Doug Schoen, a Democrat pollster who often enrages his party by opposing its agenda, has done it again. On Sunday he posted the results of his company’s most recent poll at The Hill. In every category, Republicans outpolled Democrats, often by double digits.
Said Schoen:
The Democratic Party … is finding itself in an increasingly unelectable and unsustainable position….
Our firm’s survey among likely 2022 midterm election voters finds that the Democrats’ political prospects are significantly deteriorating. If the Democratic Party continues down its current ill-fated path of embracing progressive policies while overlooking manifest political realities, we will almost certainly see a landslide G.O.P. victory in 2022.
Those “realities” include voters’ increasing unhappiness with the implementation of the Biden administration’s and the Democratic Party’s socialist agenda onto the American Republic.
Examples:
51% disapprove of Biden’s job performance;
60% disapprove of his handling of the immigration crisis;
59% disapprove of Biden as Commander-in-Chief and his foreign policy;
55% blame Democrats for the immigration surge on the southern border;
and 48% blame Democrats for rising crime.
Schoen says Democrats are “out of touch” with voters:
Two-thirds of likely voters overall (66 percent) — including strong majorities of Independents (63 percent) and Democrats (59 percent) — agree that President Biden and national Democrats are not only “out-of-touch with hardworking Americans,” but moreover, that they “have been so focused on passing their own agenda that they’ve been ignoring Americans’ day-to-day concerns, such as the rising prices for goods and gasoline.”
Voters’ unhappiness is reflected in how they plan to vote in the upcoming midterms in November:
Voters’ preference for party control of the House has swung five points in the G.O.P.’s favor since our national poll in August….
The generic congressional vote has also swung three points in the G.O.P.’s favor.
Concludes Schoen:
Ultimately, our data paints a clear picture of a Democratic Party that no longer knows how to connect with voters absent Donald Trump or a Trump-like foe. As a result, we are seeing a demonstrable pro-Republican trend….
[Those] trends that we’ve isolated in our poll — which are corroborated in other public polling — send a resounding message to national Democrats: Find your way back to moderate policies and “kitchen table issues,” or suffer potentially one of the greatest midterm losses of any party in recent history.
The exit of vulnerable Democrats seeking to avoid the Republican tsunami now numbers 22, including such worthies as Representative Alan Lowenthal of California and Representative Stephanie Murphy of Florida.
Murphy’s exit — despite her claim that she could win reelection in 2022 — is especially notable. A leader of the centrist Blue Dog Coalition (moderate Democrats), Murphy’s fundraising results had all but disappeared, amounting to just $140,000 over the last three months.
Schoen earned no popularity points with his fellow Democrats in announcing the results of his poll. But if they ignore them, they will pay a terrible price in November. As he noted:
Without … a course correction, Democrats are almost certain to be brought down by Republicans in 2022 and 2024 and may find themselves the minority in Congress for years to come.
