Has the Season of MAGA Finally Arrived? Democrats Struggle for Relevance

Few doubted Donald Trump would win a second term as president. After incumbent President Joe Biden was forced aside due to supposed mental issues, all the Democrats were left with was Vice president Kamala Harris, and few thought she had any chance whatsoever in derailing the MAGA juggernaut, even with the not-so-subtle help of the so-called “impartial” mainstream media.

As Vice President and heir apparent to the Oval Office, Kamala accomplished little, although she did achieve the distinction of having the lowest approval rating of a Vice President for all four years of any party in recent history. So, I guess that’s at least something. Even the Republican Status Quo didn’t bother challenging “The Donald” with a primary.  There’s no question, the “Season of MAGA” is upon us.

During his first 50 days, President Trump signed over 70 executive orders (a record number by the way). He’s empowered billionaire Elon Musk to head the Department of Government Efficiency (aka “DOGE”) to root out government waste and inefficiency wherever it could be found.

 In the process, thousands of government employees have been let go, funding of USAID and other programs have been dramatically cut. Now, DOGE is threatening Social Security and Medicare in it’s hunt for waste and fraud. Already it’s found millions in waste, including checks going to individuals long dead.  But many are beginning to wonder if DOGE will reach too far in its zealous search.  

Tariffs have been implemented against Mexico, China, and Canada in order to level the global economic trading field. Of course, they’ve responded in kind. Now it’s a matter of who will blink first (hint: Canada appears to be first out).  In addition, President Trump, in keeping with his promise of eliminating illegal immigration, has begun widespread round up and deportation of thousands of individuals here illegally.

Trump is also planning on cutting federal funding to all “sanctuary cities” as well. And if that wasn’t enough, he’s even ordered that the name of Gulf of Mexico be changed. It will now be known as the “Gulf of America” to reflect our rediscovered “greatness”. Needless to say, Mexico and most of Latin America isn’t too keen on the name change.

Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, was the early bird to Washington, hat in hand, and wanting to be one of the first to ask for billions more of taxpayer money to continue the war with Russia. For Zelensky, it was a diplomatic and media disaster.

The Ukrainian president was publicly heavily chastised by President Trump for not having at least a proposal to stop hostilities rather than just perpetuating a war that’s lasted three years all ready and cost thousands of lives and billions in damage. Russia’s president, Vladmir Putin, has already made peace overtures which were all but ignored by Zelensky. NATO, of course, threw a fit and has promised to continue military aid to Ukraine, which itself can ill afford (or worse, to keep poking the Russian bear until it bites back).

So, what about the Democrats? They fared poorly in the election all the way around.  In today’s hyper partisan political world, it goes without saying that whatever the other side does, the opposing party is against. It could be a cure for cancer and some partisan faction would find a reason to complain about it.

Case in point, at President Trump’s recent Congressional address on March 4th, he introduced a young man (about 13 years old) by the name of “DJ” Daniel, who has been fighting a lifelong battle with a cancerous brain tumor. This young man has always wanted to be in law enforcement. Knowing that to be unlikely given his condition (in 2018, doctors told Daniel’s family that DJ had roughly five months to live), he started collecting police and other law enforcement badges.  

Along the way, he’s been made an honorary officer some 50 times (including an honorary FBI “Special Agent”). During the speech, DJ was introduced and received a rousing applause from everyone, well, except the Democrats in attendance. They sat on their hands and totally ignored the brave young 13 year old cancer survivor.

Even when he was made an honorary Secret Service agent by the director of the Secret Service himself, Sean Curran, there was crickets coming from the Democrat side of the aisle. What gives? Has partisan hatred (and I do mean “hatred”) gone so far as to take it out on some little kid? Well, the public noticed in a big way.

Democrats were overwhelmed with negative letters, especially coming from their own side, chastising them over their disrespect of DJ. Even Democratic rank and file members, in a rare instance of courage, went after their party leaders for not allowing them some leeway to respond during the speech.

For anyone who watched the address, all they saw from the Democrats was them holding up signs calling Trump names, making accusations, and playing video games, while a few got up and walked out. One, Rep. Al Green (D-TX) stood up and tried to shout over the president and heckle him, was thrown out. The end result was a political party in disarray and at each other’s throats.

 That’s not how you win back the American People, and in case you have any doubts, an NBC News poll released on March 17^th found just 7% of those polled have a “very favorable” opinion of Democratic Party and just 27% had a “favorable” opinion! To put it another way, 66% of respondents had a negative opinion of the Democratic Party.  That’s the lowest favorability numbers since 1990.

