There’s a growing anxiety among grassroots conservative and MAGA activists that the Republican Establishment is trying to tank the midterms.
While the House has been slowly and methodically passing the agenda that led President Trump to his history-making reelection, the allegedly Republican-controlled Senate has done everything possible to stymie that agenda.
As much as he will deny it, it looks to many observers like the Senate’s Republican Majority Leader John Thune is deliberately sabotaging the midterms. It is undeniably true that in recent years Senate Republicans have always played defense, never offense. They talk a good game, but when it's time to implement, they rarely act – but this is a whole new level of failure.
And it looks intentional.
And the list goes on and on.
What’s even more telling is that these actions to block the Trump agenda are taking place in a political environment in which Democrats, having moved to the Far Lunatic Left, are more unpopular than ever, making Republican inaction the only thing more unpopular than crazy Democrats.
Just 30% of registered voters in an NBC News poll view the Democratic Party positively, compared to 52% who view it negatively.
The poll, the latest over the past year to indicate the Democratic Party brand, in some cases, hitting historic lows, comes as Democrats aim to escape the political wilderness and win back House and Senate majorities in the 2026 midterm elections.
Earlier this week in an article for The Hill, Glenn C. Altschuler and David Wippman observed that betting markets often outperform election forecasters. In 2024, when polls showed the presidential race was a toss-up, they had President Trump as the clear favorite.
This week, betting markets are giving Democrats about an 85 percent chance of gaining a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in this year’s midterms, and an almost 50-50 shot at control of the U.S. Senate.
How can that be when this week's Economist / YouGov Poll finds that 45% of registered voters say they would vote for the Democratic candidate for Congress if the election were held today, while 42% say they would vote for the Republican candidate. This 3-point Democratic lead is among Democrats' smallest advantages on congressional vote intention in months; 4- or 5-point Democratic leads have been more common, and Democrats have occasionally led by 6 or 7 points.
The good news is that the Democrats' 3-point lead is only slightly larger than the 2-point lead Democrats had at this point in the 2022 and 2024 elections. In both of those elections, Republicans won small majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The shrinking Democratic lead isn't because fewer registered voters plan to vote for Democrats in the 2026 midterms. Since the February 6 - 9, 2026 Economist / YouGov Poll, support for Democrats has risen to 45% from 44%. But support for Republicans has risen by more, to 42% from 38%. The share of registered voters who say that they don't know for which party's candidate they'd vote for Congress, that they'd vote for another candidate, or that they wouldn't vote has fallen to 13% from 17% over the same span.
Democratic congressional candidates have a 79% to 6% advantage among the 56% of voters who strongly or somewhat disapprove of Trump's job performance. But Republicans have an even bigger lead of 85% to 3% among registered voters who don't disapprove of Trump's job performance, including a lead of 88% to 3% among registered voters who approve of Trump's job handling and of 53% to 13% among voters who say they aren't sure whether they approve or disapprove of Trump's job handling.
FOX News reported helping to sink the Democratic Party's underwater ratings are Democrats themselves. Only 62% of Democrats questioned in the survey viewed their party positively, compared to 77% of Republicans who gave the GOP a favorable rating.
The bad news is that even as their brand sinks to historic lows, Far Left Billionaire-inspired activism has driven Democrat enthusiasm off the charts, while the Senate’s inaction on the Trump agenda has left the MAGA coalition in a state of apathy, if not outright despair.
So, when you break down approval numbers with phrases like “strongly approve” and “strongly disapprove,” the enthusiasm is all on the Democratic side. An NBC poll found nearly three-quarters of Democrats say they have a high interest in the midterms, compared to 61% of Republicans.
If the voters are left with the choice of do-nothing Republicans versus crazy Leftist Democrats can Republicans turn this around?
The Betting Markets would seem to indicate they can, but only if they can close the enthusiasm gap, and the only way Republicans can do that is to somehow get the allegedly Republican-controlled Senate to pass the Trump agenda and stop killing grassroots MAGA and conservative voter enthusiasm.
While the House has been slowly and methodically passing the agenda that led President Trump to his history-making reelection, the allegedly Republican-controlled Senate has done everything possible to stymie that agenda.
