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Mark Penn, co-director of the Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll, reviewed the results of their August survey with Tom Bevan on Thursday's edition of the RealClearPolitics podcast.

"Trump’s ratings stabilized this month," Penn said. "And I think he began to get traction on crime. He’s now shifted focus from immigration to tariffs, and now to leading a national crackdown on crime, and you’re seeing a generally favorable response to it."

"Fifty-four percent approve of the president’s approach, using the National Guard in D.C.," Penn explained. "That's interesting. Any time I apply the word 'Trump,' it’s very hard to get above 50%. If I take his name off the policies, I get 60, 70, 75, even 80% support—for example, locking up criminals who are here illegally. But when you put his name, the country is so polarized that Democrats won’t concede a single inch."


"So when he gets 54% approving, I think, wow, that’s like a normal 65%. That means there are people who approve of it, but won't say they do if you put the name Trump in the questionnaire."

"The public is razor-focused on domestic policy. Foreign policy may dominate the news, but only about 2% say it determines their vote," Penn also said. "Americans are conflict-avoiders. They don’t support wars for long. But right now, they support Israel, they support trying to end the Ukraine war, and they support Trump trying to negotiate. They just don’t know how he’ll do it."

"The Democratic Party is at its lowest ratings," he said. "They’ve come up a bit from their super-lows, but they used to be near 50%. Now they’re at 41%," Penn added. "Republicans are higher, but people are still holding onto partisan loyalties."

"Even though Democrats are unhappy with their party, they’re not switching votes—yet. That will take a campaign," he said. "If the midterms were held today, I think Republicans would eke it out. But it depends on how people assess the economy a year from now."

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"Fifty-four percent approve of the president’s approach, using the National Guard in D.C.," Penn explained. "That's interesting. Any time I apply the word 'Trump,' it’s very hard to get above 50%. If I take his name off the policies, I get 60, 70, 75, even 80% support—for example, locking up criminals who are here illegally. But when you put his name, the country is so polarized that Democrats won’t concede a single inch."

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Democrat Party leaders gathered in Minneapolis this week for the DNC summer meetings, billed as a critical opportunity for the party to “turn the page” on a turbulent 13 months starting with former President Joe Biden’s early exit from the presidential race last July. But from literally the opening minutes of the event, it became clear that Democrats either have no real interest or are completely incapable of reforming the aspects of their party that have left them hopelessly out of touch with everyday Americans.

Just when it seemed Democrats might finally be realizing how exhausted most people are of their constant woke lecturing, the DNC chose to kick off the meetings with a land acknowledgment. Lindy Sowmick, a Minnesota Democrat and self-described “Indigenous queer woman,” stated that the land on which the meetings were taking place was “not claimed, or traded – it’s a part of a history of broken treaties and promises.”

From there, things only got worse for Democrats, as various party officials reaffirmed that they would not be moving off their extremely unpopular stances.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, for instance, bragged that his state had “sued Trump for gender-affirming care,” alluding to efforts to keep allowing doctors to prescribe puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and transgender surgeries to minors. According to a Center Square poll last October, 59 percent of American adults oppose such practices.

In one of the more shameful moments of the meetings, DNC Chair Ken Martin withdrew his own resolution on the Israel-Gaza war amid backlash from the radical anti-Jewish wing of the party. The resolution was entirely symbolic and attempted to chart a middle course on the conflict, calling for more humanitarian aid to Gaza, an immediate ceasefire, release of hostages, and a two-state solution. But in a sign of how much power the antisemitic left has gained within the party – to the point where even a symbolic resolution stating Israel’s right to exist is unacceptable – Martin folded.

Yet another shockingly tone-deaf moment came when Insha Rahman, the vice president of the Vera Institute, a left-wing think tank, declared that “migrant crime, carjackings and other public safety threats ‘don’t matter to that many Americans.’”

As if that weren’t enough to alienate voters, as Fox News reported, “The DNC’s Resolutions Committee, meeting on Tuesday during the second day of the national party’s annual summer meeting, unanimously passed a resolution affirming what it highlighted as the ‘American Values’ of diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Even more outrageously, a DNC committee member later declared that DEI is the “very foundation of the Christian church” – to thunderous applause from those in attendance. (As the Christian Post notes, Democrats removed mentions of “God” and “Jerusalem” from their platform in 2012, and the audience booed when the chairman called for a vote to restore those words.)

Heading into this week, Democrats were already grasping for answers on a litany of crises facing the party, which is still licking its wounds from a stinging defeat last year at the hands of Donald Trump. Not only did Trump win back the presidency, he swept every swing state and totally embarrassed Kamala Harris, whose short-lived campaign managed to burn through $1.5 billion in just 15 weeks.

The DNC is still paying a significant chunk of those campaign expenses – $15 million in the first six months of 2025 alone. But those funds have been hard to come by as the party is strapped for cash and donors are sitting on their wallets. At the end of July, the DNC had just $15 million cash on hand, compared to $80 million for the RNC. The New York Times reported in June that the DNC may have to borrow money this year “just to keep paying the bills.”

Meanwhile, Democrats are also badly lagging Republicans in voter registrations, seen as a key metric of party strength and enthusiasm. As the Times again reported earlier this year, “Of the 30 states that track voter registration by political party, Democrats lost ground to Republicans in every single one between the 2020 and 2024 elections – and often by a lot.” In 2024, for the first time since 2018, more new voters registered Republican than Democrat.

Unsurprisingly, given both the dire fundraising and registration numbers, Democrats are also in the depths of a favorability crisis that is unlikely to change much following the absurd displays this week in Minneapolis. A Wall Street Journal survey late last month found that just 33 percent of voters hold a favorable view of the Democrat Party, compared to 63 percent who hold an unfavorable view – a 35-year low in the history of the poll.

The Democrats came to Minneapolis hoping for a reset, but instead they put their dysfunction on full display. From land acknowledgments to DEI sermons and surrendering to the party’s antisemitic fringe, the entire spectacle only reminded voters why Democrats are broke, divided, and bleeding support in every corner of the country.

If this week was supposed to be a turning point, it was only in the sense that the car swerved even further off the road.

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