Despite all the chaos on the right—attempted coups, white nationalist rallies, cocaine-fuelled orgies (according to Madison Cawthorn, before he walked it back in bizarre fashion)—Democrats are on the wrong side of too many issues that many Americans prioritize. Indeed, according to Kevin Drum, the liberal journalist formerly with Washington Monthly and Mother Jones, “Since roughly the year 2000, according to survey data, Democrats have moved significantly to the left on most hot button social issues [such as immigration, guns, taxes, abortion—and even religion] while Republicans have moved only slightly right.”

In a sane world, Democrats would look at the polls and panic. If you were running a business, this sort of feedback would demand serious and aggressive efforts to rebrand and reassess everything—from your business model to your public relations efforts. Imagine the changes that might manifest if Democrats viewed this in urgent terms.

Looking at the NBC polling data, conservative writer Jonah Goldberg observes that “Joe Manchin is the least popular Democrat among Democratic Party activists and the base but [he is] the Democrat with the most popular positions in the country.” Goldberg then concludes, “A party that cared about winning would think seriously about running him for president.”