Two new polls indicate that Democratic voters are continuing to lose faith in their party as leadership struggles to respond to President Donald Trump.
An SSRS poll for CNN released Sunday found that only 29% of adults view Democrats favorably, marking a new low in CNN’s polling since 1992 and a 20-point drop since January 2021. Even Democrats and left-leaning respondents were less enthusiastic about their party, with just 63% favorability—down from 72% in January.
This starkly contrasts with the survey’s Republican and right-leaning respondents, who reported 79% favorability of the Republican Party.
Meanwhile, a second survey released Sunday by NBC News revealed that 27% of registered voters hold a positive view of Democrats—the lowest rating recorded in the outlet’s polls since 1990. And merely 7% of respondents indicated a “very” positive view of Democrats.
While NBC’s poll also found that the Republican Party has a net negative image—49% of voters view it unfavorably and 39% view it favorably—it noted that the GOP could at least take comfort in controlling both chambers of Congress and the presidency. Democrats, however, have to cling to the hope that their party might reclaim maybe one chamber of Congress in 2026.
Both surveys suggest that the lack of support for the Democratic Party stems from its own voters feeling fed up. Not only have they witnessed their party’s loss to Trump in 2024, but now they face Democratic leaders attempting to compromise with the president—something Republicans would never consider if the roles were reversed.
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The results of these surveys come as Democrats continue disagreeing on the best way to govern. Over the weekend, progressives—and even some lawmakers from the party’s more moderate wing—harshly criticized Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for conceding to Trump on the GOP-backed government spending bill.
After the House passed a partisan spending bill, Schumer and nine other Senate Democrats voted for cloture on Friday, ending a filibuster of Republicans’ detrimental funding bill. The bill proposed significant cuts to the federal budget while increasing defense spending by approximately $6 billion.
Schumer has defended his decision, even amid calls for him to step down or be replaced. But it remains unclear who he is trying to please. Some of his party members are weary of him, and now the public is shifting their support away from him, too.
In the SSRS poll for CNN, 57% of Democrats and left-leaning respondents expressed a desire for the party to focus on obstructing Trump’s agenda, compared to 42% who favored working with the GOP.
And NBC reported a similar finding: 65% of self-identified Democratic voters want their party to “stick to their positions even if this means not getting things done in Washington.”
Only 32% indicated a desire for Democrats to compromise with Trump, which marks a complete reversal from where Democrats stood in 2017, when 59% wanted members of Congress to seek consensus on policy.
These numbers may get worse over time, as both polls were largely or wholly conducted before the standoff over the government funding bill. Still, the results underscore how much Democratic voters are itching for their party to play at least some form of defense.
“I’m scared that compromising will lead to the downfall of our democracy, to only be slightly hyperbolic. It’s really scary to see the things being done, the things being slashed left and right without any regard for the outcome,” a Democratic voter and survey respondent told NBC.
These findings also align with a series of polls released last week, which suggest that Democratic voters view their party as ineffective and lacking direction.
Nevertheless, some Democratic leaders appear content to acquiesce to Trump rather than push back. And in doing so, they are alienating voters.
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