Support for socialism can be tricky to measure through public polling. Democrats generally have a more favorable view than Republicans, but its support has not risen along with Sanders' political fortunes. Policies rooted in socialism, like Medicare or social security are widely popular across political lines. Another consistent finding has been diminished backing for capitalism, especially among young people and Democrats. According to a Gallup poll from last year, support for capitalism among 18- to 29-year-olds had fallen more than 20 percentage points over eight years, from 68% to 45% in 2018. But there was no movement when it came to socialism -- it stood at 51% in both 2010 and 2018.

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Whether a modern candidate who embraces socialism can win a presidential election remains an open question. In another Gallup poll from April, fewer than half of Americans (47%) said they would vote for a candidate nominated by their party who is "a generally well-qualified person for president who happened to be a socialist."