Actually, I'm beginning to wonder if it's so smart to vote for Bernie. I'm a Democrat, so "Socialist" or any of it's variations don't scare me. Most Democrats feel that way. But what about Independents? I've looked at some poll numbers and turns out Independents don't feel that way at all.

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It won’t surprise you to hear that Democrats are far more willing than independents to support a socialist candidate. But you might be surprised by how much bigger the partisan gap is for a socialist than for other kinds of candidates. In a Gallup poll taken last month, Democrats didn’t differ much from independents in their stated willingness to vote for a black, female, gay, or atheist presidential nominee. For a Muslim nominee, the gap was more then 30 net percentage points. For a socialist, it was more than 60 points. Three-quarters of Democrats were willing to vote for a socialist. Most independents—and, consequently, most of the Gallup respondents—weren’t.

The Great Socialism Gap

The 2016 election had a slight edge for Democrats, but it's a lot more complex than "more Democrats than Republicans". 30-40% are actually Independents and Democrats can't win without them. If they are freaked out by socialism, Democrats will lose. And I have a distinct feeling that when Bernie is crowned as Democratic nominee, the Republicans (and the Russians) are going to make sure every Independent in America thinks he's a communist.

The real question will be: Will Independents vote for a communist or a crook? Because that's how each side will be portraying the other by November.