When I write an opinion piece like this, it is always open for criticism that is reasonable and fair, and challenges with a difference of opinion. I'm not a professional political pundit. I'm an amateur journalist with a strong interest in politics and I follow beyond what we see in the news media. I also listen to what people are saying and how they are reacting, and I think, in the voices of my neighbors who openly engage in political discussion, I can temper the information I gather and come up with some very plausible reasons why Democrats are stuck at a 26-29% job approval rating, which runs below that of the Republicans, and below Trump's tanking numbers.
No Leadership to Unify the Party, Simplify the Message and Provide Necessary Boldness to Take Risks to Get Things Done
We lost a Presidential election, and in the aftermath of all of that, which included some very strong-armed attempts at pushing narratives to explain why which were not accurate and which missed a lot of what went wrong, no strong leadership has emerged. At a time when it is needed the most, the party appears fractured because a clear leader who has the ability to attract support from all constituencies has not yet emerged.
What appears to have happened, by my own observation, is that all but a few of the Democrats who survived the 2024 election went into turf protection mode. Not much criticism has been levelled at those who plunged the party into mass confusion right after Biden's first debate performance crashed and burned over the manner in which getting him to step away from the nomination was handled. There was absolutely no excuse for that, and regardless of what political analysts who have a vested interest in focusing attention elsewhere have to say, it was, in my opinion, those weeks of confusion and the headless manner in which Democrats handled it, that cost Kamala Harris by the tiny percentages of votes by which she lost the swing states.
That is, by the way, the point at which the approval ratings began to wane. In spite of the messaging that the party was attempting to use to contrast themselves with the GOP, it was the big money contributors who grabbed the limelight, and control of the narrative, and got their way. At least, they got their way for the moment, long enough to convince those who thought the party was different in this regard from the GOP, to stay at home on election day.
I don't think Kamala Harris was the fully favored choice of the movers and shakers among the party's big donors, but the time was too short for anyone else to mount the kind of campaign to get to the point where they had the name recognition and the ability to draw in the campaign funding. Biden, at that point, did exercise some leadership, in directing the support of the party to Harris.
That was an excellent choice, and it should have been enough, especially against a weak, corrupt liar like Trump. But Harris has never been the kind of political media celebrity that Biden was, and wasn't coming off four straight years of being in front of every news camera in the country, like Trump, who got four free years of unlimited media coverage. That's why Harris lost, not because she was a woman, and not because she was black. She lost because she did not have the kind of exposure it took to get couch potato Americans off their rear ends and into the voting booths, or to send in their mail-in ballots. She lost because most of the news media had been promoting Trump's candidacy for four years. Imagine how big her landslide win would have been if she'd had that kind of media coverage?
So we have no real, strong individual party leaders at this point. There was a vacuum created when Nancy Pelosi lost the house speakership after the 2022 midterms. Schumer, frankly, without Pelosi's initiative and support behind him, is no leader. His motto will be, "We may have lost our Democracy, but we played by the rules, adhered to protocol and kept our dignity." And the DNC, a moribund and ineffective zero under Jaime Harrison's leadership, did not have anyone waiting in the wings.
Priorities, people. Trump is an existential threat to democracy, and that's what people care about, hence, the low approval rating.
Fear Causes Paralysis, and Limits the Kind of Risk Taking Boldness That Wins The Hearts and Minds of Voters
Look who most of the Trump resistance, which includes a significant portion of rank and file Democrats along with a lot of independent voters who see Trump for the threat that he is, is following.
Bernie Sanders, the 83 year old Senator from Vermont. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 35 year old Congresswoman from the Bronx. David Hogg, the 25 year old political organizer and chairman of "Leaders We Deserve," who is already one of the most effective Democratic party fundraisers. Those are the people who are motivating the protest turnouts and raising the money.
So what do I mean by risk taking boldness? Well, we got a good perspective of what that looks like from Senator Alex Padilla, in his direct attempt to confront the lies being laid out by puppy-killer Kristi Noem. That hit a live nerve, didn't it? I doubt Noem got any personal popularity points as a result of that incident. It moved the Senator to my list of Democrats who deserve some additional attention as potential leaders. There he was, confronting the lies and deceit head on, using his power and influence to attract attention to the shrill shrieking of Noem, exposing her anti-American, anti-Constitutional rhetoric. He helped shut down the rhetoric that they've used to try to make it seem like Los Angeles is burning to the ground and out of control, when clearly, it isn't anywhere close to that.
That's taking a bold risk.
