John Puri writes for National Review Online about the latest bad news for a major American political party.
A new poll by the Wall Street Journal finds that fewer American voters view the Democratic Party favorably than at any point in the last 35 years. Democrats are viewed unfavorably by 63 percent of voters, “the highest share in Journal polls dating to 1990,” and are seen favorably by just 33 percent of voters.
The survey shows that Democrats’s net-favorability is far below water at -30 percent — the lowest ever recorded in polls going back to 1990 — after falling dramatically throughout Joe Biden’s presidency. Since the 2024 presidential election, Democrats’ approval numbers have deteriorated even further.
In comparison, Americans view the Republican Party and President Trump much less harshly than Democrats, according to the poll, though both are still viewed unfavorably on net. Eleven percent of voters view the Republican Party more unfavorably than favorably, while 7 percent of voters say the same of Trump.
Although the Democratic Party is hoping that backlash against unpopular Trump administration policies will propel it to victory in the 2026 midterms, this survey casts doubt on that strategy. While “voters disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy, inflation, tariffs and foreign policy,” they nonetheless “say they trust Republicans rather than Democrats to handle those same issues in Congress.”
Indeed, voters say that they trust congressional Republicans over Democrats to handle nearly every major issue, save for healthcare and vaccines. On immigration, the poll finds that voters favor Republicans by 17 percentage points. To handle illegal immigration in particular, they trust Republicans over Democrats by 24 points. Illegal immigration is the only issue on which Trump has a positive approval rating.
Even on issues where President Trump has a negative approval rating — such as the economy, inflation, and foreign policy — voters trust Republicans to address the issues in Congress more than Democrats.
