General Discussion

The "data scientist" who wrote this opinion piece does not link to the February 2025 poll that he inexplicably cites under the screen shot of a chart that his own company (Split Ticket) devised as "net approval" based on the results of three different polls, two of which did not actually ask a "do you approve of your party" question.

Did anyone bother to go to the primary sources (i.e. the polls themselves and the author's company's website) to see whether the data were massaged or manipulated?

Unfortunately, there are politicians running around blaming Republicans and Democrats equally for Trump's abuses, working hard to convince voters that there is no difference between the two parties, and even encouraging potential candidates to run against Democrats as independents.

There are even politicians offering joke-y apologies to the Democrats they badmouthed a few years ago, finally admitting how very wrong they were now that's too late and the damage has been done.

Why on earth are politicians on tours saying things like "We need a Democratic Party that will fight". In what way does that help the Democratic Party? Who benefits from that kind messaging? Why aren't they saying things like "We are the Democratic Party and we are fighting"?

And of course the MSM is running with the "Democrats badmouthing Democrats" narrative. It's great for ratings.

Meanwhile, because the government was not shut down, the federal courts are still operating, the vast majority of federal workers have not been furloughed (with the remainder working without pay), and Social Security Administration continues to cut checks and process applications.

Yes, it may have been disappointing to be deprived of a moment to pump one's fist in the air and yell, "Resist!", but luckily cooler heads prevailed because there was no viable exit strategy for a hot-headed move.

And now, nothing that the Trump administration is doing can be blamed on "Democrats shutting down the government".