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It's no secret that Democrats are adrift - dare we say "in disarray" - as a party right now. As President Donald Trump and his administration have launched a veritable bombardment of efforts to reshape the government and empower Trump in potentially long-lasting ways, the blue side has rather meekly responded with what more or less amounts to some news conferences and strongly worded tweets.
But really, the party is just reflecting its base right now. Democratic officials are dispirited just like their base is despondent. To the extent they don't seem to have much fight in them, that shouldn't be too surprising; their voters don't, either.
And a growing volume of polls drives home just how much of a malaise has set in.
A CBS News-YouGov poll released this weekend asked voters which of six words described their feelings toward U.S. politics right now.
Just 7 percent of Democrats picked "excited," and just 10 percent picked "motivated." Only 20 percent said they were even "interested." (And to be clear, respondents could pick more than one option.)
In each case, more than twice as many Republicans said they felt such feelings of animation.
By contrast, many more Democrats said they were "demoralized" (42 percent) and "exhausted" (47 percent).
A CNN poll asked a similar question. Shortly before the inauguration, it found that Kamala Harris's supporters were only about half as likely as Trump's to say they were "fired up" and "inspired."
You might look at those numbers and think: Of course. They lost the 2024 election. And it's somewhat normal for the losing side to take some time to grieve and try to pick up the pieces.
But a few points.
The first is that it might be understandable that Democrats aren't enthusiastic or excited, but only 1 in 5 being even "interested" would seem to be telling.
The second is that this is taking place at a particularly inauspicious time for Democrats, given Trump's onslaught, and that onslaught doesn't seem to have awakened the left (at least yet). Congressional Democrats have begun training their fire on Elon Musk, and there is reason to believe that could be working to some extent. But we've yet to see it mobilizing people en masse.
And the third is that this is a far cry from where things stood the last time Trump won the presidency.
Shortly before Trump's first inauguration, a Fox News poll asked people a similar question about their feelings toward politics. It asked them to choose between saying they were "energized and want to be more involved" and "tired of it and want it to go away."
Back then, nearly as many Hillary Clinton supporters chose the "energized" option (39 percent) as did Trump supporters (43 percent).
That enthusiasm to fight back was manifested in large protests as Trump was taking power; this time, there has been no such thing - or even close.
Other data that point in this direction are a little more nuanced, but they also betray a rather listless Democratic Party.
An AP-NORC poll in December showed significantly more Democrats (72 percent) than Republicans (59 percent) said they felt the need to limit their political media consumption.
The same CNN poll showed large degrees of internal dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party, including 6 in 10 Democratic-leaning voters who said the party needs at least "major changes."
And both the CNN and CBS-YouGov polls show that only about half of the Democratic base thinks the party will be even somewhat effective in combating the GOP. That number has actually dropped slightly since last month in the latter poll.
Similarly, a Reuters-Ipsos poll last month showed remarkably few Democrats even thought their party's policies were superior. Just 58 percent of Democrats said their party had a better economic approach. Just 56 percent said it had a better foreign policy and national security approach. And on both crime and immigration, just 53 percent said it had better approaches. (Few preferred the GOP's approach, but many chose more neutral options.)
By contrast, in each case more than 8 in 10 Republicans said the GOP's approach was better.
It's surely true that some of these numbers owe to an electoral hangover that could soon subside. But with everything happening, it's probably high time that Democrats sober up and figure out what to do.
(COMMENT, BELOW)