CNN's Harry Enten says 'all-time high' share of Americans call Democrats 'too liberal'

WASHINGTON, DC: An all-time high percentage of Americans believe the Democratic Party has moved too far as liberal, CNN analyst Harry Enten reported this week, a trend that could have major implications for control of Congress and the White House.

According to the data, a significant plurality of voters now describe the Democratic Party as “too liberal,” a label that has historically been more commonly applied to Republicans.

In a conversation with anchor Kate Bolduan, Enten broke down the shift in the Democratic Party, noting that conservative Democrats are all but extinct, while far left-leaning Democrats are ascendant.

Harry Enten says ‘conservative democrats’ are extinct

Enten began by breaking down the numbers inside the Democratic Party: “Results from that special election, that Democratic primary in the 11th district in New Jersey, speak to a larger point within the Democratic Party, and that is that the far left is significantly more powerful than they once were. This sort of gives the game away here.”

“Democrats who identify as very liberal or conservative—you know, there used to be a lot of conservative Democrats, right?” he said. “Back in 1999, 26% of Democrats self-identified as conservative. Just 5% said that they were very liberal. It was a smidgen. Now that far left has gained considerably in power.”

“Look at this: now we’re talking about a fifth of Democrats, 21% say they’re very liberal.”

He continued, “And when you combine the 21% who are very liberal with those who say that they’re somewhat liberal, we’re talking about three in five Democrats who identify as either somewhat liberal or very liberal, with the very liberals being a much larger portion of the party.”

Democrats moving to the left, says Harry Enten

Historically, both major parties have faced criticism for being too extreme, but the trend toward labeling Democrats as overly liberal has accelerated faster in recent months, according to Enten.

Bolduan asked, “So if the ideology of the Democratic Party is shifting or changing, how are people feeling about it?”

Enten answered, “Okay, so we’re talking about the Democratic base, right? But what about all Americans, right? How about all voters? Voters who say the Democrats are now too liberal—look at this percentage: it was 42% in ’96, 48% in 2013, now 58% in 2025 of all voters say that the Democratic Party is too liberal.”

“The Democrats are moving to the left, the far left is gaining power, and there could be some electoral repercussions because what we see right now is voters—the clear majority—say that they are too liberal.”

Bolduan ended it there, “This is really interesting. Thanks so much, Harry.”