Uncompromising resistance gets headlines not necessarily results. That’s one takeaway from new MorningConsult polling and it could be a guiding principle for Democrats trying to survive the Trump-era.
Throughout Trump’s first three months in office, Morning Consult survey polled 85,000 voters on the popularity of every U.S. senator. And many of the administration’s most vocal critics didn’t fare very well.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is a progressive all-star. She fought Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, railed against the Republican Obamacare overhaul before it could even make it into the Senate, and even became a viral meme for breaking the Senate’s rules of decorum. Unfortunately for the Democrat firebrand that hasn’t translated into momentum.
According to the poll, Warren hasn’t been improving her image: 56 percent approve while 38 percent disapprove of her performance. That’s a five-point spike in unpopularity since last year and it doesn’t bode well for Warren’s re-election in 2018, let alone any presidential hopes for 2020.
A similar phenomenon occurred in red state Montana where Democrat Sen. John Tester bucked the White House and watched his numbers drop. In one year, his approval rating drop from 61 to 57 percent and his disapproval ratings spike from 27 to 32 percent.
Those two examples don’t prove that resistance is a losing strategy though. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has opposed the administration at every turn while still managing to top the list. With a 75 percent approval, Sanders is the most popular senator in America.
Perhaps that’s because Sanders has shown that opposition doesn’t require blind partisanship. No one should expect him to reach across the aisle and, for instance, help Republicans resurrect the failed American Health Care Plan. But nobody should be surprised when Sanders has an honest debate like the one he hosted with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Sanders is dedicated to ideas, while Warren is dedicated to party. And the two are moving in opposite directions.
Nothing like Sanders ideologically, but similar in their independence from the party are Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. While the blue senators from red states haven’t crumpled in front of the White House, they haven’t adopted a scorched earth strategy either.
And it’s worked for them. Manchin’s approval increased from 54 to 57 percent and his disapproval ratings have dropped from 38 to 33 percent. While Heitkamp’s disapproval didn’t change her approval has jumped 3 points.
All of this provides a useful lesson to Democrats up for reelection in 2018, specifically try picking battles rather than declaring total war.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
