Americans are pretty useless when it comes to polling on specific issues. Polls themselves are always at best “indicative”. Just as the write put forth, showing up is what really matters.

If these numbers were useful for your argument, then Bernie should have won easily.

I think the assertion that Americans reject/rejected social democracy is true. They reject anything that they don’t really know about. Same with the issue of universal medical care and a host of things other western liberal democracies take for granted. It would be the same thing if Bernie advocated for Quidoopism. They’d pretend they knew what it was and almost immediately gravitate to opposing it, since that’s safer when you have no fucking idea.

My speculation is that if Bernie had never associated himself with the word “socialist” in his career, he might already be president.

Goats are stupid and easily provoked by things that might be good for them. The analogy of goats and Americans is apt in this sense.