Poll: Democratic Party’s favorability level drops to record low

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., listens as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress on March 4 at the Capitol in Washington. Win McNamee/ap

The Democratic Party’s favorability among Americans is at a record low, according to a poll conducted by CNN.

Many in the party have been outspoken in saying that their leaders need to do more to stand up to President Donald Trump. Democrats and Democratic-aligned independents say 57% to 42% that Democrats should work to stop the Republican agenda rather than trying to work with the party to get their ideas into legislation, CNN reports.

The survey was conducted days before 10 Democratic senators, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, voted in line with Republicans to advance the GOP-crafted spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.

This viewpoint marks a shift from Trump’s first term, when a 2017 CNN poll found a 74% majority of Democrats and Democratic leaners saying the party should work with Republicans to advance their legislation, and only 23% pushing for a more combative approach.

CNN data also shows Democratic-aligned adults, 52% to 48%, saying leadership of the Democratic Party is leading the party in the wrong direction.

The Democratic Party’s favorability rating among the American public overall stands at 29%, marking a record low in CNN’s polling dating back to 1992, the outlet reports.

The Republican Party’s rating currently stands at 36%.

With relatively high levels of dissatisfaction within the Democratic Party, currently, only 63% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents report a favorable view of their party. This number marks a dip from 72% in January and 81% at the start of President Joe Biden’s term.

In contrast, 79% of Republicans and Republican leaners currently have a positive view of their party. Political independents, however, have a low view of both parties with, with 19% rating the Democrats favorably and 20% with the same view of Republicans.

Both parties, the GOP and Democrats alike are viewed by “about half the public” as having views and policies that are “too extreme, rather than generally mainstream,” CNN reports. This is a shift from 2022, when 56% of Americans called the Democratic Party’s stances mainstream. Views of the GOP have remained unchanged over time.

Political independents are most likely to view Republicans as out of the mainstream; however, 57% call Republicans too extreme, and 48% say the same of the Democrats. Within parties, 16% of Democrats call their party too extreme, while 9% of Republicans say the same of the GOP.

Although the Democratic party overwhelmingly considers Trump too extreme, they have not aligned on a one-party leader and representative to serve as a counterpoint to the president.

The majority of Democratic-aligned individuals across demographic lines say they want to see Democrats work to stop the Republican agenda.

The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS from March 6 to 9 among a random national sample of 1,206 US adults.

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