‘No Positive Program’: Former Clinton Pollster Calls Out Top Democrats For Making Party ‘Unrecognizable’

A number of formerly influential Democrats have either distanced themselves from the party or left it entirely over the past several years.

As a far-left faction of leaders continues to gain control of the party’s agenda, ex-Clinton pollster Doug Schoen named a couple of the culprits he holds responsible for the Democrats’ slide into irrelevancy.

He made the comments during a recent Fox News appearance, as the Daily Caller reported:

“Bernie Sanders, AOC are indeed the leaders of the party. All we heard from them, and you saw it on the screen and you said it, Harris, is anti-Trump, no positive program,” Schoen told Faulkner. “Certainly, no centrist programs and I would argue that my party is out of touch with the mainstream, with the ideas that elected Donald Trump.

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“He is moving very quickly and very aggressively, sometimes a little further than perhaps the electorate would want, but my party just bashes and trashes and with AOC and Bernie Sanders at the helm, I think we’re only running on opposition to the Republicans, no ideas, no plans,” Schoen continued.

Democrats remained seated and rarely applauded during Trump’s 99-minute address to Congress March 4, even when Secret Service Director Sean Curran presented DJ Daniel, who is battling brain cancer, with credentials during the speech.

“Moderate voices like my own, which were ascendant when I was working along with a team for Bill Clinton in the White House between 1994 and 2001, we were, I think, ascendant, and he ran on cutting the budget, balancing it, getting rid of the debt and the deficit, reforming welfare, tough on crime,” Schoen said. “People who speak that message, which is equally relevant today, are marginalized, just not heard and frankly the party has now been taken over by the far left in ways that it makes it unrecognizable to those of us who were in the rational center.”

Schoen is just the latest internal Democratic Party voice calling for a realignment:

Another example of a traditional Democrat holding firm to their core beliefs, while the Democratic Party has shifted so far left that anyone with a shred of common sense can see it’s gone off the rails.

Be careful, Bill. They will label you a n@zi if you keep it up. pic.twitter.com/oBSLJcaR0h

— TheLizVariant (@TheLizVariant) April 11, 2025

THIS GUY HAS BEEN A DEMOCRAT FOR 51 YEARS BUT HE IS GOING TO VOTE FOR TRUMP.

He says Clinton was the last good Democrat President in America (because of policies) has had, and the Democrat Party needs to go back to that. The Dems are so far Left it's unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/KBHX53GowR

— BelannF (@BelannF) September 27, 2024

🚨Another one walking away from the Democrat Party:

“I used to consider myself left-wing. I used to go to protests… I've been tear gassed. All of that stuff. I used to hate Trump & the whole idea of Trump ever being in office was like blasphemy to me” pic.twitter.com/2vHRbsSufP

— Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) March 19, 2025

Last month, Schoen wrote a piece for Fox News in which he laid out some of his primary concerns about the Democratic Party, including:

Democrats need an alternative to DOGE, yet they’ve failed to even have this conversation.

Beyond that, we need to take steps to spur economic growth. As the Wall Street Journal highlighted, an extremely positive Trump policy was letting companies deduct the full cost of capex in the year they’re made.

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Democrats should adopt that growth-supporting policy, and others such as preserving state and local taxes deduction (SALT) and extending tax cuts.

Further, Democrats must abandon their overly regulatory ideas that increase costs and delays in building housing and infrastructure. California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom recently adopted this approach in rebuilding his state, but the rest of the party has failed to follow.

This goes far beyond basic economic principles. Rather, it is rapidly becoming a significant political vulnerability for Democrats, as New York Times columnist Ezra Klein aptly described.

Here’s a clip of Schoen’s recent remarks:

🔥Former Clinton advisor TORCHES the Democrat party!

“It’s still moving…HARD left…It’s anti-Trump…My party is out of touch with the mainstream. All we do is bash and trash! We’re only running on opposition to the Republicans. No ideas! No plans!” pic.twitter.com/gx7mhztpJK

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 10, 2025