Focus groups find Democratic Party appeals to elites, have their ‘heads in the sand’: Navigator Research

The progressive research group investigated the problems with the Democratic Party with three focus groups and found that many see the Democrats as weak and too focused on appealing to elites as well as making overtures about diversity, with even some Democrat-backers in agreement.

Participants in the study were asked to liken the Democratic Party to an animal and one respondent said it was reminiscent of an ostrich: “They’ve got their heads in the sand and are absolutely committed to their own ideas, even when they’re failing.”

Another thought the koala bear was a better comparison claiming Democrats “are complacent and lazy about getting policy wins that we really need.” Another added, that the party is “not a friend of the working class anymore.”

The results, shared with the outlet, indicate that the Democrats have been struggling to get a unified message across. Some Democrats have blamed Biden on the loss in November while others have pointed fingers at Harris. However, others said Democrats are “losing hold of culture,” and that the issues with the party are more systemic than having to do with one figure.

Respondents provided “a pretty scathing rebuke” of the party’s current status, said Rachael Russell, the director of polling and analytics at Navigator Research. “This weakness they see, [Democrats] not getting things done, not being able to actually fight for people — is something that needs to be figured out,” Russell added. “It might not be the message, it might be the policy. It might be something a little bit deeper that has to be addressed by the party.”

“I think what the Democratic elites and their politicians believe is often very different from what the average Democratic voter is,” said a participant from Georgia man who supported Biden in 2020 but moved over to Trump in 2024. “The elites that run the Democratic Party — I think they’re way too obsessed with appealing to these very far-left social progressivism that’s very popular on college campuses.”

Although Russell says Trump is enjoying a “honeymoon” with many voters who are intrigued by Trump’s plethora or policy proposals, she doesn’t think it can last.

“Once things start happening, it’s going to take a turn, and so it’s going to rely really heavily on the actions in the first 100 days to see how we go from here.”

Even with the Democratic Party having its own issues, some in the focus groups had a negative view of Kamala Harris during the election. Many said they were never fond of Harris’ candidacy and said she appeared to be “inauthentic,” “very dishonest” and “did not seem competent.”

“It seemed like a lot of what she came out and said wasn’t really off-the-cuff, wasn’t coming from her,” said another respondent who switched his vote from Biden to Trump. “Seemed like every interview, every time she came out and talked about something, it was planned out and never her thoughts, didn’t seem genuine to her thoughts, whereas, Trump, even though you never really knew what he was going to say, when he was going to say it, it was always him and genuine to what he thought, so that’s what swayed me.”