We have been over this. Democratic voters savage their party in polls for not fighting back. I agree with the sentiment.
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‘They roll right over’: Many Democrats think their party is weak, AP-NORC poll finds
WASHINGTON (AP) — Many Democrats see their political party as “weak” or “ineffective,” according to a poll that finds considerable pessimism within Democratic ranks.
Democrats’ frustration appears to reflect their concern that party leaders are not doing enough to stop Trump’s GOP, which controls Washington.
There is little sign that such voters would abandon their party in favor of Trump’s allies in upcoming elections, and the vast majority of Democrats described the GOP negatively. But disaffected Democrats might decide not to vote at all. That could undermine their party’s push to reclaim at least one chamber of Congress in 2026.
Many Democrats see their political party as “weak” or “ineffective,” according to a poll that finds considerable pessimism within Democratic ranks. Republicans are more complimentary of their party, although a small but significant share describe the GOP as “greedy” or say it is generally "bad."
www.pbs.org
After reading the NY Times article and the PBS article and some of the responses I had a few thoughts:
1) I think Center is totally right when he says that a great many Americans just seem to hate everyone. But I think it's been that way for a long time - a large percentage of people have always led miserable and unhappy lives and almost desperately want to make everyone else as miserable as they are. Few things make someone who is already unhappy feel even more miserable than seeing people who are happy and successful and leading frankly better lives. With Trump's rise to power I've come to believe that the Politics of Resentment is a very underrated factor in American politics. I do think that the internet and social media has made it vastly worse, as these people are now able to broadcast their misery 24/7 and even organize themselves to attack whatever groups or people they resent and hate and are envious of.
2) Neither article really says anything that hasn't been pointed out here before - Democrats are frustrated and angry at their party's leadership for not doing more to oppose or speak out against Trump. I'm not talking about the merits of their complaints, but it has now been pointed out in enough articles to say that this feeling exists among Democrats and is widespread, fair or not. However, that doesn't mean that these people aren't going to vote Democratic next year. And I don't agree at all with the PBS article's suggestion that they might not vote - I think anger at Dear Leader will by itself guarantee a high Democratic turnout next year (and this year too in VA and NJ).
3) Democrats do need to focus more on bread-and-butter economic issues, and they need to stick to that messaging no matter what and not get distracted. For example, the high cost of housing and apartment rents would be a strong issue for Democrats to campaign on if they will actually do it. And no doubt Biden's embarrassing debate performance and sudden withdrawal hurt Harris more than many people realized. I think the people interviewed in the NY Times seemed almost universal in wanting to get rid of aging Boomer politicians for good - if I were Chuck Schumer I'd be terrified of AOC challenging me in 2028.
4) Having said that, I think the complaints about Democrats being "too focused" on cultural and identity issues is bullshit. It's Republicans who run on culture war issues, not so much Democrats. For example, it was Republicans who kept bringing up transgenders in the campaign, not Democrats, and it was Trump's campaign that ran the notorious transgender ad. And it wasn't Democrats who kept bringing up DEI in the campaign, it was Republicans. Republicans know damn well that what really stirs up their base and gets them out of bed in the morning are culture war social issues, and they've become masters at harping on whatever "hot button" culture war issues exist in every campaign season and they repeatedly browbeat their base with it 24/7 right through election day. And they also have become masters at insisting that it's Democrats who are actually extreme and portray all Democrats in the most unfavorable light possible on culture war issues ("they want to kill babies, they want transgender men molesting your little daughter in women's restrooms!") and they just say what they mean in very blunt and direct terms, and don't hesitate to lie and exaggerate. Democrats have yet to figure out an effective response to this, but the bottom line is that they're not the party that's constantly bringing up culture war issues.
5) The whole notion that many people expressed that they don't identify with either party and are basically independents is mostly also bullshit, imo. It's always amazing listening to or reading about people who say that and then when you hear what they actually believe and who they keep defending it becomes clear that they actually heavily favor one party and nearly always vote for said party. And most of these people refuse to admit that, probably even to themselves. IMO, the number of truly uncommitted or independent voters is actually very small.
