Millions of Americans are hoping and dreaming of a miracle in November. They believe the Republicans have lost their way, so the Democrats will step in and set the country right. Now, before you get all enamored with that story, you had better ask the Democrats themselves whether they believe it.
They do not.
Nearly six in ten Democratic-aligned voters say their own party needs major changes or complete reform, according to CNN’s July 2026 polling.i The party sits around 40 percent favorable and 53 percent unfavorable in the current polling averages.ii That’s right. The rescue party cannot even sell itself to its own people.
And the country has already rendered its verdict on both of them. Pew Research found that 26 percent of Americans now hold an unfavorable view of both the Democrats and the Republicans at the same time, up from 21 percent in 2020.iii The majority of Americans say both parties are too extreme, and fewer than half believe either one governs honestly and ethically, with the Republicans at 39 percent and the Democrats at 42.iv
Let me remind you that the Democrats have their own version of MAGA, and it is the progressive movement. It runs on the same extremist fuel. It draws its power from intensity rather than breadth, punishes anyone who compromises, and treats the middle of the country as an obstacle instead of a constituency. Senator Bernie Sanders has endorsed more than sixty candidates in primaries across the country, as the New York Times reported, and he is doing it to lock his wing of the party into place for years after he is gone.v He is 84 years old, he is not even a Democrat, and he may be the closest thing the Democratic Party has to anyone actually in charge.
That is not an attack on Bernie Sanders. He has been telling us exactly who he is for fifty years. The alarm here is that a party of this size, in a moment this serious, has nobody driving it. Ask ten Democrats who leads them today and you will get ten different answers. Senator Cory Booker said out loud what his colleagues say quietly, that the party has failed this moment.vi Rahm Emanuel, a man who helped build the modern Democratic Party, is now going around the country making the case that it no longer works.vii
So, this is where the two parties are today. One party captured by its most intense faction, another party captured by its most intense faction, and both of them telling you they are the only thing standing between you and disaster.
Now look at what the two of them have built together. In 1947 and 1948, the House passed 1,739 bills. In its most recent full term, it introduced a record 10,786 bills and yet passed only 777. The Senate once passed 2,550 bills in a single term. Last term it passed just 475.viii
That is not gridlock, and we need to stop calling it that. Gridlock is what happens when two sides fight each other to a standstill. This is a dead branch of government. The one the Constitution put closest to the people has stopped doing the one job it exists to do, and the decline has continued for seventy years, across thirty-five elections and every combination of party control we have ever tried. We need laws that lower prescription costs, steady health care, and fix immigration. Congress is not passing them. Congress is not even writing them.
To make matters worse, that steady decline has allowed the legislative branch to let its authority slip away, and the executive branch has seized that authority and abused it in countless ways.
We keep swapping the players on the field and hoping for a better outcome. Neither of these parties is coming to save the game, because neither one is able to move back toward the center. That is why 45 percent of American adults no longer see themselves as Democrats or Republicans, according to Gallup’s January 2026 survey.ix
If you believe our nation is in crisis and in need of a change, I encourage you to take a look at my new book, The Opening. In it, I lay out exactly how we got to where we are today, and more importantly, how we get this country back on track.
Learn more about the book: https://theopeningbook.com
References
1 CNN, “CNN Poll: Voters favor Democrats by an 8-point margin heading into the midterms,” July 30, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/30/politics/cnn-poll-2026-midterms
2 Fifty Plus One, “Democratic Party Favorability Polls and Average for 2026,” accessed September 11, 2026. https://fiftyplusone.news/polls/democratic-party-favorability
3 Pew Research Center, “Americans Continue to View Both the Republican and Democratic Parties Negatively,” May 1, 2026. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2026/05/01/americans-continue to-view-both-the-republican-and-democratic-parties-negatively/
4 Pew Research Center, “A Year Ahead of the Midterms, Americans’ Dim Views of Both Parties,” October 30, 2025. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/10/30/a-year-ahead-of-the midterms-americans-dim-views-of-both-parties/
5 The New York Times, “Bernie Sanders Backs Slate of Candidates in Bid to Cement Progressive Legacy,” May 15, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/15/us/politics/bernie-sanders endorsements.html
6 The Guardian, “Cory Booker says Democrats have ‘failed this moment’ and calls for new leaders,” March 29, 2026. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/29/cory-booker-democrats new-leadership
7 The Hill, “Rahm Emanuel makes case for change to a divided Democratic Party,” April 7, 2026. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5818596-rahm-emanuel-democrats-critic/
8 Paul J. Chapman, The Opening, Chapter 1, “Something Is Deeply Wrong,” drawing on legislative activity counts from Congress.gov. https://www.congress.gov/browse/legislation
9 Gallup, “New High of 45% in U.S. Identify as Political Independents,” January 12, 2026. https://news.gallup.com/poll/700499/new-high-identify-political-independents.aspx