CNN Data Wonk's Hopeless Forecast For Democrats Might Be Too Much For You
CNN’s Harry Enten said Monday that Democrats have “no real light at the end of the tunnel.” (Watch the video below.)
In a chat with “News Central” anchor John Berman, Enten, CNN’s senior data reporter, broke down the history-making vulnerability of the Democratic Party after last week’s election. It will likely be one of just a few times in the last 90 years that Democrats don’t hold power in either the White House or any chamber of Congress, he said. What’s more, President Joe Biden has the lowest approval rating of any departing Democratic incumbent since Jimmy Carter in 1980.
“When you make the comparison to Jimmy Carter on popularity, you know that you’re in bad shape,” Enten said.
It all adds up to gloom and doom for a party reeling from Republican Donald Trump’s victory over Democrat Kamala Harris, a Republican flip in the Senate and a likely continuing majority in the House.
“The bottom line is, everywhere you look, the Democrats are in this deep, dark state because they have no heir apparent, the incumbent president’s unpopular, and they hold no levers of power in Washington, most likely come January,” Enten said.
“For Democrats, there’s no real light at the end of the tunnel,” he added.
Enten and Berman mentioned that the party has at times rebounded from weakness fairly quickly, but right now any sliver of optimism is sunk in a pit of despair.
“It’s always darkest before it’s pitch-black, as John McCain once said,” Enten said.
Democrats in the wilderness... This appears to be...
-1st time since 92 cycle with no clear frontrunner for the next Dem nomination
-1st outgoing Dem pres with approval rating south of 50% since 1980.
-Only 6th time in last 90 years where Dems control no levers in federal gov pic.twitter.com/56UBWjENMp— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) November 11, 2024