CNN doesn’t usually do this. But their hand was forced.
And CNN made an admission that has viewers completely flabbergasted.
Even the most reliable liberal network on television cannot spin away the disaster staring the Democratic Party in the face. As the 2026 midterm elections loom less than eight months away, CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten joined anchor John Berman on Monday and delivered a cold dose of reality that should terrify every Democrat strategist in Washington.
Enten zeroed in on the party’s dismal standing compared to past cycles under Republican presidents. The numbers do not lie, and they show a party that has lost its grip on the American voter.
“Just take a look at this, net favorability, party ahead at this point, midterm years with a GOP president. In 2018, Dems were up by 12,” Enten stated.
“In 2006, on net favorability, which party do you like more, Dems are ahead by 18. Republicans are actually ahead on net favorability at this by five points. So Democrats are just, simply put, running behind their previous benchmarks and they need to be running well ahead of them if they want to take back the United States Senate, given that math.”
Republicans sit five points ahead right now on the question of which party voters prefer. That is a complete reversal from the double-digit edges Democrats enjoyed the last two times they tried to flip the Senate against a GOP White House.
The American people are not buying what the left is selling anymore.
Enten also turned to the generic congressional ballot, where Democrats hold only the thinnest of advantages. He called the gap historically weak for this stage of the cycle, especially with a Republican in the Oval Office.
“I would say this, Mr. Berman, and that is that this lead is historically low for Democrats at this point with a Republican president,” Enten said.
“Because, take a look here, and I’m taking a look at the average of all the polls, Dem generic congressional ballot lead at this point in the cycle with a Republican president. On average, their lead’s actually slightly less, it’s five points.”
“That’s less than it was back in 2018 when it was eight points, and way less than it was during the 2006 cycle when it was 11 points.”
The margin sits at a pathetic five points. Democrats should be dominating at this point, yet they are barely clinging to a narrow edge while the president they love to demonize faces nonstop attacks from the same media outlets now forced to report these facts.
“So, yeah, Democrats are ahead, but they’re only ahead by five with a president whose net approval rating is bordering on -20 to -30, depending on what polls you look at. You’d make the argument Democrats should be way ahead. And they’re just only sort of, slightly ahead,” Enten continued.
That tiny cushion might scrape together enough votes to challenge the House, where the Republican majority is slim and every district counts. But when the map shifts to the Senate, those same five points turn into a death sentence for Democratic hopes.
“I think five points is enough to take back the House, but in the Senate, five points is almost certainly not enough if you apply it to the Senate map,” Enten said.
“Why do I say that? Because let’s just take a look, GOP would win the Senate with this map. Let’s say Republicans only hold onto the states that Trump won by greater than 10 points. That would, in fact, give them the Senate 51 to 49.”
