The growing decline of the Dems

 Federalist Wire:

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The Democratic Party is spiraling into chaos, with no clear frontrunner for the 2028 presidential race and a bitter internal feud that’s tearing at its already frayed identity. Colorado Senator Michael Bennet and California Governor Gavin Newsom traded barbs over the weekend, exposing a rift that’s less about solutions and more about pointing fingers—while the party’s grip on voters slips further away.

Newsom, appearing on “Real Time With Bill Maher” Friday night, didn’t mince words about the mess his party’s in. “Toxic,” he called the Democratic brand, slamming how its leaders “talk down” to voters. It’s a rare moment of candor from a man often floated as a future contender, but it didn’t sit well with everyone.

By Sunday, Bennet was on “Meet the Press,” agreeing the party’s image is a disaster but pinning the blame squarely on states like Newsom’s California and New York. “I do agree that the Democratic Party brand is really problematic,” Bennet said. “I think that it is a brand that is, with all respect to my colleague from California, associated with New York and with California is associated with the educated elites in this country and not anymore with working people in this country.”

That disconnect with working-class voters isn’t new—it plagued Joe Biden and Kamala Harris throughout their doomed 2024 campaigns. On bread-and-butter issues like the economy, inflation, and the border, Democrats couldn’t sell their story. The Biden-Harris years saw voter anxiety hit record highs, and the party’s messaging fell flat. Now, with no obvious successor in sight, the finger-pointing is only making the mess uglier.
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The party’s soul-searching since November’s loss has turned into a circular firing squad. Some, like Newsom, blame the brand and the condescending tone. Others point to a left-wing policy lurch that left voters cold. Take the Senate Democrats’ March 3 move to block a bill banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports—a decision that flew in the face of public opinion. Polls show eight in 10 Americans, including many Democrats, oppose biological males competing in female sports, yet the party doubled down. It’s the kind of tone-deafness that’s become a hallmark.

And who’s waiting in the wings to fix this? No one, apparently. A CNN/SSRS poll from March 16 laid bare the leadership vacuum: over 30% of respondents couldn’t name a single Democrat who embodies the party’s core values. One voter summed it up to CNN: “That’s the problem.” With no standout figure to unite them, the Democrats are stuck—bickering over yesterday’s failures while 2028 looms with no savior in sight.
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The Democrats have tried to remedy this problem by demonizing Trump, but that has not worked either, since he is polling better than ever.  While Newsome has some political skills, his performance in California has not been something to run on in a national race.  Texas and Florida have Republican governors with a more robust economy.

See also:

The progressive movement has led the Democrat party into a political black hole