Democrats have prided themselves on a number of issues over the past few years. Ahead of the 2026 elections, the Democratic brand is so toxic that they are now losing to Republicans on those very issues.

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll asked people “which party has a better plan” on a number of issues. Republicans dominated crime, immigration, foreign conflicts, and the economy, while Democrats did the same on their bread-and-butter issues of the environment, abortion (sorry, “women’s rights”), and healthcare. But, in the era of President Donald Trump, Democrats have focused on corruption, political extremism, and respect for democracy as issues that set them apart from the GOP.

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Democrats are now floundering on those issues, though. Republicans have a 6-point lead on corruption and a 4-point lead on political extremism. Democrats have been bleating about various right-wing “threats to democracy” for years, and yet they have just a 2-point lead on “respect for democracy.” Democrats are also in a 4-point hole on gun control.

This comes after multiple polls put the Democratic Party’s favorability at historic lows. A CNN poll found that 40% of people think the GOP is a party with “strong leaders,” compared to just 16% who give that label to Democrats. Republicans are even perceived as the “party of change,” 32% to 25% over Democrats, despite Republicans controlling a federal trifecta of power between the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate.

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The Democratic Party has burned its credibility as the past five years have disproven every major notion it has pushed on voters. Democrats said they couldn’t solve the border crisis without Republicans agreeing to a bill Democrats wanted, just for Trump to come into office and solve the problem anyway. Democrats told voters that then-President Joe Biden was completely fine and healthy despite it being obvious that this was not the case. After labeling Republicans as the party of political violence for years, multiple terrorist attacks from alleged left-wing radicals over the past few weeks have shown people that political violence is a left-wing problem.

Voters are responding to all of these inputs by downgrading their opinion of Democrats, whether that be the Democratic Party itself or all of these issues that Democrats have tied themselves to since Trump came onto the scene. The hysterics of prominent Democrats no longer register with voters outside their devoted base, meaning that Democrats are again painting themselves into a corner as the 2026 midterm elections approach.