Former Clinton pollster Mark Penn said Wednesday that Democrats are struggling politically because Americans perceive them as hyper-partisan and extreme on certain policies.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told CNN in an April 27 interview that his party is “totally united in focusing on [President Donald] Trump.” After Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo played a clip of the interview on “Mornings with Maria,” Penn said that Schumer exemplifies how the party is viewed as “purely partisan” and unwilling to work with Trump to achieve progress for Americans.
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“Chuck Schumer is one of the least popular politicians here in the country. I think he’s seen as really these days as close to a partisan hack rather than somebody who’s trying to solve the problems of the country,” Penn said. “And I think that’s the problem with the Democrats now. They’re seen as purely partisan, but off the deep end on some policy issues, not trying to be constructive, not listening to the will of the people to try to get things done together with the president.
March polling by NBC News and CNN/SSRS showed Democrats with record low popularity ratings — 27% and 29%, respectively.
Despite the public’s dissatisfaction, Schumer said on “Morning Joe” in March that his party’s “job” is to hurt Trump’s popularity, and that he and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries were aligned on an attack strategy.
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“We are fighting on all of the fronts to go after Trump, not have a circular firing squad, which Democrats tend to do, particularly when there’s such an enemy as Trump, so that the basic premise that we are going after him on — and Hakeem and I are working on this very closely together … is that Trump is taking things away from the middle class, from you, to pay for tax cuts for the rich,” he said.
While Penn suggested Democrats’ unwillingness to work with Trump is a negative for the party, nearly two-thirds of Democratic voters wanted their congressional lawmakers to avoid making compromises with the president, according to the March NBC News poll.
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Trump has backed policies with vast public support, such as barring biological males from competing in female sports, deporting illegal immigrants and reducing government waste. However, Democrats have tended to take the less popular side on these issues.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
