Swing Voters Have Some Bad News for Dems With Blowback Over Shutdown

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) hoped to hurt President Donald Trump and the Republicans with the shutdown. But, instead, Schumer angered the leftist base, some of whom thought he caved and walked away with nothing for over 40 days of ridiculous posturing.

Now, there's more evidence that the shutdown may blow back on the Democrats.

Georgia swing voters in the Engagious/Sago focus groups said it was not good for the Democrats, that they came out of the struggle looking worse than the Republicans. The people in the focus group were people who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and Trump in 2024.

Seven of the 13 swing voters in their panels said Democrats came out of the shutdown looking worse than Republicans. Two said Republicans looked worse, and four said both parties looked equally bad.

"It was for what?" said Christine L., 54, of Peachtree City. "It really does make them look bad."
"They always project to be a party of the people who they care about, the disenfranchised, the people who are in poverty ... but their actions contradict it, they don't really care," said Elijah T, 33, of Conyers.
"Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries beat the heck out of this and wasted 41 days dragging their feet before eight Democrats finally decided enough is enough," said Brian B., 61, of Norcross.
"Democrats gave swing voters — who already hold the party in profoundly low esteem — yet another reason to mistrust them," said Rich Thau, President of Engagious, who moderated the focus groups.

Eight of the 13 who flipped to Trump still expressed overall approval of Trump's actions. The five who had issues had concerns about things like inflation, high food costs, and immigration enforcement. That shows Trump still holding strong, but it's an indication that Trump and Republicans could do more to sell how those issues are being made better.

Asked what lessons Republicans should take from the defeats, their advice included spending more money in races against Democrats, appealing more to the political center, "don't rest on your laurels" and "get a better stance on what's going on and what people want to have done."
Their advice to Democrats: "Don't go too woke," "follow through with your promises." One voter noted that "midterms are never determined by these special elections."

In addition to wasting everyone's time and putting people through a lot of pain with the shutdown, Democrats seem to be doing all they can to not follow that advice by embracing socialists, from New York City to Seattle. Then, too, they are imploding all over each other, Schumer may get the boot, and it sounds like the left is going to primary him and others.

Watch Out, Dems: AOC Is Coming for More Than Just Schumer After Shutdown Deal

So while Republicans shouldn't "rest on their laurels," and they need to concentrate on the economy for the next election, this is one more indication that the Democrats failed with their shutdown strategy and face some real trouble in the midterms.

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