【Crazy Sex】

Your Handmaid's Taleopinions could Crazy Sexhave a lot more to do with the 2020 presidential election than you think.

A new survey, conducted by Morning Consult and The Hollywood Reporterprior to the Handmaid's Season 3 premiere on Wednesday, indicates viewer opinion on the realism of Gilead's totalitarian regime may be strongly linked to political party affiliation.

The survey, which polled 2,201 adult viewers from May 31 - June 2, asked participants to choose between two statements, selecting the one they agreed with more: "The dystopia shown in The Handmaid’s Taleis grounded in truth and could become reality someday" or "The dystopia shown in The Handmaid’s Talecapitalizes on people’s irrational fears and won’t become a reality."

While 67 percent of people polled said they didn't know or had no opinion, the 33 percent who did answer were almost evenly split — with 17 percent saying Handmaid'scould become reality, and 16 percent saying it could not. (For reference, the one percent difference accounts for 30 votes.)

Contextualized by additional demographic data, those two camps are strikingly partisan. Democrats were substantially more likely to agree with the first statement, with 29 percent of Democratic men and 26 percent of Democratic women selecting it, while just 8 percent of Republican men and 9 percent of Republican women agreed that Gilead could become reality.

Alternatively, 25 percent of Republican men and 18 percent of Republican women selected the second statement, saying the events of Handmaid's capitalized on irrational fears. 14 percent of Democratic men and 14 percent of Democratic women also agreed with this statement.

Categorized by ideology, the contrast is just as stark. 32 percent of liberals and just 10 percent of conservatives agreed with the first statement, while 17 percent of liberals and 20 percent of conservatives agreed with the second.

The survey additionally categorized viewers by 2018 House vote, 2016 presidential vote, views on President Trump, and participants' #1 political issues. 30 percent of participants who said "women's issues" were their highest priority agreed Handmaid'sdepiction of Gilead could become reality.

Notably, the survey's sample size is relatively small — and carries an overall two percent margin of error.

While not definitive, the results of the survey should not come as a surprise to those familiar with Handmaid's role in the current political landscape. Crimson robes and white caps have become regular displays of protest for activists protecting women's access to healthcare and abortion rights, both facing additional threats under the Trump administration.

On Twitter, #HandmaidsTale is regularly associated with political content, as fans use their online community to begin real-life political discussions, debating tweets likening real politicians to on-screen villains and rallying around posts capturing real-life protests inspired by the show.

Similarly, Handmaid's cast members have routinely used their platforms to stress their concerns over the state of the country. Discussing the premiere of Handmaid's Season 3 with Entertainment Tonight, Madeline Brewer, who plays Janine, noted her concerns that the events of her show could be coming closer reality as numerous abortion bans take hold across the United States.

"I do think that something that the show tries to put out into the public is that women and everyone of any marginalized community in the United States has to pay attention," she said.

"Pay attention to what's happening to your rights. Pay attention to the words that you use, because now apparently words are now becoming a very, very important thing in law."

You can see all of the data from the survey in this report.