From Newsgroup: alt.law-enforcement

some critical key points:
"Democrats keep losing support even as Trump falters.
many Americans blame Democrats for this second Trump administration.
Americans feel as though they were purposefully deceived about former President Joe BidenrCOs health decline,
Dems were unable to put the country ahead of obfuscation and identity
politics
they are angry that they were never given a choice on the partyrCOs next nominee to go up against Trump.
No primary process was offered, not even an abbreviated one.
And perhaps most importantly, the Democratic Party has yet to apologize
to the American people for all of it.
DNC is making a huge mistake. --- they avoid taking any accountability
to the country"

from https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/why-democrats-keep-losing-support-even-as-trump-falters-badly/

Why Democrats keep losing support even as Trump falters badly
Jan. 11, 2026 at 8:01 am

Democrats have an obvious branding problem as much of the public
considers the party as rCLweak and woke,rCY but the issues with the party go beyond that, writes the columnist. Pictured are President Joe Biden,
left, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Vice President Kamala Harris at
the inauguration of President Donald Trump in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda
on Jan. 20, 2025. (Kenny Holston/Pool/Getty Images North America/TNS)

Lynn Schmidt By Lynn Schmidt
Syndicated columnist

As President Donald TrumprCOs approval continues to decline, expect the attitudes toward the Democratic Party to drop as well.

You read that right: Not the Republican Party, but the Democratic Party,
as many Americans blame Democrats for this second Trump administration.
Voters understand that the Dems were unable to put the country ahead of obfuscation and identity politics in the 2024 presidential election.

Scientists develop theories through a systematic process that combines observation, experimentation and rigorous testing. The scientific method begins with careful observation of natural phenomena, followed by
forming hypotheses rCo educated guesses that explain these observations.

Some hypotheses go on to be tested while others remain educated guesses.
As a political scientist, here is my guess, based on experience and theoretical knowledge, on why the Democratic Party remains historically unpopular despite facing an even more disfavored president from the
other party.

As the economy under Trump continues to worsen, his personal behavior
becomes more unhinged and appalling, deportations without due process increase, and the pardons of his donors rack up, one would think that
the favorability for the out-party would rise. But what we are seeing
with polling is quite the opposite rCo even non-Republican voters are
taking it out on the Democrats.

Ever since Trump was sworn in on Jan. 21, voters have been punishing Republicans electorally in the special and off-year elections. Democrats
have been winning with double-digit margins. But none of that is
translating to attitudes toward the Democratic Party as a whole;
according to polling, sentiment toward the party remains quite ugly.

Democrats have an obvious branding problem as much of the public
considers the party as rCLweak and woke.rCY But the issues with the party go beyond that. Americans feel as though they were purposefully deceived
about former President Joe BidenrCOs health decline, they are angry that
they were never given a choice on the partyrCOs next nominee to go up
against Trump.

And perhaps most importantly, the Democratic Party has yet to apologize
to the American people for all of it.

It took only 32 hours after Biden stepped down from his presidential
campaign for his vice president, Kamala Harris, to be named as the
designated nominee. No primary process was offered, not even an
abbreviated one.

Democrats are likely to balk at this theory, but the data does not lie. Democratic Party approval continues to slide downward, almost parallel
with TrumprCOs.

A poll from Gallup in September put DemocratsrCO approval rating at a miserable 37% favorable and 63% unfavorable. This was down from 42% in September 2024 after BidenrCOs horrific debate performance in July of that year.

Even worse: A Quinnipiac Poll from December has congressional Democrats
with only 18% approval and 73% disapproval. This is the worst approval
rating for Democrats in Congress in the history of the Quinnipiac poll.

This is with the backdrop of TrumprCOs net approval rating being down 17%, with 39% approving, 56% disapproving, and 4% not sure, in a YouGov
published on Dec. 27.

More concerning for the president is his net approval rating among
working class Americans. Of those earning under $50,000 per year, the
latest survey found only 29% said the U.S. was rCLgenerally headed in the right direction,rCY while 61% considered the country rCLoff on the wrong track.rCY

So as TrumprCOs popularity is imploding, the Democrats have not been doing themselves any favors. On Dec. 18 it was reported that the Democratic
National Committee will not publicly release or publish a report on its autopsy of the 2024 presidential campaign.

A spokeswoman for the DNC, who spoke to The New York Times on the
condition of anonymity to share the thinking of DNC Chairman Ken Martin:
rCLHe believes that looking back so publicly and painfully at the past
would prove counterproductive for the party as it tries next year to
take back power in Congress.rCY

In my opinion, the DNC is making a huge mistake. To avoid factious
fights within the party over its failings, they avoid taking any accountability to the country and are likely to make the same mistakes
again.

If they want to increase their popularity with the American electorate, Democrats need to own up and apologize for not giving American voters
better choices in the 2024 election.

Lynn Schmidt: is a St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist and editorial board member.
--2026 STLtoday.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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