President Obama steps off stage to hug Lilly Jay, a sexual assault survivor, during a 'It's On Us' campaign event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Sept. 19, 2014. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Democrats are likely to lose the Senate in three weeks -- at least according to just about everybody -- and their brand hasn't been worse in at least the last 30 years, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released this week.
And yet, through it all, they remain the party that Americans empathize with the most.
It's almost as if Democrats are the party people would like to vote for, but they just can't right now.What in the world does that mean, you might ask.
Well, the Post-ABC poll asked people three empathy-related questions.
1) Which party better represents your own personal values?
2) Which party is more concerned with the needs of people like you?
3) Which party better understands the economic problems people in this country are having?
And despite their overall deficit in the 2014 campaign, Democrats lead on all three of these measures -- by between eight and 14 points. In fact, their edge on the first two questions is bigger than it has been in at least five years.
But when you leave aside empathy and focus on issues, that's where the GOP shines.
On the size of government, the GOP leads 40-33. On the economy, the GOP leads 42-37. On immigration, the GOP narrowly leads, 40-37. On the budget deficit, it's GOP 43-34. And on the Islamic State, Republicans lead 42-28.
So when it comes to which party more Americans feel personally connected to, it's clearly the Democrats. When it comes to which party they see better addressing the current problems in American government, it's clearly Republicans.
And at least for now, the issues appear to be more important than that emotional connection. We'll see on Nov. 4.
