One year ago on Monday, then-President Joe Biden stunned the political world by ending his campaign for re-election.
Biden’s exit from the 2024 White House race also rocked the Democratic Party, which went on to suffer setbacks on Election Day, as the party lost control of the presidency, the Senate and fell short in its bid to win back the House majority.
One year later, the Democratic Party is still reeling.
Just 28% of Americans view the party favorably, according to a CNN poll conducted July 10-13 and released last week. That’s the lowest mark for Democrats in the entire history of CNN polling, going back over 30 years.
BIDEN’S STUNNING EXIT, ONE YEAR LATER
The CNN poll is far from an outlier.
Just 19% of voters questioned in a Quinnipiac University national poll give Democrats in Congress a thumbs up on how they’re handling their duties, with 72% disapproving.
That’s an all-time low since Quinnipiac University first began asking congressional approval questions in their surveys 16 years ago.
HEAD HERE TO CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING
The Democratic Party has been in the political wilderness since November’s elections. Not only did the party lose power, but Republicans made gains among Black, Hispanic and younger voters, all traditional members of the Democratic Party’s base.
Since President Donald Trump‘s return to power earlier this year, an increasingly energized base of Democrats is urging party leaders to take a stronger stand in pushing back against the president’s sweeping and controversial second-term agenda. Their anger is directed not only at Republicans, but at Democrats they feel aren’t vocal enough in their opposition to Trump.
That has fueled a plunge in the Democratic Party’s favorable ratings, which have hit historic lows in several surveys this year.
The trend is reflected in the new Quinnipiac poll, which was conducted July 10-14.
Just 39% of Democrats approve of the way Democrats in Congress are handling their jobs, with 52% disapproving and 9% not offering an opinion.
“The approval numbers for Democrats can be characterized as flat out terrible,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said.
While the approval ratings for Republicans in Congress aren’t as “terrible” as the Democrats, they’re nothing to brag about.
Only a third of voters questioned in the poll said they approved of the way congressional Republicans were handling their duties, with 62% giving them a thumbs down.
However, just over three-quarters of Republicans (77%) said they approved of the way GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill were handling their jobs, with just one in five disapproving.
Additionally, in the CNN poll, while not as bad as the Democrats, the favorable rating for the Republican Party registered at a low 33%.
Meanwhile, Trump’s approval ratings in both polls remain underwater, at 40%-54% in the Quinnipiac survey and 44%-56% in the CNN survey.
Trump started his second tour of duty in the White House with approval ratings in positive territory, but his numbers quickly sank underwater in many polls. The president’s approval ratings were in negative territory in 13 of the 17 polls conducted so far this month.
The CNN survey has a silver lining for the Democrats.
The poll indicates that Democrats are more energized than Republicans in voting in next year’s midterm elections, when the GOP will be defending its thin House and Senate majorities.
Seventy-two percent of Democrats and independents who lean toward the party said they are extremely motivated to vote next year, 22 points higher than the share of Republicans and GOP-aligned voters who said they were extremely motivated to vote.
