Poll: Many Democrats want a more moderate party; Republicans happy with GOP

By Morgan Sweeney
The Center Square

Data from a new Gallup survey suggests that close to half of Democrats want their party to move more toward the middle, while more than 40% of Republicans are happy with their party.

Today, 45% of Democrats and left-leaning independents surveyed indicated they would prefer a more moderate Democratic Party, up 11% from 2021, according to Gallup. Meanwhile, the number of Republicans who want their party to stay the same – 43% – has similarly climbed over the same time by 9%. Those wanting a more conservative party declined by 12%.

“Both party groups’ preferences have shifted significantly since 2021, at the start of Joe Biden’s presidency, the last time Gallup measured opinions on this question,” wrote Gallup Senior Editor Megan Brennan.

This just days after Gallup released another survey showing of the five living American presidents, former President Barack Obama is the most liked, and former President Joe Biden is the least. Forty-eight percent of Americans surveyed had a favorable opinion of President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton, though more people were unfavorable toward Trump (12% answered as having ‘no opinion’ on Clinton). 

The data from the latest Gallup survey coincides with data from another poll the analytics firm released in January showing “that partisans have grown more ideologically polarized in the past few years.” 

That poll reflected all-time highs in the number of Republicans and Democrats identifying as conservative and liberal. Seventy-seven percent of Republicans identified as conservative in the January poll, with 24% saying they were very conservative, while 55% of Democrats identified as liberal and 19% as very liberal. Each of these were record highs, with the percentage of those describing themselves as conservative growing by four points from 2023.