Ex-Clinton Strategist Reacts To Cratering Dem Party Favorability: ‘Never Seen Anything Like This’
While speaking with Fox News on Friday, former Clinton pollster Mark Penn reacted to historically low approval ratings for the Democratic Party by highlighting the party’s cratering support among voter groups that have long been key to their electoral success.
According to a recent poll from CNN, just 29 percent of respondents indicated that they hold a favorable view of the Democratic Party, a record-low in the surveys 30-year history. CNN’s Manu Raju explained that the poll’s results are even more striking when considering the fact that Democratic Party approval has plunged more than 20 percentage points in just four years, down from a high of 49 percent.
The overall number is driven by increasingly negative views among Democrat respondents. Just 63 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents said they hold a favorable view of the party, down from 72 percent in January and 81 percent at the start of the Biden Administration. The decline encompasses all ideological wings of the party, with satisfaction plunging 18 percent among both liberals and moderates alike.
During an appearance on Hannity, Penn said he was perplexed by the party’s collapse and said the crisis for the Democrats is the worst in decades.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in over 40 years of polling. The Democratic Party ratings have collapsed from a 47% favorable down to 29, 27 in some of these polls, and that’s an incredible loss of moderate, working-class voters,” Penn said.
The former Clinton strategist went on to say that the party appears to be shrinking to one of primarily left-wing and progressive voters represented by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). “Those [are the] kinds of voters that the Democratic Party needs to win elections, and it’s being shrunk to a base of left-wing advocates like Bernie Sanders and AOC who were touring the country carrying the Democratic banner. That’s not helping,” Penn added in reference to declining favorability among the working class.
Penn further speculated that failure to reign in the party’s ideologues and far-left voices could “finish off” the Democratic Party in a separate network appearance. “I don’t think she’s going to challenge Schumer, but if she does, I mean, already the Democratic ratings are down to 29 percent. I’ve never seen anything like it. That means the left base is with the Democratic Party, and the moderates are all leaving the party,” Penn said of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez.
“So AOC taking off Schumer, wow, that could finish this party off,” he added.