The Democrat Party has enough issues as it is. But this takes the cake.
Now devastating test results have put these Democrats on life support.
Democrats’ Popularity Takes a Nosedive
The Democrats are watching their favorability sink like a stone, dropping four points since early January as President Donald Trump gears up for his second White House stint.
That’s a jaw-dropping 20-point freefall from January 2021, when former President Joe Biden was just settling into the Oval Office. The numbers paint a grim picture for the party as it stumbles into 2025.
According to a CNN poll conducted March 6-9 by SSRS, only 63% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents now view their party favorably. That’s down from 72% in January and a steep slide from the 81% high four years ago at the dawn of Biden’s term. The party’s glow is fading fast among its own faithful.
The slump isn’t just a CNN story. An NBC News national poll, also dropped on Sunday, echoes the decline. Just 27% of registered voters see the Democratic Party in a positive light—the lowest mark in NBC’s polling history stretching back to 1990. That survey, conducted March 7-11, suggests the party’s appeal is hitting rock bottom.
Political Wilderness and a Shifting Base
The Democratic Party finds itself lost in the political wilds after last November’s electoral drubbing. Republicans snatched back the White House and Senate while clinging to their razor-thin House majority.
Worse yet, the GOP chipped away at the Democrats’ traditional strongholds, making inroads with Black and Hispanic voters, plus the younger crowd—groups that once reliably fueled the blue machine.
Meanwhile, the GOP’s standing holds steady in the CNN poll, with a 36% favorable rating unchanged from January, though its unfavorable score ticked up four points to 48%. The NBC News poll paints a similar underwater picture for Republicans, with 39% favorable and 49% unfavorable. Neither party’s winning hearts, but the Democrats seem to be losing them faster.
These latest surveys follow a Quinnipiac University poll from last month that turned heads by pegging Democratic favorability at an all-time low in their records since 2009. For a party already reeling, the hits just keep coming.
Divisions Deepen Over Strategy and Leadership
Inside the Democratic ranks, there’s a growing rift on how to handle the Trump era, round two. The CNN survey reveals a 57%-42% split, with Democrats favoring a strategy of stonewalling the GOP agenda over seeking bipartisan olive branches. That’s a sharp pivot from the start of Trump’s first term, when nearly three-quarters of Democrats preached cooperation.
The NBC News poll doubles down on this shift, showing almost two-thirds of Democrats urging their congressional reps to dig in their heels rather than compromise with Trump—a stark reversal from early 2017 vibes.
Both polls wrapped up before last week’s bombshell, when 10 Senate Democrats, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), backed a GOP-drafted spending bill to dodge a government shutdown. That move lit a fuse among left-leaning faithful itching for a fiercer fight.
When asked who “best reflects the core values” of the party, Democrats are all over the map. Ten percent of Democratic-aligned adults point to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, 9% name former VP Kamala Harris, 8% tap Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and 6% pick House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Over 30% couldn’t even muster a name, hinting at a leadership void as the party grapples with its identity crisis.
The Schumer-led vote has only fanned the flames, leaving many on the Left fuming and demanding a tougher stance against Trump’s playbook. The Democrats’ path forward looks murkier than ever.
