If you have difficulty finding a reason to support the Democrats and their increasingly bizarre policy positions, you aren’t alone. Two national polls released on Sunday show that their party’s favorability ratings have plunged to catastrophic lows. According to a new NBC News survey, just 27 percent of registered voters hold a positive view of the Democratic Party — its lowest rating since 1990. Likewise, a new CNN poll indicates that only 29 percent of U.S. adults regard the party favorably — a low not seen since 1992. These polls echo an equally ominous Quinnipiac survey conducted last month.
Like the Whig Party, it will eventually be of interest primarily to historians long after its voters have moved on.
Both of these surveys clearly reveal why the public harbors such a low opinion of the Democrats, and why this is unlikely to change in the near future. The NBC poll, for example, found the following: “Democratic voters say they want their party to hold the line on their positions even if it leads to gridlock, rather than focus on finding areas of compromise with the president.” The CNN survey suggests a similarly suicidal attitude: “Democrats and Democratic-aligned independents say, 57 percent to 42 percent, that Democrats should mainly work to stop the Republican agenda, rather than working with the GOP majority.”
This is stunning. It means that, for all intents and purposes, the Democratic Party exists for no other reason than to oppose President Trump, the GOP and the 77.4 million Americans who voted for them last November. If that seems like hyperbole, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said it out loud Sunday morning on NBC’s Meet the Press,” when Kristen Welker asked him, “Our new NBC News poll, as you just saw, shows the Democratic Party at an all time low approval rating. Why do you think Democrats are failing to connect with Americans at this critical moment of urgency which you describe?” In response Sen. Murphy brayed,
I think Americans want the Democratic Party to stand up and fight and to take risks. Listen, I understand that, had we gone into a shut down, even for a handful of days, it would have been difficult. But it would have sent a message that the Democratic Party is not going to be bullied by Donald Trump … That is the conversation that has to happen inside of the Democratic Party, inside our caucus. And if we don’t get that right, if we continue to work with Republicans, if we continue to hand Donald Trump more power, we are going to lose our democracy.
If characters like Sen. Murphy remain among the most visible representatives of his party, it will go the way of the Whigs. And it gets worse. As it happens, the CNN poll asked Democratic-aligned respondents which leader “best reflects the core values” of the party and the answers suggest it will remain in the wilderness for a very long time. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came out on top with 10 percent, followed by former vice president Kamala Harris at 9 percent, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders at 8 percent. If these people are the best the Democrats have to offer, the Republicans have a very bright future ahead of them.
Meanwhile, the most reliable polls of the 2024 election cycle indicate that most Americans approve of President Trump’s job performance since his return to the White House. Even NBC, whose polls are never Trump-friendly, released a survey on Sunday showing his approval ratings at “all-time highs in NBC News polling during his political career.” It also found that more voters say the U.S. is heading in the right direction than have said so in 20 years. Additionally, the survey indicates that, “Voters like the general idea of the Department of Government Efficiency, the Trump-blessed effort to slash government jobs and spending.”
Buoyed by jubilant and unified Republicans, who are standing in lockstep with Trump and the expansive agenda he and congressional leaders are pushing in Washington, more registered voters see the U.S. as heading in the right direction than at any point since early 2004, though a majority still say the country is on the wrong track. Trump’s approval rating also equals his best-ever mark as president (47 percent), though again, a majority (51 percent) disapproves of his performance.
Democratic Party’s Anti-Trump Agenda
NBC News does its best to find a dark cloud for every silver lining in Trump’s numbers, but that doesn’t render the polling data reported by the same news organization regarding the Democrats any less disastrous. The “Party of Jefferson and Jackson,” as they once proudly referred to themselves, has offered no positive agenda for the nation and the voters know it. Trump Derangement Syndrome is never going to refurbish the crumbling edifice that is the Democratic Party. It desperately needs genuine leaders who possess the capacity to articulate constructive ideas that will inspire the voters. The Democrats have neither.
Consequently, their party is collapsing. Like the Whig Party, it will eventually be of interest primarily to historians long after its voters have moved on.
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