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NEW YORK (AP) � Six months after Donald Trump's presidential victory,
Democrats remain deeply pessimistic about the future of their party,
although neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party is viewed favorably by a majority of U.S. adults.

A new poll conducted earlier this month by The Associated Press-NORC
Center for Public Affairs Research found that only about one-third of
Democrats are �very optimistic� or even �somewhat optimistic� about their party's future. That's down sharply from July 2024, when about 6 in 10 Democrats said they had a positive outlook.

�I�m not real high on Democrats right now,� said poll respondent Damien Williams, a 48-year-old Democrat from Cahokia Heights, Illinois. �To me, they�re not doing enough to push back against Trump.�

The poll comes at a critical moment for the Democratic Party, which is desperately seeking momentum after losing the White House and both
chambers of Congress in last fall�s general election. In the survey,
Democrats offer mixed reviews for some of their party�s best-known elected officials � including Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both of New York � while reporting significant concerns about how leaders are chosen in the U.S. political system.

Williams, a member of the Teamsters union, said he likely won't feel good
about his party again �until somebody steps up in terms of being a leader
that can bring positive change � an Obama-like figure.�

Republicans, meanwhile, are slightly more optimistic about the future of
the GOP than they were last year.

The poll finds that about half of Republicans, 55%, are very or somewhat optimistic about their party's future, up from 47% last summer. Still,
only about 3 in 10 Republicans are optimistic about the state of U.S.
politics, up from about 1 in 10 last summer.

Patrick Reynolds, a 50-year-old Republican community activist and pastor
from Fort Worth, Texas, says he has conflicting feelings about Trump's leadership and the future of his party.

He worries that too many Republicans in Congress are falling in line
behind the Republican president and his chief ally and adviser, Elon Musk,
who has led Trump's push to slash the size of the federal government.
Reynolds also says he's concerned that Trump's aggressive moves to combat illegal immigration may be violating the Constitution.

�How can we be the party of the rule of law when we�re violating
constitutional principles?� Reynolds said. �I think there could be a (political) backlash.�

Neither political party is especially popular right now.

Overall, about 4 in 10 U.S. adults have a favorable view of the Republican Party while about one-third have a positive view of the Democratic Party.

This relatively weak support extends to some of each party's most
prominent officials.

Roughly 4 in 10 Americans have a favorable view of Bernie Sanders, a
Vermont independent who has twice run for the Democratic presidential nomination and has toured the nation in recent months rallying anti-Trump resistance. Among self-described Democrats, about three-quarters view
Sanders favorably.

About half of Democrats have a favorable view of Ocasio-Cortez, who has
joined Sanders on the �Fighting Oligarchy� tour. She is less popular among
U.S. adults overall � about 3 in 10 have a favorable opinion of the 35- year-old representative, who is sometimes mentioned as a potential
presidential candidate in 2028.

Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, is less popular than Sanders or Ocasio- Cortez.

Just about one-third of Democrats have a somewhat or very favorable view
of the 74-year-old senator, who took a hit from many liberals for acceding
to a Republican-led funding bill that kept the government open. The share
of Democrats who view Schumer positively has fallen since December 2024,
when about half had a somewhat or very favorable view. Among all adults,
his favorability stands at 21%.

�I just feel like the majority of the old Democratic Party needs to go,"
said Democrat Monica Brown, a 61-year-old social worker from Knoxville, Tennessee. �They�re not in tune with the new generation. They�re not in
tune with the new world. We�ve got such division within the party.�

On the GOP side, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a former Florida senator,
is more popular than several other high-profile Republicans.

About 6 in 10 Republicans view Rubio favorably, although that number falls
to about one-third among all adults. About half of Republicans have a
positive opinion of House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, while around one-quarter of U.S. adults feel the same. That's roughly the same level of support for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News Channel host
who earns favorable ratings from 44% of Republicans and about one-quarter
of Americans overall.

Beyond their negative outlook on the future of their party, 55% of
Democrats are also pessimistic about the way leaders are chosen in the
U.S. The figure is up slightly from 46% last summer, when President Joe
Biden was still in the White House.

Linda Sleet, a 69-year-old retiree who lives in Venice, Florida, raised specific concerns about the way congressional districts are drawn and the Electoral College that is used to determine presidential contests instead
of the popular vote.

�I don't have confidence in the system,� Sleet said. �I think it served a purpose way back when. It does not now.�

Williams, the Teamster from Illinois, said he's unhappy with just about everything to do with U.S. politics.

�I�m going to need to see some wins for America, for humanity, before I
can be optimistic right now,� he said. �Every day is just a constant
barrage of negative feelings and news politically. It's all screwed up
right now.�


--
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Every day is an IQ test. Some pass, some, not so much.

Thank you for cleaning up the disasters of the 2008-2017, 2020-2024 Obama
/ Biden / Harris fiascos, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

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