A CNN poll, conducted March 6 -9, showed similar results. Reflecting a new low for the Democrats, the poll showed a favorability rating of 29% among Democrats and liberal leaning Independents. 54% said they had an unfavorable opinion of the Democrats.

In comparison, the low point for the Republicans was in September 2017 during Trump’s first term when the GOP hit an all time low of 62% (their approval rating was 29%) with the rest having no opinion.

Also, according to the CNN poll, 57% of Democrats and liberal leaning Independents surveyed said they wanted the Democrats to oppose the current Trump agenda. Just 42% said they want the Democrats to try and work with Republican lawmakers.

Contrast those numbers with a September 2017 poll and Trump’s first term when 74% of Democrats and liberal leaning Independents wanted Congressional Democrats to work with Trump while only 23% said they wanted Democrats to stop the Trump White House. As for current Republican favorability among the GOP faithful and conservative leaning Independents,  the Republican Party was standing at 48%.

A CNN/SSRS poll from March 18^th show that voters in general had a low opinion of both corporate owned parties in general with neither polling over a 20% approval rating. This is especially true of the nation’s largest voting bloc, Independents.

Republicans and conservatives gave themselves an 80% approval rating whereas just 63% of Democrats and those who lean liberal could say the same thing about the Democrat Party. The majority of Democrats and those who lean liberal---52%---said the biggest issues with the party is a lack of leadership.

Among Independents, the Democrats have a 19% approval rating while the GOP’s approval rating is a paltry 20%. In our current “winner-take-all” system, 90% of all elections, including Congressional races, are safe for one party or the other, meaning that the losing side forgoes any real representation for the duration of the office term (of course, despite a lack of representation, you can bet that the tax bills keep rolling in).

A February 13^th Gallup Poll showed that 45% of liberal leaning Independents and Democrats alike say the Democratic Party needs to adopt a more moderate or centrist course. 29% would like to take the party even further Left.  Just 22% wants to stay the course.

In dropping back to 2021, 31% of Democrats and progressive Independents wanted to stay the course. However, it was a tie at 34% each between those who wanted a shift further to the Left and those who wanted a more moderate approach.

In looking at conservative leaning Independents and party Republicans, 43% are happy where the party currently is. 28% would like to take the GOP further to the Right whereas 27% would prefer that the Republican Party tone it down a bit.

With Republican and conservative leaning Independents, 40% in 2021 want to see the GOP get even more conservative. 34% were happy where they were, but 24% thought the party should dial it back a few notches. Among all groups, each wanted theirs to take the lead with moderates wanting more moderation, liberals wanting to be more liberal, and conservatives wanting to be even more conservative.

So, where does this leave us? President Trump has hit the ground running full tilt, much to the delight of his MAGA supporters while the Democrats are still suffering from election shell shock. They have yet to come up with an effective massage to counter Trump, primarily because their leadership is completely out of touch with the American People.

Meanwhile, the nation’s largest voting bloc---Independents---have had enough of the extreme partisanship of both corporate controlled parties. Remember that both the Democrats and the Republican constituted minority parties, which reflects why both are struggling with the American voter.

 Until one or the other party can tap into the large centrist bloc, this national divide will only continue to worsen. Perhaps now, more than ever, it’s time for a third party. 58% of Americans agree.

 

Thank you for reading "Another Opinion", the Op/Ed blog page for the "militant middle".  Here at "A/O" we truly value our readers. At A/O we seek the facts as they exist, not partisan talking points.  We hope you find our articles informative and engaging. Comments are welcome, provided they are not vulgar, insulting or demeaning.  Another Opinion is offered without charge and is directed toward all independent and free-thinking individuals. We ask, however, that you "like" us on whatever platform you found us on in order to keep our articles available for free to others. Lastly, in order to keep costs down, we depend on passive marketing, and therefore, depend on our readers to please forward our posts along. Below you will find links to the sources we used in writing this article. Thank you. 

 

Trump makes 13-year-old cancer survivor  a Secret Service agent during speech to Congress

Polls Show Democrats Losing Popularity, Yet Making 2026Gains

CNN Poll: Only 19% of Independents View Democrats Favorablyand Don’t Think Much Better of Republicans

More Democrats Favor Party Moderation Than in the Past

Gallup: Support for Third Party Dips Slightly: Still Close to60%