Rep. Adam Smith: ‘The extreme left is leading us into a ditch’ as Democratic Party approval hits record low

Two national polls found a troubling trend for Democrats. Approval rating for the Democratic Party hit record lows following the 2024 presidential race. And Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) says he knows why: the far-left. His comments have upset his Seattle colleague Rep. Pramila Jayapal.

An NBC News poll found that 27% of registered voters viewed the party favorably, while CNN’s provided slightly better results: 29%, the lowest mark in CNN’s polling since it began in 1992.

“The Democratic Party brand is broken, and we desperately need to fix it if the party is ever going to have any hope of appealing to a majority of people in this country,” U.S. House representative Adam Smith said in a video he shared on X. “Economic policy and messaging is the worst part of that, but certainly not the only part.”

Smith, the longest-serving member of Washington’s U.S. House delegation, made quite a stir with his comments about his fellow Democrats. Smith told The Wall Street Journal, “The extreme left is leading us into a ditch” after Kamala Harris lost to Donald Trump. He doubled down in a New Yorker profile, blaming the Democratic Party’s struggles on the “new left” and how it led to policies that “have utterly and completely failed.” He even singled out King County for prioritizing funding for left-leaning programs.

Smith cited decisions to defund police and abolish ICE, and embrace “radical identity politics” as some of the far-left stances that turned potential voters away from the party.

Democratic Party’s response to Smith’s comments

Fellow Washington representative Pramila Jayapal sat down with him last month to discuss his views on the direction the party is heading, and how vocal he has been about it.

“I was not happy about the way he’s characterizing my district,” Jayapal said, according to The Seattle Times. “The thing that has been irritating to me is I feel like he’s gotten a lot of coverage – that view has gotten a lot of coverage.”

Jayapal said it’s not clear why Democrats lost this last election cycle, but suspects it’s more about the economy than identity politics.

“I personally don’t think the reason that we lost the election is because the left used the word ‘Latinx.’,” Jayapal told The Seattle Times. “I think it is all about economics.”

A Gallup Poll in February found that 45% of Democrats want the party to become more moderate, according to The Seattle Times, compared with 29% who say it should become more liberal. Perhaps its why The Seattle Times noted that Smith hasn’t stopped criticizing his party, even after the conversation with Jayapal.

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