The Democrat Party has changed so drastically from what it used to be and represent that some longtime members are reexamining their relationship.
That is the case for former Clinton pollster Doug Schoen, who appeared on Fox News on Thursday after President Donald Trump’s popular address to a joint session of Congress.
After Democrats refused to stand for the moms of two girls who were viciously murdered by illegal aliens and for DJ Daniel, a 13-year-old brain cancer survivor who was made an honorary Secret Service agent, at the address, Schoen said that he could see many Democrats start to leave the Party, including Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman.
“I certainly think that is possible if you look at what he’s said and what he’s done. It’s clear he’s uncomfortable in the Democratic Party, as frankly, I am,” he told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “I disagree with the Republicans on a lot of things. They go further than I would go. So I cling to my membership in the Democratic Party, but it’s not the same party.”
“It isn’t the party of John F. Kennedy or Bill Clinton. Moderates are really not welcome. And I wish we could have the kind of discussion about issues that most of us want, that President Trump, I think, was inviting from the opposition, that is sadly absent,” he said. “It’s a woke, far-left party that I really have very little in common with, with the party that I helped build and [helped] re-elect, proudly, Bill Clinton.”
“I disagree with many of the policies that President Trump so articulately outlined, and I think he’s gone too far. But that being said, my party is not doing what Bill Clinton did when the Gingrich revolution came in 1994, which is to offer a set of alternatives that recognize the American people want border security, a reduction in inflation, tougher policies on crime, and immigration reform. Until we do that as a party, we Democrats remain irrelevant, sadly,” Schoen added.
Democratic lawmakers may have bristled at Trump’s triumphant return to the Capitol, but new polling suggests their constituents felt differently.
A CBS News/YouGov survey, conducted immediately after Trump’s joint address to Congress, polled a nationally representative sample of speech watchers—and the results are likely to delight the poll-conscious president.
The poll shows an overwhelming 76 percent of Americans viewing the speech approved of Trump’s remarks, with only 23 percent — less than a quarter — disapproving.
Sixty-eight percent of viewers described Trump’s speech as “hopeful,” with a majority also describing it as “presidential,” “inspiring,” “unifying,” and “entertaining.”
A clear majority of Americans who watched President Trump’s address felt he focused on issues that mattered to them, according to the CBS News/YouGov survey.
More than two-thirds of viewers said Trump has a clear plan to tackle inflation, which began under President Joe Biden. Additionally, over three-quarters of respondents supported Trump’s proposals on reducing government waste, immigration, and border security. Despite negative press coverage leading up to the speech, nearly one-quarter of viewers approved of Trump’s approach to handling Ukraine and Russia, Breitbart News reported, citing the polling results.
While presidential address audiences typically lean toward the sitting president’s party, the survey found that only 51% of viewers identified as Republicans, suggesting that Trump’s message resonated beyond his base.
Finally, more than three-quarters of viewers approved of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) ordering the Sergeant at Arms to remove Rep. Al Green (D-TX) from the chamber after he disrupted President Trump’s speech despite multiple warnings.
Trump also won praise from members of the Republican Party and many in the media.
“Tonight, President Trump made his triumphant return to Congress to share his bold, optimistic vision for renewing the American Dream,” Johnson noted on the X platform.
“This is the fifth State of the Union address I’ve seen Trump give — it was by far his best,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) added.