A new poll conducted by SSRS in partnership with CNN shows that the Democratic Party’s approval rating has plunged to a record low. Only 29% of respondents expressed a favorable view of the party—a historic low in the survey’s 30-year history. CNN’s Manu Raju noted that these results are particularly striking given that Democratic approval has dropped by more than 20 percentage points in just four years, falling from a high of 49%.
The November elections—where President Trump swept all seven swing states, exceeded polling averages by about four percentage points, and became the first Republican to win the popular vote since 2004—were seen as a wake-up call for Democratic Party leaders and voters. Exit polls revealed widespread dissatisfaction with the party over its economic strategy, immigration policies, and promotion of leftist social ideologies, including transgenderism and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Democrat voters have not yet gotten the message, however, as evidenced by the responses to CNN’s poll. A total of 57 percent of Democrat respondents and Democrat-leaning independents want the party to do more to confront President Trump and oppose his agenda. In contrast, only 42 percent of Democrats favor working with Republicans when possible—for example, in this week’s vote to avert a government shutdown.
NEW CNN POLL: Americans’ favorable view of the Democratic Party has fallen to 29%, the lowest ever recorded in CNN’s polling dating back more than 30 years. pic.twitter.com/h1PAUWDFmC
— Inside Politics (@InsidePolitics) March 16, 2025
“The majority’s desire to fight the GOP marks a significant change in the party’s posture from the start of Trump’s first term. A September 2017 poll found a broad 74 percent majority of Democrats and Democratic leaners saying their party should work with Republicans in an attempt to advance their own priorities, and just 23 percent advocating for a more combative approach,” the outlet noted in the survey’s write-up.
A slight majority of Democrats and Democrat-leaning adults—52 percent—now believe the party is headed in the wrong direction, a marked shift from 2017 when most respondents were satisfied with its course. Overall, only 29 percent of survey participants expressed a positive view of the Democratic Party, a decline of more than 20 points from a January 2021 survey conducted shortly after the January 6 Capitol protests.
This overall drop is largely driven by increasingly negative perceptions among Democrats themselves. Only 63 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents now view the party favorably—down from 72 percent in January and 81 percent at the beginning of the Biden Administration. The decline spans all ideological segments within the party, with both liberals and moderates experiencing an 18-point plunge in satisfaction.
In contrast, 79 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents expressed a positive view of the Republican Party. Meanwhile, political independents maintain generally negative views of both parties, with just 20 percent expressing a favorable view of the GOP and 19 percent for the Democrats.