Updated

Updated · CBS New York · Aug 16

CBS Poll Finds 58% of Democrats View Socialism Positively as Midterms Near in 11 Weeks

Updated

Updated · CBS New York · Aug 16

CBS Poll Finds 58% of Democrats View Socialism Positively as Midterms Near in 11 Weeks

Q: Will the growing public push to abolish the Electoral College actually succeed, or is the centuries-old system permanently locked in place?

Abolishing the Electoral College is possible, but it is unlikely in the near term. The strongest route is a constitutional amendment, because the Electoral College is embedded in the Constitution. That requires two-thirds support in both the House and Senate and ratification by three-fourths of the states. In practice, that is an extremely high bar, especially because smaller states have little incentive to give up a system that amplifies their influence. History underscores the difficulty: many reform proposals have been introduced, and even the 1969 amendment effort that passed the House stalled in the Senate. That does not mean the system is permanently locked in place. Public support for replacing it with a national popular vote has often been strong, and criticism grows whenever the popular-vote winner loses the presidency, as happened in 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016. Reformers are also pursuing a workaround through the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, under which states pledge their electors to the national popular-vote winner once states totaling 270 electoral votes join. That compact has made progress but remains short of the threshold, and it still faces political and likely legal tests. So the realistic answer is that full abolition is not close, but pressure for change is real and could still alter how presidential elections work over time. The centuries-old system is durable, not untouchable.

3 articles · Updated · CBS New York · Aug 16

58% of Democrats view socialism positively, versus 32% for capitalism, while 60% of Americans say the U.S. economic system is unfair and 73% see the rich-middle-class gap widening.
Andy Beshear used the poll to argue voters want results, not ideology, rejecting socialism as a failed experiment while pitching housing investment, drug-price negotiation and a constitutional overhaul including direct presidential elections.
Chris Rabb, a Democratic Socialist nominee in Philadelphia, said labels matter less than fighting for working people, defending a broader public role in health care, wages and social programs as Democrats debate how bold to be.
Don Bacon, a retiring Nebraska Republican, said Trump has been too dismissive of pain from $4 gas, inflation and long military deployments, while warning tariffs are raising consumer costs.
Panelists said the party's ideological fight could shape whether Democrats capitalize on a favorable midterm map, with fewer than 20 true House tossups limiting how much a wave election can deliver.