As much as he will deny it, it looks to many observers like the Senate’s Republican Majority Leader John Thune is deliberately sabotaging the midterms. It is undeniably true that in recent years Senate Republicans have always played defense, never offense. They talk a good game, but when it's time to implement, they rarely act – but this is a whole new level of failure.
And it looks intentional.
How else do you explain the Senate refusing to adjourn with the House to block the President from making recess appointments?
How else do you explain the Senate refusing to move dozens of subcabinet nominations?
How else do you explain the Senate refusing to move the nominations of U.S. Attorneys?
How else do you explain the Senate blocking the SAVE America Act and other Trump-backed legislation passed by the House?
How else do you explain the Senate refusing to move dozens of subcabinet nominations?
How else do you explain the Senate refusing to move the nominations of U.S. Attorneys?
How else do you explain the Senate blocking the SAVE America Act and other Trump-backed legislation passed by the House?
And the list goes on and on.
What’s even more telling is that these actions to block the Trump agenda are taking place in a political environment in which Democrats, having moved to the Far Lunatic Left, are more unpopular than ever, making Republican inaction the only thing more unpopular than crazy Democrats.
Just 30% of registered voters in an NBC News poll view the Democratic Party positively, compared to 52% who view it negatively.
The poll, the latest over the past year to indicate the Democratic Party brand, in some cases, hitting historic lows, comes as Democrats aim to escape the political wilderness and win back House and Senate majorities in the 2026 midterm elections.
Earlier this week in an article for The Hill, Glenn C. Altschuler and David Wippman observed that betting markets often outperform election forecasters. In 2024, when polls showed the presidential race was a toss-up, they had President Trump as the clear favorite.
This week, betting markets are giving Democrats about an 85 percent chance of gaining a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in this year’s midterms, and an almost 50-50 shot at control of the U.S. Senate.
How can that be when this week's Economist / YouGov Poll finds that 45% of registered voters say they would vote for the Democratic candidate for Congress if the election were held today, while 42% say they would vote for the Republican candidate. This 3-point Democratic lead is among Democrats' smallest advantages on congressional vote intention in months; 4- or 5-point Democratic leads have been more common, and Democrats have occasionally led by 6 or 7 points.
The good news is that the Democrats' 3-point lead is only slightly larger than the 2-point lead Democrats had at this point in the 2022 and 2024 elections. In both of those elections, Republicans won small majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The shrinking Democratic lead isn't because fewer registered voters plan to vote for Democrats in the 2026 midterms. Since the February 6 - 9, 2026 Economist / YouGov Poll, support for Democrats has risen to 45% from 44%. But support for Republicans has risen by more, to 42% from 38%. The share of registered voters who say that they don't know for which party's candidate they'd vote for Congress, that they'd vote for another candidate, or that they wouldn't vote has fallen to 13% from 17% over the same span.
Democratic congressional candidates have a 79% to 6% advantage among the 56% of voters who strongly or somewhat disapprove of Trump's job performance. But Republicans have an even bigger lead of 85% to 3% among registered voters who don't disapprove of Trump's job performance, including a lead of 88% to 3% among registered voters who approve of Trump's job handling and of 53% to 13% among voters who say they aren't sure whether they approve or disapprove of Trump's job handling.
FOX News reported helping to sink the Democratic Party's underwater ratings are Democrats themselves. Only 62% of Democrats questioned in the survey viewed their party positively, compared to 77% of Republicans who gave the GOP a favorable rating.
The bad news is that even as their brand sinks to historic lows, Far Left Billionaire-inspired activism has driven Democrat enthusiasm off the charts, while the Senate’s inaction on the Trump agenda has left the MAGA coalition in a state of apathy, if not outright despair.
So, when you break down approval numbers with phrases like “strongly approve” and “strongly disapprove,” the enthusiasm is all on the Democratic side. An NBC poll found nearly three-quarters of Democrats say they have a high interest in the midterms, compared to 61% of Republicans.
If the voters are left with the choice of do-nothing Republicans versus crazy Leftist Democrats can Republicans turn this around?
The Betting Markets would seem to indicate they can, but only if they can close the enthusiasm gap, and the only way Republicans can do that is to somehow get the allegedly Republican-controlled Senate to pass the Trump agenda and stop killing grassroots MAGA and conservative voter enthusiasm.
