The Democratic Party’s favorability has nosedived to an all-time low of 29%, per a CNN/SSRS poll from March 6-9, as internal frustration boils over and a clamor grows to defy President Donald Trump.
The survey of 1,206 adults, with a ±3.3-point margin, shows a 20-point drop since January 2021—a CNN polling nadir since 1992—driven partly by Democrats souring on their own.
A stark 57% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents now want their party to stonewall the GOP agenda, not cut deals—a reversal from 2017, when 74% favored cooperation with Trump’s first-term Republicans.
The shift predates Friday’s vote, where ten Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, backed a GOP spending bill to dodge a shutdown, infuriating progressives and sparking calls to ditch Schumer. Inside the party, 52% say leadership’s off course, a flip from eight years ago’s rosy outlook.
RELATED: Schumer’s Shutdown Surrender: Backs GOP Bill To Thwart Trump’s ‘Power Grab’
Among all Americans, Democrats trail Republicans’ 36% rating, with GOP faithful at 79% approval versus Democrats’ limp 63% from their base—down from 81% under Biden-Harris’ dawn. Liberals and moderates alike have shed 18 points of faith since 2021. Independents loathe both parties (19% for Dems, 20% for GOP), while 16% of Democrats call their own too extreme—twice the GOP’s 9%.
Trump outpaces his party in “too extreme” votes (9 points now, down from 18 in 2022), but Democrats lack a unifying foil.
Asked who “best reflects” party values, 30%+ named no one—“That’s the problem,” one said, according to CNN.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (10%), Kamala Harris (9%), Bernie Sanders (8%), and Hakeem Jeffries (6%) led write-ins; Schumer limped at 2%. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, fresh off rebutting Trump’s March 4 address, is a cipher—73% of Americans don’t know her, though Democrats who do lean positive (24%-6%).
READ: Trump Ties Highest Approval Rating As Americans Show Renewed Optimism, Poll Finds
AOC shines with liberals and under-45s (1 in 6 pick her), but no leader cracks double digits among moderates or seniors. Women (57%), people of color (57%), and non-college grads (60%) back the party’s direction; men (38%) and White college grads (32%) don’t.
Yet across the board, most want a GOP fight—except moderates, who tilt 51%-48% toward compromise.
Conducted pre-Schumer’s vote, the poll (504 Dem-leaners, ±5.0 margin) catches a party adrift, bleeding goodwill as Trump looms. With no clear captain and a base itching for battle, Democrats face a reckoning—or a rout.
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