Almost nobody cares about the Democratic Party anymore, not even its own membership. That is the outcome delivered by a poll released Sunday that shows the party’s favorability rating among Americans has sunk to a historic low thanks in part to underwhelming views from its own frustrated supporters.
A CNN poll conducted by SSRS found with many in the Democratic Party publicly say their meek leaders should do more to challenge President Donald Trump, Democrats and Democratic-aligned independents say, 57 percent to 42 percent, that Democrats should mainly work to stop the Republican agenda, rather than working with the GOP majority to get some Democratic ideas into legislation.
CNN reports that weak, dithering leaders and poor political judgement combine to disillusion former backers of the party which has seen it slide into irrelevance:
The majority’s desire to fight the GOP marks a significant change in the party’s posture from the start of Trump’s first term. A September 2017 poll found a broad 74% majority of Democrats and Democratic leaners saying their party should work with Republicans in an attempt to advance their own priorities, and just 23% advocating for a more combative approach.
Democratic-aligned adults say, 52% to 48%, that the leadership of the Democratic Party is currently taking the party in the wrong direction. That’s another shift from eight years ago, when views on this metric were largely positive.
Among the American public overall, the Democratic Party’s favorability rating stands at just 29% – a record low in CNN’s polling dating back to 1992 and a drop of 20 points since January 2021, when Trump exited his first term under the shadow of the January 6 attack at on Capitol. The Republican Party’s rating currently stands at 36%.
Overall Democrats have yet to consolidate around any one-party leader to serve as a counterpoint to a surging and increasingly confident President Donald Trump.
MAD MAX: Democrat Party icon Maxine Waters is accusing President Trump of trying to start a civil war by [checks notes] not sending grant money to nonprofits. https://t.co/99QcEI2w0Y
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 16, 2025
CNN further reports that when asked in an open-ended question to name the Democratic leader they feel “best reflects the core values” of the party, “10% of Democratic-aligned adults name New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 9% former vice president Kamala Harris, 8% Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and 6% House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Another 4% each name former president Barack Obama and Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, with Schumer joining a handful of others at 2%.”
More than 30 percent didn’t – or simply couldn’t – offer a name in response. “No one,” one respondent answered. “That’s the problem.”
Surveys were obtained March 6-9, 2025, with a representative sample of n=1,206 respondents. The margin of sampling error for total respondents is +/-3.3 at the 95% confidence level.
