‘They roll right over’: Many Democrats call their party weak and ineffective, AP-NORC poll finds

Voters check in to cast ballots in the New Hampshire presidential primary at a polling site in Derry, N.H., Jan. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

WASHINGTON — Many Democrats see their political party as “weak” or “ineffective,” according to a poll that finds considerable pessimism within Democratic ranks. Republicans are more complimentary of their party, although a small but significant share describe the GOP as “greedy” or say it is generally “bad.”

The poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in July reveals warning signs for both major U.S. parties as the political focus shifts to elections in New Jersey and Virginia this fall and the midterm contests next year.

Respondents were asked to share the first word or phrase that came to mind when they thought of the Republican and Democratic parties. Answers were then sorted into broad categories, including negative and positive attributes. Overall, U.S. adults held a dim view of both parties, with about four in 10 using negative attributes, including words such as “dishonest” or “stupid.”

But nearly nine months after Republican Donald Trump won a second presidential term, Democrats appear to be harboring more resentment about the state of their party than do Republicans. Democrats were likelier to describe their own party negatively than Republicans. Republicans were about twice as likely to describe their own party positively.

“They’re spineless,” Cathia Krehbiel, a 48-year-old Democrat from Indianola, Iowa, said of her party.

She believes the party’s response to the Trump administration has been “scattershot.”

“I just feel like there’s so much recently that’s just going abhorrently wrong,” Krehbiel said. ”And they speak up a little bit and they roll right over.”

Democrats speak out against their own party

Overall, roughly one-third of Democrats described their party negatively in the open-ended question.

About 15 per cent described it using words like “weak,” or “apathetic,” while an additional 10 per cent believe it is broadly “ineffective” or “disorganized.”

Only about two in 10 Democrats described their party positively, with roughly one in 10 saying it is “empathetic,” or “inclusive.” An additional one in 10 used more general positive descriptors.

It is unclear what impact the Democrats’ angst may have on upcoming elections or the political debate in Washington, but no political organization wants to be plagued by internal divisions.

Still, the Democrats’ frustration appears to reflect their concern that party leaders are not doing enough to stop Trump’s GOP, which controls Washington.

There is little sign that such voters would abandon their party in favor of Trump’s allies in upcoming elections, and the vast majority of Democrats described the GOP negatively. But disaffected Democrats might decide not to vote at all. That could undermine their party’s push to reclaim at least one chamber of Congress in 2026.

Jim Williams, a 78-year-old retiree from Harper Woods, Michigan said he typically supports Democrats, but he is “disappointed” with the party and its murky message. He feels much worse about the Republican Party, which he said “has lost it” under Trump’s leadership.

“All he does is bully and call names. They’ve got no morals, no ethics. And the more they back him, the less I like them,” the self-described independent, said of Trump.

What do Republicans say about their party?

Republicans are about twice as likely as Democrats to describe their party positively, with many also using straightforward ideological descriptors like “conservative.”

About four in 10 Republicans used positive attributes to characterize the GOP, making general mentions of words such as “patriotic” or “hardworking,” or offering associations with the word “freedom.”

Samuel Washington, 65, of Chicago, said he typically votes Republican. Washington praised Trump’s leadership, even while acknowledging that the president’s policies on trade and spending might be creating short-term economic hardship.

“There’s a lot of pain, but the pain is the result of 12 years of misuse and misguided leadership from the Democratic Party,” he said. “I’m feeling really good about Republicans and the direction that they’re going.”

But views were not uniformly good. About two in 10 Republicans said something negative about the party, including phrases such as “greedy,” “for the rich” or “corrupt.”

Republican Dick Grayson, an 83-year-old veteran from Trade, Tennessee, said he is “disappointed” by his party’s fealty to Trump.

Among other things, he pointed to the price tag of Trump’s tax-and-spend package, which will add nearly $3.3 trillion to the nation’s debt over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

“I’ve always been a Republican, but I’m disillusioned about both parties,” Grayson said.

How Americans view the parties overall

Among all Americans, the poll finds that the Republican Party is viewed slightly more negatively than the Democratic Party. The different is not large: 43 per cent used negative words to describe the Republicans, compared with 39 per cent for the Democrats.

Much of the negativity is driven by the opposing party — and independents’ distaste for both. Independents are much likelier to describe both parties with negative attributes rather than positive descriptors, though a significant share did not offer an opinion at all.

Curtis Musser, a 60-year-old unaffiliated voter from Beverly Hills, Florida, said both parties have shifted too far toward the extreme for his liking.

He said he is ready for a serious third party to emerge before the next presidential election, pointing to Elon Musk’s new “America Party,” which has been slow to launch.

“Maybe he would get us headed in the right direction,” the retired schoolteacher said.

Peoples reported from New York.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,437 adults was conducted July 10-14, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Steve Peoples, Linley Sanders And Hyojin Yoo, The Associated Press