CNN’s Enten: “Democrats Think That Their Party Leaders Are Weak, Weak, Weak,” 57% Want Major Change
CNN data analyst Harry Enten on Monday reported Democrats view their party as weak while Republicans are satisfied with their leadership.
BOLDUAN: All right, a live look at Capitol Hill, where a lot and not a lot is happening right now. Time is quickly running out for lawmakers to come to a compromise and do their jobs to avoid a government shutdown, keep the government funded. This morning there is still no signs of a deal on the horizon. CNN’s Harry Enten is running the numbers on this in a specific — in a specific way. How one party, you see in the numbers, is facing more pressure than the others, and that’s the Democrats. Why? HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Why is it that the Democrats, in my mind, are facing more pressure? Those Democratic leaders. And that is because their base thinks that their party leaders are weak, weak, weak. Look at this, Democrats on who has strong leaders. Look at this, 54 percent say neither party — 54 percent of Democrats say neither party has strong leaders. Among Republicans, 80 percent of their base thinks Republicans have strong leaders. Yet among Democrats just — get this, just 35 percent of Democrats say their party has strong leaders. When you add together this 54 percent with this 11 percent, we’re talking about two-thirds of Democrats who say neither party or Republicans have stronger leaders as compared to just 35 percent who say their own parties have strong leaders. As I said at the top, weak, weak, weak is how Democrats view their leaders in Washington. BOLDUAN: But the — facing more pressure too, does this suggest, and we’ll continue with this, but the question then is, does this suggest that the pressure is for them to cut a deal or to stand against what they think is what Republicans want? That remains kind of the question in and of this. But getting stuff done, who gets stuff done? ENTEN: Yes, exactly. And this is the other thing. It’s not just that Democrats think that their party leaders are weak, weak, weak. They also think they don’t get anything done. I mean, take a look here. OK, Democrats and who get things done. Again, it’s just 50 — we get this, 50 percent of the Democrats say neither party gets anything done. Just 41 percent of Democrats say their own party gets stuff done. When you add in this 9 percent of Democrats who say the Republican Party is more likely to get things done with neither party, we’re talking about three in five Democrats who say neither party or Republicans are more likely to get things done than the Democratic Party. And again, that is the complete inverse of how Republicans feel, because 77 percent of Republicans think their own party leaders are likely to get things done, compared to just 41 percent of Democrats, about half that level, who think their own leaders get things done. Again, Democrats just don’t think very highly of their party at this point. And that is why there’s so much pressure on those leaders, in my mind, in Washington to actually do something that satisfies their base. BOLDUAN: Add all of this up. What does it say about the view of the Democratic Party in general? ENTEN: Yes, if you think your party has weak leaders, if you think your party can’t get anything done, well, this is, I think, the real pressure facing Democrats at this particular point. Democrats who think their parties need major changes or more. Look at this, 57 percent of Democrats say their party needs major changes or more, compared to just 43 percent who say minor or no changes. Again, very different than the Republican Party, where 21 percent of Republicans, only 21 percent, say their party needs major changes or more. Again, a lot of pressure on Democratic leaders to actually do something their base likes for a change. BOLDUAN: Thank you, Harry.
