Neoliberal "Abundance Agenda" Fails in New Polls, Populism Wins

Poll Results on Economic Agendas

• 📊 A Demand Progress poll reveals that the "abundance agenda," which focuses on deregulation and removing bottlenecks, performs poorly compared to a populist approach.
• 💡 When participants were presented with the "abundance" argument (focusing on regulations being exploited by interest groups), only 42% found it made them more likely to vote for a candidate.
• 🎯 In contrast, the "populist" argument (focusing on corporate power, lack of investment, and maximizing profits) made approximately 55% of voters more likely to support a candidate.
• 📈 For independents, the populist message garnered a 55% positive response, while the abundance agenda only achieved around 40%.

Key Differences in Messaging

• 🔑 The "abundance agenda" is described as confusing and technocratic, appealing to buzzwords like "overregulation" but failing to resonate with the broader electorate's concerns.
• 🧠 The populist message, emphasizing corporate accountability and government investment for working-class Americans, shows significantly stronger appeal across the board.
• 📉 When asked which perspective they agreed with most, 42.8% chose the populist view, while only 29.2% favored the abundance agenda.

Core Issues and Voter Priorities

• 🚀 A separate question asking what is needed to improve the economy for working and middle-class Americans revealed strong support for "getting money out of politics, breaking up corporate monopolies, and fighting corruption" (48.5% much more likely).
• 🚫 This contrasts sharply with the idea of reducing regulations, which only made 18.8% much more likely to vote for a candidate.
• 🗣️ For independents, the anti-corruption and anti-monopoly message garnered nearly 85% support (49% much more likely + 38.5% somewhat more likely), dwarfing the 44.9% support for deregulation.

Critique of the "Abundance Agenda"

• ⚠️ The "abundance agenda" is criticized for its focus on attacking government regulation, which is seen as a failing strategy that appeals more to Republicans than to left-leaning voters.
• 🚫 The underlying message of deregulation is deemed political suicide, especially after the pandemic demonstrated the government's potential for positive action.
• 💰 The strategy is viewed as an attempt to manipulate the public away from wealth redistribution, funded by moneyed elites, rather than a genuine commitment to addressing economic inequality.