By STEVE PEOPLES and LINLEY SANDERS
NEW YORK (AP) — Democrats are harboring sturdy emotions of stress and gloom as the brand new 12 months begins. And lots of are questioning whether or not their get together’s dedication to various candidates — particularly girls — could result in additional political struggles within the Donald Trump period.
A current ballot from The Related Press-NORC Heart for Public Affairs Analysis finds {that a} important variety of Democrats imagine that it could be many years earlier than the USA will get its first feminine president.
Particularly, about 4 in 10 Democrats stated it’s “not very possible” or “by no means possible” {that a} lady will probably be elected to the nation’s highest workplace of their lifetime, in accordance with a December AP-NORC ballot. That’s in contrast with about one-quarter of Republicans who really feel the identical.
Whereas despondency is hardly distinctive for a political get together after a high-profile loss, that discovering displays the deep melancholy that has set in amongst Democrats concerning the nation and their get together after Trump soundly defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee.
Such issues could already be shaping the Democratic Nationwide Committee’s seek for a new chief. For the primary time in additional than a decade, the highest candidates for the job are all white males.
And searching additional forward, the get together’s pessimism is influencing early conversations concerning the contest for the 2028 presidential nomination.
“We knew males hated girls. The final election confirmed, for a few of us, that we underestimated the extent to which some girls hate different girls,” stated Gilda Cobb-Hunter, a Democratic state consultant from South Carolina and former president of the Nationwide Black Caucus of State Legislators. “America is as racist and misogynist because it has all the time been.”
Democrats have nominated a girl to run in opposition to Trump in two of the previous three presidential elections. In each instances, Trump gained decisively, over Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Harris in 2024. The Democrat who unseated Trump — Joe Biden in 2020 — was a white man.
Including insult to harm for a lot of Democrats was the lengthy record of allegations introduced by girls in opposition to Trump. He was discovered liable in civil courtroom for sexual abuse and convicted for a hush cash case involving an grownup movie star. He was as soon as caught on tape bragging that he might seize girls’s genitals with out consent as a result of he was a celeb.
Nonetheless, Trump narrowly carried each key swing state in November. Harris had the benefit amongst girls, profitable 53% to Trump’s 46%, however that margin was considerably narrower than Biden’s. Trump’s assist held regular amongst white girls, with barely greater than half supporting him, much like 2020.
Most Democrats — about 7 in 10 — imagine 2025 will probably be a worse 12 months for the U.S. than 2024, the AP-NORC ballot discovered. That’s in contrast with about 4 in 10 U.S. adults who really feel that method.
The ballot additionally discovered that Democrats had been much less more likely to be feeling “blissful” or “hopeful” about 2025 for them personally. As an alternative, about 4 in 10 Democrats stated “careworn” described their emotions extraordinarily or very properly, whereas roughly one-third of Democrats stated this concerning the phrase “gloomy.”
In the meantime, majorities of Republicans and conservatives stated “blissful” described how they really feel about 2025 no less than very properly. An identical share stated the identical about “hopeful.”
“It’s so darkish on the market proper now,” stated ballot respondent Rachel Wineman, a 41-year-old Democrat from Murrieta, California. “My household and I are circling the wagons, making an attempt to maintain our heads down and survive.”
There are early indicators that this loss has triggered questions on a core dedication of the modern-day Democratic Get together to assist minority teams, together with girls, whereas pushing various candidates into positions of energy.
Some Democratic leaders worry that Trump’s sturdy success with working-class white voters — and his modest features amongst Blacks and Latinos within the election — could sign a political realignment that would remodel the political panorama for years to come back except the get together adjustments its method.
The vote for a DNC chair affords the primary clue as to the course of the get together through the second Trump administration. The election is three weeks away, and the main candidates are Ben Wikler, the Wisconsin state chair, and Ken Martin, the Minnesota state get together chair.
Both could be the primary white man within the job since Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine left the place in 2011.
Martin and Wikler are thought of the sturdy front-runners in a area of eight candidates who certified for a DNC candidate discussion board Saturday, the primary of 4 such gatherings earlier than the Feb. 1 election on the committee’s winter assembly in suburban Washington.
Two candidates are girls: former presidential contender Marianne Williamson and Quintessa Hathaway, a former congressional candidate, educator and civil rights activist.
The outgoing chair, Jaime Harrison, who’s Black, stated in an announcement that the committee will probably be well-positioned to compete in future elections and push again in opposition to Trump’s insurance policies.
“Democrats stand prepared to carry him accountable,” Harrison stated. “We are going to proceed to put money into all 50 states to construct energy from the native degree on up and elect Democrats throughout the nation.”
In the meantime, some rank-and-file Democrats in early main states are overtly questioning whether or not the get together’s subsequent White Home nominee could be at a drawback if that individual will not be a straight white man who’s Christian. Barack Obama is the one Black man to have been elected president in American historical past.
New Hampshire Democrat Thalia Flores stated Harris’ loss has made her rethink the political viability of rising stars equivalent to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who’s homosexual, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who’s Jewish, or Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, essentially the most outstanding lady anticipated to weigh a 2028 presidential bid.
“Kamala’s loss can affect these sort of candidates, too, as a result of anyone who’s not a mainstream white man is perhaps not a great guess,” Flores stated, indicating that such issues wouldn’t have an effect on her private vote within the subsequent presidential main. “It’s a disgrace that we’re even having the dialog.”
She added, “The American folks can’t appear to assist a girl.”
General, the AP-NORC ballot discovered that about one-quarter of Individuals stated it was extraordinarily or very possible that the nation will elect a girl as president of their lifetime. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults thought it was considerably possible and about one-third stated it was not very possible or by no means possible.
Such emotions are constant amongst Individuals no matter age or gender, though Black Individuals are extra possible than white or Hispanic adults to say it’s “not very possible” or “unlikely in any respect” to occur of their lifetime.
Sarah Burnett, a 49-year-old small enterprise proprietor from Edgerton, Missouri, stated she’s feeling “dread” concerning the course of the nation in 2025.
“All of us aren’t trying ahead to the following 4 years,” she stated.
As for whether or not she thinks the U.S. will elect a girl in her lifetime, she stated she’s making an attempt to be optimistic.
“Sure, there’s going to be sexism concerned, misogyny, the patriarchy and all of that. … However we did have a Black president,” Burnett stated. “So sure, I’d count on a girl to be elected. Do I’ve excessive expectations? No.”
Sanders reported from Washington.
The AP-NORC ballot of 1,251 adults was carried out Dec. 5-9, 2024, utilizing a pattern drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be consultant of the U.S. inhabitants. The margin of sampling error for adults total is plus or minus 3.7 share factors.
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