Former President Joe Biden was clearly an inflection point for the Democrats.
This writer genuinely believes that Democrats believed they could scrape by with the deeply unpopular octogenarian through the election, and just sort of figure out what to do next from there, with four more years of the White House locked up.
That obviously didn’t happen — at all.
And because those plans blew up in their faces in such spectacular fashion, it really does feel like the party is a rudderless bunch right now, flailing about and hoping for the best.
According to some August polling from the U.K. Daily Mail, Democratic voters are feeling that way about their party too.
The blistering poll, which did not have its methodology divulged, but seemed to be conducted with Daily Mail+ members, revealed who voters viewed most favorably among a cabal of prominent Democratic politicians and a handful of big public names that generally associate with the Democratic Party.
These candidates were judged on a number of factors (“likability,” “neutrality,” and “good hang” were some of the parameters) and it’s not good news for anyone who actually works in Democratic politics.
The top vote-getter for Dems? None other than the wildly wise, deeply neutral, liberal actor Tom Hanks.
(That was sarcasm, by the way.)
Will the Democratic Party ever recover from what Obama, Biden, and Pelosi have done to it?
Behind Hanks was pro-wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who has long teased a potential political career.
After Johnson, you have actor-philanthropist George Clooney. Behind Clooney is billionaire businessman and former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Billionaire former talk show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey rounds out the top five.
Yes, you read that right. When it comes to the future of the Democratic Party, this poll found that the most well-received future leaders are all not even politicians.
The top elected Democrat isn’t even technically a “Democrat,” as behind Winfrey is liberal Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — not exactly a beacon of youth to help lead the party for 20 more years.
Interestingly, the next two candidates to make it were Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.
From there, you actually have to get pretty far to get to some truly prominent Democratic names.
Some of the least favorably viewed Democratic leaders were some big ones, like Sen. Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
(Even some of the “fresher” Democratic candidates, like failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, were middling candidates, per the Daily Mail polling.)
Oh, and dead last? Perhaps not a surprise to anybody who’s not Somalian: Vile Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar.
If this is truly the best Democrats have to muster, the Republicans may not even need to bust out its best and brightest come 2028.
(Well, perhaps against The Rock, but that may just be this writer’s pro-wrestling fandom speaking.)
Look, all jokes aside, this is a grim signal for Democrats. None of their actual politicians are doing well in this polling. And while this is only one poll, it’s hard to deny that other polling outfits aren’t reaching the same, ignominious conclusion.
And while this may sound callous, given that Democratic voters keep doubling down on these lunatics, frankly, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of people — voter or politician.
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