaning voters who say the party should become more moderate. In an ideological party breakdown, Gallup found that most moderate Democrats believe the party should move toward the middle while only 30 percent of liberal Democrats shared the same belief. The same cannot be said for Republicans.
Only 27 percent of Republicans surveyed believe the party should become more moderate – though that is three percentage points higher than in 2021. The poll found that 43 percent of Republicans think the party should remain as it is. Approximately 28 percent say the party should become more conservative but that is 12 percentage points lower than it was in 2021 – indicating Republican voters are content with the election results and the country’s direction.
Like moderate Democrats, most moderate Republicans are the voters who believe the party should shift toward the middle of the political spectrum. A staggering 50 percent of moderate Republicans said they think the party should become more moderate. Only 16 percent of conservative Republicans wish to see the party move moderately. Most conservative Republicans want their party to remain as it is or become more conservative.
