US May Be Entering Moderate Moment As Voters Reject Radicalism, Poll Suggests

Many Americans favor more moderate candidates in a hypothetical 2028 contest, according to an Emerson College Polling survey released Thursday.

The newly released poll found that in a hypothetical 2028 presidential election matchup, 48% of voters supported a moderate Republican, while 36% backed a progressive Democrat and 16% were undecided. By comparison, 47% of respondents said they would support a moderate Democrat in 2028, while 38% said they would vote for a “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) Republican and 14% remained undecided, per the survey.

“It is clear that a moderate candidate on both the Democratic and Republican side has appeal toward independent voters that a label of progressive or MAGA does not appeal to: the ‘moderate Democrat’ has a 17-point advantage over the MAGA Republican and the ‘moderate Republican’ has an 18-point advantage over the ‘progressive Democrat,’” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a statement.

Additionally, 39% of voters said they would vote for a moderate Democratic candidate in the next presidential election, while 44% said the same about a moderate GOP candidate and 17% were undecided, the survey shows.

Moreover, the same poll showed Democrats leading the generic 2026