More than six months after the Democrats suffered a major setback in the 2024 election, the party is sought a pathway from the political wilderness.
Part of that effort includes a recent gathering of top party consultants and donors trying to understand how Democrats can improve outreach to men and working-class voters.
President Donald Trump gained control of the White House, Republicans turned the Senate overturned in November, defending a majority in vulnerable homes, and the GOP benefited among black and Hispanic voters, as well as young voters, all traditional members of the Democrats.
“Everything we went to this point led to Donald Trump's reelection,” longtime Democratic strategist and communicator Joe Kaiazzo told Fox News Digital.
Opinion: What Democrats need to do to win again
Then President Kamala Harris will give a speech to accept the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention held in Chicago on August 22, 2024. (Fox News – Paulsteinhauser)
“If anyone says we don't need to be right, they don't know what they're talking about,” added Sen. Bernie Sanders, a veteran of the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.
Since Trump returned to the White House in January, an increasingly angry and vibrant Democrat foundation has called for party leaders to take a stronger position as they lead to resistance to the president and Republicans.
The outrage directed at Trump and fellow Democrats as well as his fellow Democrats appears to be a factor in the party's poll issues, with Democrats' favorable ratings sinking to historic lows.
Watch: Democratic Party Chairs make a point in Fox News Sunday
Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Ken Martin vows that the party will compete in all 50 states in the future.
In an interview with Fox News Sunday earlier this month, Martin emphasized that the party's current focus is “to be straight to ensuring we stand up for the hardworking Americans left behind in the Trump economy.”
The 2024 election post-DNC death is currently underway, with findings expected to be published later this year. But seizing the spotlight these days was a gathering hosted by a super PAC future forward lined up with Democrats at a luxury resort along California coast.
Among the strategy discussions at the rally was a $20 million effort entitled “Talking to Americans: Strategic Plans.”
Codenamed Sam's recommendations for the effort included Democrats dropping what they call “moral tones” to male voters, changing the language of the party used by men and buying more ads in video games as part of their men's outreach.
Some of the former key staff members of the 2024 campaign, former President Joe Biden, who replaced Biden as a party candidate last summer, and former vice president Kamala Harris, have heavily criticised the effort, first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by Fox News.
“Instead of studying working class voters and men, why are there some Democrat donor classes out there and haven't met some? What the hell is this?” James Singer, a spokesman for the 2024 campaign, wrote in a social media post. “As a Democrat, that's embarrassing.”
This was a similar message from Ammar Moussa, another veteran Democratic strategist and communicator who worked on the Biden and Harris campaign.
“This is embarrassing. Really,” Musa wrote to X.
Democrats have long had problems attracting male voters in presidential elections. Trump scored 12 points against Harris in the 2024 presidential election, and that margin swelled to 15 points among men over the age of 45, according to a Fox News voter analysis.
Fast forward to this spring, the Democratic rating stood under the unfavourable waters of 41% and 56% of the latest Fox News National Poll in a survey conducted April 18-21.
This was the record low for the Democrats on Fox News Polling, and for the first time in a decade, the party's position was lower than the GOP position, with 44% at an advantage and 54% at a disadvantage.
When the numbers turned back last summer, Fox News last asked a positive question from the party in one of its investigations.
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Fox News polls were far from outliers.
The Democrats' favourable ratings were often in negative territory in the Pew Research national survey – 38% were favorable, 60% were disadvantaged, 36% were favorable, and 60% were disadvantaged in the Wall Street Journal poll on the Field a few weeks ago.
Additionally, a national poll conducted in March by Quinnipiac University in February by CNN and NBC News shows Democrats' favourable ratings for the lowest ever subsidence.
But there's more.
A Gallup poll conducted earlier last month showed that Democrats' confidence in Congress leaders has also sank to an all-time low.
The confidence rating for Democratic leadership in Congress was 25% in the survey.
The six-month Harvard Youth vote, released later last month, shows that among Americans aged 18-29, Congressional Democrats have been nose-nosed approval ratings.
ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos polls conducted in mid-April showed that more respondents trust Democrats (32%) than Congressional Democrats (32%) to handle the country's main issues.
Additionally, a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted later last month suggests Republicans have major advantages for two top issues: the economy and immigration.
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“If Democrats want to be competitive in this country, build a permanent majority in both rooms and be competitive for the White House, we have to expand our tents,” Caiazzo argued.
He lamented that Democrats “are over-focused on a series of issues that talk to certain people, knocking down the most important issues of the day on the roadside.
