I could write 5000, 10,000, or 20,000 words on how badly the Democrats are positioned and playing in the game of national politics, but I work on deadlines writing six posts a day, so I will TL;DR this. 

Besides, shorter posts are generally better reads. In the 21st century, our attention spans are shorter, and nobody reads New Yorker articles anymore. At least I got a good alliteration in the headline. 

So how ARE Democrats doing?

NEW CNN POLL: Americans' favorable view of the Democratic Party has fallen to 29%, the lowest ever recorded in CNN's polling dating back more than 30 years. pic.twitter.com/h1PAUWDFmC

— Inside Politics (@InsidePolitics) March 16, 2025

Not well. Not well at all. They are getting absolutely hammered in the polls, and all those polls were taken BEFORE the Congressional Democrats fell into a civil war that threatens to tear the entire party apart. The Left is furious at the center-left, the House is furious at the Senate, and everybody wants Chuck Schumer drawn and quartered. 

The Democrat party’s favorability is at 29% according to @cnn’s poll, the lowest on record for the poll, which started in 1992. https://t.co/hSAR5n0IQq

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 16, 2025

And that is just Friday's debacle. Earlier in the week, the Democratic House Caucus was treated to internal polling that told them that anybody who Donald Trump doesn't derange dislikes them, and even some of them are pretty ticked that Democrats are so incompetent. 

Democrats defend illegal alien gang members while trashing Teslas and are shocked their approval is at 29% and sinking faster than Biden’s coherence.

— Election Wizard (@ElectionWiz) March 17, 2025

The irony of the Schumer hate is that in this case his assessment of the situation, from a strategic perspective, was actually good for the Democrats. If his colleagues had listened to him and understood his reasons, the Democrats would be better off. There was no good choice, but "shutting down the government" would have given Trump even more power to dismantle the federal bureaucracy. 

Think about it: in a shutdown only "essential" employees can keep working, and Trump decides who is essential. Once employees are labeled "inessential," the political case for cutting them gets stronger. If Trump minimized disruptions that citizens see instead of closing the Washington Monument the case for DOGE gets stronger.

Did you notice that "shutdown?" No? See, DOGE can cut more!

CNN POLL - Democratic Party’s favorability rating stands at 29% – a record low in CNN’s polling dating back to 1992 and a drop of 20 points since January 2021.