“The Democratic Party is entering the midterm elections with the political winds at its back but a fiercely dissatisfied and divided voter base that is trying to steer the party in wildly divergent directions,” a New York Times/Siena poll found.

“More than half of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents expressed frustration with the party, despite the fact that Democrats appear well positioned to take the House and compete for the Senate in November. Registered voters favored Democratic candidates over Republicans by 10 percentage points, a sizable margin less than six months out from the midterms.”

“But beneath that strong showing, unhappiness spanned almost every part of the party’s coalition — including young, white, Black and college-educated voters — and was especially strong among Democrats least attached to the party, who are the most likely to swing elections.”

Thomas Edsall: “Despite the collapse of support for President Trump — whose unfavorable ratings have grown to 59 percent from 43 percent a week after inauguration — voters continue to hold Democrats in greater disfavor than Republicans.”

“The difference is slight, but still electorally significant. In a May 1 report, Pew Research found Democrats rated 59 percent unfavorable and 39 percent favorable, for a net negative of 20 percentage points; Republicans were at 58 unfavorable, 40 unfavorable and negative 18. Similarly, the RealClearPolitics average of 11 polls conducted from March 12 through May 11 showed Democrats with a net negative 18.8 favorability level and Republicans with negative 17.1.”

“Is there anything Democrats can do to break free of a deeply polarized political system in which parties are constantly winning and then losing office as voters reflexively turn against those in power?”

“A lot of Democrats are willing to sacrifice Black voting power to beat the GOP,” Politico reports.

“In the two weeks since the Supreme Court significantly narrowed a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Republicans have kicked off a fresh round of redistricting across the South. Their aim is to dismantle majority-minority districts, which they’ve long argued are unconstitutional, and to try to keep control of the House.”

“New results from The Politico Poll show many Democrats want their party leaders to fight back hard — even if it means breaking up districts designed to protect the power of Black voters and other minority communities.”

“What I’m more interested in for Democrats is: Do you know how to just talk to regular people like we’re not in a college seminar. Can you talk plain English to folks?”

— Barack Obama, quoted by the New York Times.

Matthew Yglesias: “I’m not a fundraising guru and I don’t know exactly why Martin is flailing at this. But in a big picture sense, the chair is normally someone with demonstrated fundraising skills and donor connections and/or someone who is enthusiastically backed by major party figures who are themselves big donor favorites.”

“Martin isn’t either of those things, and he also isn’t a factional favorite of progressive small donors. He’s a guy who got the job primarily by having a lot of support inside the world of state party committees rather than in the broader Democratic Party universe.”

“He apparently didn’t do much to make calls or hold meetings with major donors and is somewhat paranoid about his opponents in a way that makes it hard to build bridges.”

New York Times: “As Democrats try to find a way back to power in Washington, some see tax cuts as a quick and easy way to address affordability. The wonks are freaking out.”

Wall Street Journal: “Sanders, who is 84, has said he doesn’t think he will run for president again. But as Democrats trip over themselves to come up with a cohesive strategy to win back congressional majorities and effectively take on President Trump, Sanders has built a formidable political machine to spread progressive policies and support like-minded candidates, many of whom are young and new to politics.”