OPINION:
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. The latest CNN poll shows the Democratic Party is wandering in the wilderness, with a paltry 29% of Americans giving the Democrats a thumbs up. To put it bluntly, it’s bad – like maybe the party needs a 20-year rebuild.
While news like this is amusing for their political rivals and excruciating for Democrats, it gets juicier when you unpack the numbers. Among their own people – the supposedly faithful Democrats and their sympathetic independents – a pitiful 63% hold a favorable view of the party. In 2021, it was 81%, and they were confidently slapping “Dark Brandon” memes on everything. Now? It seems like Dead Brandon.
Democrats aren’t just being pulled in different directions. They’re practically tearing themselves apart like actors in a bad soap opera. Imagine being in a group project where half the team wants to finish the assignment by burning everyone else’s work (57% want their reps to just “fight the Republicans”), and the other half wants to form a kumbaya circle and try to collaborate (42% prefer actually pushing Democratic policies). Spoiler alert – The Democrats have no idea where to go from here.
The real kicker? 52% of Democratic-aligned adults think their party is steering into the wrong lane – straight into oncoming traffic.
Here’s the pièce de résistance of the Democratic woes. The answers were underwhelming when asked who best represents their party’s values. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got a meager 10% — although she led the pack — former Vice President Kamala Harris a lame 9%, Sen. Bernie Sanders scraped by with 8%, and the rest barely even registered. Oh, and a hilarious 30% of respondents just said, “No one.”
Think about that for a second. When your party’s best-known faces can’t even cobble together double-digit support, and a third of your base doesn’t even believe leadership exists, you’ve got a branding problem bigger than Kanye West.
Not that Republicans are America’s sweetheart, either – their favorability hovers at a modest 36%. But here’s the difference. Among their own people, Republicans can’t stop high-fiving. A whopping 79% of Republicans and right-leaning independents are hyped about their team, bumping elbows in a unified MAGA chorus of self-congratulations. Say what you want about their policies, but at least they know how to stick together.
Naturally, every upstart Democrat with Wi-Fi and a Twitter account is screaming about the need for a “Democratic Tea Party.” Some are even cheekily dubbing it a “Boba Party,” presumably to target younger, disillusioned voters who can’t decide if they hate student loans or avocado toast more. If Republicans went through their own overhaul circa 2013-2015, why can’t the Democrats do the same?
If history is any indication (and it generally is), dissatisfaction like this can dunk the establishment while elevating unconventional challengers. Remember the whole Trump thing? Yeah. People eat that anti-establishment buffet for breakfast.
And that brings us to the question of who could actually save the Democrats. According to YouGov/Economist data, Mr. Sanders is America’s most beloved Democratic figure, with 46% viewing him favorably. Say what you will about his age – and trust us, critics will, the dude’s 83 — but the man’s got range. Young voters? Love him. Lower-income voters? Love him. Moderates, independents, Hispanics, Black voters, and even men? Love him. Even white voters dislike him by only two points, which is practically a success story.
Why? Yelling about how the system has failed people strikes a chord. His persistent railing against inequality and the “neoliberal consensus”—whatever long-winded phrase you prefer — resonates with an electorate looking for someone different rather than someone in a carefully tailored pantsuit.
Of course, Bernie isn’t without his problems (the man will be 86 in 2028), and no one’s saying the Democrats can just slap a “Feel the Bern” sticker on the next election and call it a day. However, the key takeaway here is that their entire brand is broken. Call it a leadership vacuum, call it generational discontent, call it the inability to decide on ordering pizza – the Democrats are in trouble. So much trouble that there are whispers the party should go with AOC for president in 2028.
Meanwhile, the Republicans are sitting there, sipping boba tea and waiting to scavenge the battlefield.
For the Democrats, time is running out. Or they can keep playing identity crisis while the GOP fires up the grill for 2024 leftovers. Like that iconic poll respondent said, “No one” represents the Democrats right now.
And honestly, that’s the problem.
• Joseph Curl covered the White House and politics for a decade for The Washington Times. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and on Twitter @josephcurl.
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