The fortunes of the Democratic Party continue to tank, with a new poll giving the party its lowest favorability rating in 35 years.
The poll from the Wall Street Journal found 63% of voters have an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party, compared to 33% who hold a favorable view. This is compared to the 11% deficit in unfavorability suffered by the Republican Party. Enthusiasm is also on the Republicans’ side — just 8% of voters view the Democrats “very favorably,” while 19% view the Republicans “very favorably.”
The poll found another pattern — Republicans were able to reap the benefits of Trump’s popularity while insulating themselves from his more unpopular stances. For example, voters disapproved of Trump’s handling of tariffs by a massive 17 points, yet trusted Republicans more than Democrats on the issue by 7 points. Trump’s handling of inflation has an 11-point deficit, yet voters trust Republicans more on the issue by 10 points.
The only issues Democrats enjoyed more confidence in were healthcare and vaccines.
The dismal Democratic rating reflects the uniquely bad position the party finds itself in. The party has been unable to come up with a coherent message after being routed by Trump and the Republicans in November, failing to satisfy centrists looking to moderate their image and leftists hoping to intensify their message.
The current dissatisfaction comes from three main angles — centrists believing the party has gone too far to the left, leftists who believe the party has gone too far to the center, and resistance Democrats who believe the party isn’t fighting Trump hard enough.
IN UGLY DEMOCRATIC FEUD, BOTH SIDES DESERVE TO LOSE
Polls on Trump’s approval rating have varied drastically over the past month, with the Wall Street Journal putting it at 46%, though substantially higher than at this point in his first term, when it was at 40%.
The poll surveyed 1,500 registered voters from July 16-20. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.