Polling data was released by a couple of the major networks last week which showed that the favorability rating of the Democratic party in Congress had fallen to 29%, down from 47% just before election time. In one poll, it was as low as 27%.
Question one is, of course, how accurate are these polls? You're reading the words of one who no longer trusts the media to be honest, whose confidence in the ability and knowledge of many of those who work as journalists, including editors and pollsters, is quite low, considering the almost complete lack of civics education many of them exhibit publicly. The conclusion is that they may be a reasonably accurate reflection of those who were polled, though what is actually being asked by the pollsters seems a bit vague and nebulous.
Question two is, if the data is close to an accurate reflection of public opinion, how did it fall so fast, and, considering what we are facing, what is being done to change that perspective.
Some Democrats Are Upset With Their Own Party Following the Narrow Loss in the 2024 Election
The manner in which the polls express this "approval" is not a simple mathematical formula, saying that if 29% of those in the poll approve of the Democrats in Congress, then 71% of those in the poll will go out and vote Republican in the next election. Among the 71% who aren't approving are Democrats who want to see something different than they are seeing in their party's reaction to Trump. I'd put myself in that category, especially if I'd responded to the poll after the vote was taken on the CR. But even before then, it seemed that they just couldn't get on message, or respond in a way that looked or sounded like it might be effective.
Noting that the other party's numbers are similar, and Congress' job approval rating has been in the toilet for a long time still does not relieve the Democratic party leadership, whoever that might be now, of the responsibility they have to their constituents. We did not put them there to do nothing. And I think the even more powerful message in this polling data is that we didn't put them there to do what they are doing.
I think it's pretty simple, really.
We are for the preservation of American democracy. We believe in the Constitution and we support the rule of law. And that means we are opposed to every word, and every deed, of the current President. We have come to a point in our history where the biggest threat to the existence of the United States as the world's leading democracy is its own President. This President, the incompetent cronies he has installed in his cabinet, and the members of the Republican party in Congress and in the judiciary who support him, are a real and active threat to the American Republic, its Constitution, and the idealism it has stood up to support over the course of its existence. They are also a threat to me, personally, to my life and the lives of those I love.
Those within the Democratic party who are still passively responding to all of this, thinking they can still conduct business as usual and at some point, this will all go away and everything will return to normal, are as much of a threat to all of those things as this President himself.
Change must come, and action must be right behind, or what we have will be irretrievable. We can no longer afford interminable court delays by a reticent and incompetent attorney general, dithering over whether the filibuster is worth saving or not, or debating over whether giving the Republicans everything they wanted in a bill they authored without consulting a single Democrat is a better option than letting the government shut down as a consequence of something the other party did, and then fussing over who will get the blame.
Remove the Words "Work Together" From the Political Vocabulary
It is not possible to achieve ends that benefit the American people by "working together" with the Republican party. Perhaps, at one time, prior to, oh, let's say, 1980, that was a possibility, and there might have been some rare moments since then when some good, though not the best resolution to the problem, could be achieved. But that is in the past, as George Washington's warning about the devastation and ruin that political partisanship can cause has come to pass with a vengeance. The level of greed, selfish ambition and self-interest that has infected this country goes well beyond any protection the founding fathers had the foresight to include in the Constitution. That requires anyone still interested in preserving the rule of Constitutional law, and democratic idealism to stand firm without compromise to defend it.
It is not possible to "work together" with criminals who blatantly violated the law, and got away with it. The Republicans are supporting a man who instigated a seditious insurrection against the United States, who made off with classified documents that he most likely either did sell for money, or intended to do so, and whose own lack of self control led him to commit crimes against other persons, most notably raping of women. There is absolutely nothing he can say or do, except to resign from office and beg for forgiveness from the American people, on his hands and knees in humiliation, offering restitution, that should be worthy of our attention. "Working together" with his supporters is to be complicit in their crimes.
Use Every Constitutional Means to Remove This Criminal From Office
How it is that the President of the United States is a convicted rapist, and has so far managed to evade indictments for sedition and insurrection, and for stealing classified documents? It's because our justice system has been corrupted. And there are those who think that because this is so, it will not ever be possible to bring someone like Trump to justice.
I'm no lawyer, and depend on the same experts most other people depend on to interpret the law, but as a history major in college, one of the courses I took, in American judicial history, was fascinating. Things that people thought were impossible, looking at "public opinion," transpired through a combination of lawyers and judges with convictions and expertise figuring out how to make justice happen when it appeared there was no justice to be had. I'm not saying thi, but so what?
I think we are on the verge of seeing public pressure push Elon Musk out s is completely dependable, but every avenue in this area must be tried. That'll make some people madof the White House and away from Washington politics. Having protesters descend on Tesla dealerships and stop potential sales at a time when the stock value is dropping like a stone in a well is starting to cause him some real problems. I'm not in favor of those who want to vandalize by starting fires or destroying property. Those who are simply not buying Teslas are having a real effect on his bottom line and I'm betting it won't be long before he tells Trump to get someone else to do his dirty work.
And there are still the open doors to forcing this President to resign from office, or impeaching and removing him, or having him declared incapacitated. Speculation is that because of Republicans simply refusing to acknowledge facts, these doors are closed. But I don't think they are. They try to look good on the surface, but the stress of this week's gigantic mistake, disclosing war plans to a journalist inadvertently has an awful lot of fingers being pointed at where the incompetence was and where the blame should go. This bumbling bunch of incompetents that he has picked for these positions can't do the jobs they have, and these kinds of mistakes are going to keep happening, hopefully not in a way that severely disables or damages the country.
And among this group, that lack of trust is already undermining the Presidency.
If Democrats Want Political Success, They Need to Get On Board With Us
Look at who's getting the attention of voters, and motivating and giving voice to dissent among Trump's opponents. It is not the Democratic party establishment. Its Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Tim Walz, and J. D. Pritzker. Its Jamie Raskin and Eric Swalwell. To a lesser extent, its Chris Murphy and Wes Moore. Three governors, three members of the House and two Senators, none of whom are establishment Democrats. All who were in Congress voted against the Republican-authored Continuing Resolution, and in the Senate, against cloture.
These Democrats are committed to listening.
The opportunity to gather enough support to take back control of Congress when the Mid-term elections roll around in 2026 is going to depend on Democrats getting out of their own brand of rigid institutional politics and trying to sell that to people who suddenly seem to have awakened to the fact that Trump is planning to do everything he said he would do, and is implementing Project 2025 almost word for word despite his denial of knowing anything about it. Democrats must find a message that resonates with those of us who know Trump is a pathological liar, and is incapable of doing anything to protect and defend the Constitution he despises.
And we need a Democratic party that is committed to taking action when it is warranted and needed, and taking the risks that go along with it, instead of worrying about what they are doing appearing to be "political." Frankly, that's a label that can't be avoided now. We need a party that is willing to pay the cost of boldness, understanding that while it may not be fair that a House member loses their seat in a relatively conservative district for taking a stand to do something that's right, it is not a sacrifice made in vain.
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