Democratic Party has to fight ‒ and right ‒ itself before it can take on Trump | Opinion
When the polling shows a quarter to a third of Americans don't like what you're selling, it's time to rethink what you're selling. Democrats need to organize if they want a chance at beating Trump.
Ken Martin, the new chair of the Democratic National Committee, used his party's email list Saturday to ask for participation in a feedback survey, seeking "your thoughts on the future of the Democratic Party."
How optimistic, right? Martin has only been on the job six weeks, and he still thinks his party has a future. I guess he missed the debacle that passed for Democratic congressional strategy last week over the government shutdown. Or the intraparty bickering that followed.
The DNC survey asked for input about the importance of a dozen priorities, from building a "more visible communication strategy" to expanding "investment in national organizing efforts." It also asked this question: "If you were leading the DNC, what changes or initiatives would you prioritize?"
Oh, how I wish I had access to read how people responded there. I'm betting the theme would be along the lines of: "Can you please stop playing dead and get in the game before Donald Trump demolishes the entire country?"
Schumer is the face of Democrats failing to deal with Trump
The mess that was the Democratic Party last week is still the mess that is the Democratic Party this week. And U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, the party's minority leader in the Senate, has become the face of it all.
Schumer pulled an infuriating two-step last week on a continuing resolution to fund the government until Sept. 30. House Republicans, with the majority, gave Democrats in that chamber no input on the resolution. So they forced Republicans to pass it on their own in the House.
Schumer said he would also vote no when it got to the Senate, but then flipped and surrendered to Republicans, giving them everything they wanted in a very public win. Democrats in the House and Senate, and beyond, were outraged.
How's that playing for Schumer?
Congress is in recess this week and he had a book tour set with stops in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. But angry protests loomed. So Schumer postponed the book tour "due to security concerns."
Democrats are holding the kind of town halls that sent Republicans scurrying
The DNC has its own road show in the works. I'm betting that won't go the way the party plans.
The Democrats are hoping to capitalize on anger brewing around the country, where some Republican members of Congress have decided against holding in-person town hall meetings, and others have held events where furious constituents railed at them for Trump's efforts to slash and burn the services and jobs they rely on.
The DNC is hosting town halls in Republican-held competitive House districts in states like Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska and Pennsylvania "where vulnerable GOP House members are running scared from their constituents," the party said in a news release, adding that it hopes to "engage voters who have been left behind by Donald Trump and the Republicans' dangerous agenda."
Here's some engagement: If those voters are raging about Trump's actions and Republicans in Congress doing nothing to exert their constitutional power in our government, why would they feel anything but contempt for Democrats in Congress who can't put up a fight?
Democrat approval rating hits new low – but Trump's isn't much better
The blowback for Democrats is real, and it looks to be metastasizing.
A CNN/SSRS poll released Sunday showed that 54% of Americans had an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party, while 29% had a favorable view, 16% had no opinion and 1% had not even heard of it.
And that poll of 1,206 adults was conducted from March 6 to March 9, before last week's debacle over the shutdown. So don't look for those numbers to get better any time soon.
Sunday's CNN survey showed the favorability at an all-time low for the Democrats since 1992.
An NBC News Poll released Sunday found the same thing, with just 27% of registered voters holding a favorable view of the party, the lowest rating that poll has found going back to 1990.
That survey was conducted from March 7 to March 11, before the latest bad news for the Democratic Party.
When the polling shows a quarter to a third of Americans don't like what you're selling, it's time to rethink what you're selling.
And this must confound Democrats ‒ the same NBC News Poll showed 51% disapprove of Trump's actions as president while 47% approve. That means a majority of Americans are on their side. But 47% is the highest approval rating Trump has ever received as president.
Town halls and surveys won't fix what's wrong with Democrats
The Democratic Party looks like it's going to have to fight itself before it can fight Trump and his Republican allies.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, has gone on tour to rail against American oligarchs taking over and dismantling our government. He's being joined by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive New York Democrat who drives Trump allies crazy.
While they rally the base, the party's likely 2028 presidential nominee contenders are clearly moving toward the political center to avoid the pitfalls that doomed former Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign last year.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, in his first term but absolutely expected to run for president in 2028, made his populist pitch on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" on Friday, knocking Schumer for his lack of leverage with Republicans in the continuing resolution controversy.
A likely Shapiro competitor, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, has made time in his schedule running America's most populous state to code-switch from his progressive politics to a podcast heavy with Team Trump propagandists.
So voters have two choices in America right now: a Republican Party that does anything Trump wants ‒ the Constitution and rule of law be damned ‒ or a Democratic Party lacking in any apparent strategy to resist it.
No DNC survey is going to fix that. No town hall meeting will resolve it, either, if the party can't map a route back to a place of effective opposition.
Follow Paste BN columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan