Even Democratic Voters Hate The Democratic Establishment & Leadership
Although new polling released by NBC yesterday wasn’t exactly good for Republicans, it was even worse for Democrats. A majority of voters disapproves of Trump. Asked about Trump’s handling of the economy, he’s 10 points in the hole (54% disapprove to 22% approve) and when it came to his handling of inflation, 13 points under water. He has positive ratings on one issue: the border and immigration, where most voters are nearly as xenophobic as the MAGA movement:
But the poll finds Democrats doing worse: “While Trump’s standing is largely based on overwhelming support from within his own party,” wrote Scott Bland, Ben Kamisar and Bridget Bowman, “the Democratic Party now sits at its lowest favorable rating in the history of NBC News polling. Just 27% of registered voters view the party positively. That includes just 59% of self-identified Democrats. Meanwhile, 65% of Democrats say they want Democratic lawmakers to stick to their positions even if this means not being able to get things done in Washington, while 32% want them to compromise with Trump to gain consensus on legislation.”
In another report, Bowman and Kamisar were joined Alexandra Marquez who quoted the Democrat on their polling team who said “With these numbers, the Democratic Party is not in need of a rebrand. It needs to be rebooted.”
The slump is partially driven by fed-up Democrats, according to the polling data, after they watched their party lose to Trump in 2024. And now, in a reversal from Trump’s first term, self-identified 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 poll illustrates the angst within the party driving backlash against the Senate Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who sided with Republicans on a Friday procedural vote to advance a GOP-designed spending bill and avert a government shutdown.
…Even some of those who want their party to fight say they aren’t necessarily looking for sweeping victories so much as for their party to play some defense against Republican efforts they oppose. Democrats are in the minority in both the House and the Senate.
A poll out yesterday from CNN found the same kind of record low for support for the Democratic Party. “With many in the party saying publicly that their leaders should do more to stand up to Trump, Democrats and Democratic-aligned independents say, 57% to 42%, that Democrats should mainly work to stop the Republican agenda, rather than working with the GOP majority to get some Democratic ideas into legislation.”
Schumer should have led the Senate Dems in the direction almost all of them wanted to go: voting against the putrid MAGA Mike continuing resolution and forcing a bipartisan negotiation. Instead, he chose to capitulate, giving Republicans exactly what they wanted while asking for nothing in return. As we saw yesterday, that’s not strategy— it’s surrender. If the GOP was forcing a government shutdown, Schumer and other Democratic spokespeople should have been on TV 24/7, not just calling out Republican recklessness, but laying out a clear, uncompromising alternative: solidarity with working people, a bold economic vision, and an unapologetic defense of democracy itself. Instead, we get meek press releases and feigned helplessness while Trump and Musk gleefully dismantle the Constitution.
Josh Weil’s election is in 2 weeks— in a deep red Florida district. The DCCC may be writing him off but he’s raised FAR more money than the kind of conservative candidates they support do. He’s nearly at $10,000,000 entirely from small grassroots donors. (Please contribute to him here.) Yesterday, he told me that “We’re in a legitimate Constitutional Crisis, with the President of the United States having gone on television and claiming the powers of the Legislative and Judicial branches of the federal government as his own. This bold attempt to obliterate the separation of powers built into the foundation of our Constitution must be fought tooth and nail by our legislative leaders in the Democratic Party, and the silence from them is deafening. AOC is absolutely correct when she says that if the Republican Party needs Democratic votes, then they must negotiate with us. To see our Senate leadership cave, without concession, was beyond disappointing, it was an outright betrayal.” Yeah… did I mention you can contribute to his campaign here?
Senate Minority leader Schumer— 2%, Speaker Emerita Pelosi— 2%, Gov Gavin Newsom— 2%, Mayo Pete— 1%, Gov. Josh Shapiro— 1%, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer— 1%, DNC chair Ken Martin— 1%... John Fetterman— ZERO percent. Those numbers combined add up to AOC. Democratic leaders need to study this poll and ask themselves why... and what they can do to win back the core Democratic Party voters who they've alienated with their pro-Wall Street, corporate-friendly, genocide-friendly policies and weak-knee-ed reaction to Trump's authoritarianism and disastrous economic agenda.
The polling couldn’t be clearer, could it? Voters don’t want Democrats to “work with” the increasingly dictatorial Trump— they want them to fight him. Schumer’s brand of institutionalist, go-along-to-get-along politics isn’t just ineffective; it’s actively repelling the party’s own base. And if he and the rest of the Senate Democrats can’t figure out how to stand for something— anything— then maybe it’s time for new leadership that will. The Democratic Party isn’t suffering from a branding problem. It’s suffering from a backbone problem. And if they don’t fix it soon, they’ll be left with nothing but a shrinking, demoralized coalition and a country slipping further into right-wing authoritarianism.
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