More voters prefer a gay, Muslim, or atheist president to a socialist one, poll shows

Younger generations of voters are growing increasingly favorable toward socialism. However, a recent Gallup poll reveals that out of a wide variety of characteristics in a potential president, socialism is the least appealing, according to Hot Air.

The poll, measuring Americans' willingness to elect a president from certain groups, pitted socialism against other identifiers such as religion, race and age. Socialism finished dead last, even behind atheism, a historically unpopular characteristic in presidential polling, and Islam, which would likely be a polarizing trait for a national candidate.

The exact phrasing of the question was: "Between now and the 2016/2020 political conventions, there will be discussion about the qualifications of presidential candidates -- their education, age, religion, race and so on. If your party nominated a generally well-qualified person for president who happened to be _____, would you vote for that person? % Yes, would vote for:"

The results for black, Jewish, Catholic, Hispanic, and female were each above 90 percent, and each increased from when the same question was asked of voters in 2015.

The next tier featured an evangelical Christian (80 percent), a gay or lesbian candidate (76 percent) and a candidate under the age of 40 (71 percent).

Sixty-six percent would be willing to elect a Muslim president, 63 percent would support a president over the age of 70, and 60 percent would be comfortable electing an atheist.

Then there's a significant drop-off to socialism, which only 47 percent of respondents would feel comfortable electing to the presidency. That number has not changed from the same poll in 2015.

Justin McCarthy's conclusion for Gallup about the poll is not encouraging for Sen. Bernie Sanders, the only major candidate to run explicitly as a socialist:

In spite of the expanded tolerance for diversity, candidates labeling themselves as socialists may struggle to gain traction in a presidential race, as Americans have not become more open to such a candidate. Even as political figures advocating socialist ideas have gained popularity in Democratic circles in recent years, less than half of Americans remain willing to give an avowed socialist candidate their vote. This creates a challenge for the Democratic Party, as it seeks to avoid alienating the Democratic socialists within its rank and file, while still aiming to win a national election.