CONSULTANTS ARE KILLING THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY -- AND MAYBE DEMOCRACY

This chart ought to terrify every Washington Democrat:

The poll is here.

Respondents were asked about eleven issues and said that Republicans have better plans on seven of them. At a time when Americans appear to have moved to the right on immigration, and increasingly fear crime even as it drops nationwide, I can understand Republicans having leads on those issues. But foreign conflicts, when President Trump has failed to end any of the major conflicts he promised to end as soon as he took office? The economy, which Trump is destroying? Political extremism? Corruption? Seriously?

Democrats have a slight lead on respect for democracy, and significant leads on healthcare, women's rights, and the environment.

A commenter at Threads says:

The key takeaway is that Democrats have a pronounced cultural perception problem

No, this isn't a sign that Democrats have a pronounced cultural perception problem. This is a sign that Democrats have a pronounced "Our consultants say that whatever question we're asked, we should ignore the subject and pivot to healthcare" problem.

As you may recall, last month one of the Democrats' top consultants, David Shor, published a memo urging party members not talk about Trump's military takeover of the streets of D.C. The memo said (click to enlarge):

Polling shows that Trump's militarization of cities is unpopular:

But Shor's advice to D.C. Democrats was to drop the subject and pivot to healthcare or tariffs as quickly as possible, so that's what they did.

They still pivot, on everything. Here's Al Sharpton asking Hakeem Jeffries about his decision to defy the wishes of the Congressional Black Caucus by voting in favor of a House resolution honoring racist influencer Charlie Kirk.

I don't think this a very good argument for voting to honor a man who thought Jim Crow should have stayed legal. democraticleader.house.gov/media/press-...

[image or embed]

— Adam Serwer (@adamserwer.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 12:16 PM

Jeffries answers the question, but it's a conditioned reflex for him now -- ask him about anything other than the narrow range of issues he feels he's allowed to talk about, and he pivots to "we're not going to let Republicans divide us or distract us from the mission of protecting the healthcare of the American people."

It's simple: If D.C. Democrats won't talk about any issue other than healthcare, voters won't think they have good plans on anything other than healthcare. (Well, and also women's rights and the environment, two issues voters assume Democrats are better on because they're coded "liberal.") Maybe, in the moment, David Shor's focus-group participants respond better to the "pivot" messages. But in the long run, they respond poorly to a party that doesn't seem to want to talk about most issues that are in the headlines.

The Reuters poll is terrible for Trump personally -- he's at 41% approval, 58% disapproval. Also:

Only 35% of poll respondents approved of Trump's stewardship over the economy, and 28% gave him a thumbs up on his handling of their cost of living, with both readings slightly lower than in previous polls.

So why don't these negative feelings extend to the GOP? Because Democrats never attack the Republican Party as a party, even though they're in lockstep with Trump on everything. In fact, Democrats endlessly sing the praises of bipartisanship -- and while that might be what swing voters want, it also conveys the impression that Democrats agree with Republicans that Republicans are good people who can be trusted with government power. Combine this with Democrats' many attacks on fellow party members (as too "woke," too focused on pronouns, and so on), and of course Republicans emerge unscathed.

The only hope for saving democracy in America is a forceful campaign to insist upon fair elections in 2026 and a concerted effort to hold the entire GOP accountable for its own actions since January 20. But the consultants will undoubtedly tell D.C. Democrats not to try either of those things, and our efforts to save democracy could die of consultancy.