The American people have never registered a lower opinion of the Democratic Party, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post Poll.
Just 39 percent of respondents told pollsters they have a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, compared to 51 percent of respondents who view the Democrats unfavorably. No poll, including Gallup, New York Times, and CBS News numbers (with data going back to 1984), has ever shown the Democrats so disliked.
Republicans are even more unpopular, with just 33 percent of adults admitting to liking the party, but they have been lower and the narrow six-point gap between the two parties is close to the smallest it has been in years.
Looking inside the numbers, it appears that Democratic support is crumbling for the same reason Republican favorability has been low for so long: the base is unhappy with the party.
Just 65 percent of African Americans now view the Democrats favorably, a 17 point drop from the 82 percent that viewed them favorably in the last WaPo poll. Female support also dropped 13 points from 54 percent to 41 percent.
This loss of faith from the faithful mirrors self-identified Republicans who have always had a less favorable view of their own party than Democrats do.
The WaPo poll also showed a strong advantage for Republicans on the generic congressional ballot. A full 50 percent of likely voters said they were planning to vote for Republican candidates this November, compared to just 43 percent who said they planned to vote for Democrats.