Sanders, meanwhile, is taking his "Fighting Oligarchy" tour, which is getting bigger crowds than Presidential rallies did for either party in 2024, back on the road, to Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana. One stop will occur in Shreveport, Louisiana, in Speaker Mike Johnson's home district. Any kind of showing there at all will be an embarassment to Johnson, and it's getting the point across to all those local news outlets who will be there to cover the event. It also helps support local candidates running for office.
For what it's worth, he may be 83, but he's a leader we deserve. If Democrats had embraced Bernie and his message, we might be in position to take back our lead among working class Americans at this point, and see what that does to Democratic party chances in elections. This man gets his message across. I've watched the video of the meeting he held in deep red McDowell County, West Virginia with Chris Hayes, shortly after the 2016 election, addressing the opioid crisis that had crippled that community and the looming health care crisis that resulted, endangering the operation of the county's one functioning hospital and emergency room.
He was brilliant, and he, an independent who labels himself as a socialist, drew a standing room only crowd in the local high school auditorium.
I can't wait to watch coverage of his Shreveport rally.
And I'm not going to talk about risk taking boldness without mentioning the squandered opportunities Democrats had to put Trump away for good, completely eliminating this existential threat to democracy and putting a monkey wrench in the Heritage Foundation plans to turn America into a Christian nation.
We held both Houses of Congress from 2020 to 2022 under a Democratic President. There were those who spoke up and pointed out that the judicial deck was stacked against Democrats, but that there was a narrow path to success, via amending the judiciary act to open up the number of seats on the Supreme Court. Five, I believe, was the suggested number, enough to neutralize the conservatives, to jam Trump's insurrection trial through the court by undermining his delaying tactics, to overturn the immunity the court gave him and to get him in prison with no hope of ever running for office again.
That would have required breaking and removing the filibuster from the senate, a cherished relic of an obstacle to true democracy that old liners think of as a distinguishing feature, but in these days of cut-throat politics, is an albatross around the neck. The benefits would have certainly improved the approval rating of those who got behind it and pushed it through.
Imagine, Trump found guilty in a speedy but fair trial, sentenced to prison and disqualified from office. Roe saved. Citizens United overturned. The President having to adhere to the law like ordinary citizens do. Just keep in mind, fellow Democrats, that is the world that we could have had today, if our party leadership had been more inclined to bold risks than self-preservation and turf protecting. And that explains why our approval ratings are sitting at 26%.
Taking This Show on the Road
The Democratic party does not get the kind of favorable media coverage that the GOP does. That's an assertion I am making, from observation, and anyone with some expertise is welcome to test its veracity. If I want accuracy in reporting, I'll listen to Stephanie Miller or Rick Smith or Thom Hartmann, or Democracy Now!
But when Democrats hold town halls in red counties and red districts, an interesting thing happens. First of all, Democrats can see they are not alone. Even in some of the deepest red counties, an exciting presentation draws out crowds of Democrats that can pack the local high school gym. And there's an energy when everyone in the room is politically like minded.
Just ask Beto O'Rourke, who conducts these kinds of meetings in small town Texas all the time. A lot of people look at what O'Rourke is doing as futility, in a state like Texas. But the fact of the matter is that his organization, Powered by People, is the most effective group in getting Democrats elected in Texas, and has been responsible for raising Democratic vote totals in the state significantly. The day will come in Texas when this organization helps a candidate win a statewide race.
The fact of the matter is that we must meet fire with fire. I've heard the expression used on the Stephanie Miller show several times that Democrats fighting Republicans politically, under the current political circumstances, is like bringing a knife to a gunfight. Democrats have fallen into the same hole as Republicans, letting their self-preservation run their politics. Republicans are afraid of being "primaried" by Trump, so they vote his convictions instead of representing the perspective of their constituents. Don't tell me Democrats aren't doing the same thing, because they are afraid of losing their seat.
When we have members of Congress who are committed to serving the interests of the people who elected them, then we have a functioning Republic, and we don't have that now. But I'm more than willing to bet that the members of Congress with the best shot at winning elections will be the ones who are interested in their constituents, and their perspectives, and how they need to be served by the government that belongs to them, find out what those interests are, and become their champion, rather than the ones who are just interested in how to raise enough money to get another term with paycheck and perks.
And when we start seeing Democrats getting out there among the people, listening, and then taking real action to demonstrate that they are sincere, not phonies and frauds, or shills for a more powerful politician, those approval ratings will soar, and they will set the conventional political wisdom of who votes red and who votes blue on its ear.
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