The Democrat Party is less popular than the Republican Party by a small margin: 28% favorability to 32% favorability, respectively, according to a recent CNN poll.

However, according to a recent New York Times analysis, Democrats hold a 2% to 6% margin over Republicans in the race for control of Congress in this year’s midterms. In one sense, that is not unusual, given past history — the party holding the White House tends to lose seats in Congress during off-year elections.

What makes these two disparate polls confusing is the fact that the Republican Party is more popular, though maybe a better way to put it is that the GOP is less despised than the current Democrat Party.

It’s not hard to understand why Democrats are so unpopular, given their failed record in blue states, as well as their increased embrace of radical leftist policy positions. When it comes to policy issues, President Donald Trump has repeatedly staked out the more popular and sensible positions. In brief, Trump has recognized and promoted the 80% over and against massively unpopular issues. For example, Trump supports protecting women’s sports and spaces from the encroachment of “transgender” identifying males, as do the vast majority of Americans.

Democrats today are known for supporting transing the kids, men in women’s sports, raising taxes, open borders, anti-immigration enforcement, and overall lawlessness. Furthermore, the Party of the Donkey has struggled to attract young men, which, of course, is completely understandable given the fact that Democrats have effectively become the Man-Haters Club, decrying masculinity as “toxic” while at the same time denying any way of defining what a woman is.

However, Trump is currently tied up with Iran, in a situation where a resolution does not seem to be anywhere in sight, which is stoking fears that the U.S. is getting tied up in another Middle East war. Americans are increasingly questioning Trump’s leadership.

The frustrating thing for Republicans is that, overall, Trump’s leadership has been tremendously good. Trump has closed down Joe Biden’s wide-open border malfeasance and reestablished America’s strong standing on the global stage. He has sought to check China’s aggressive aims for geopolitical dominance and fought to end unfair trade deals that have long been offshoring Americans’ jobs.

These are tough corrective decisions that few presidents would have been willing to make for fear of the political blowback. And there has been blowback, especially given the fact that Trump’s tariff strategy has yet to produce a booming economy; indeed, it has likely hampered a strong economic recovery. Furthermore, questions remain about whether Trump’s actions will ultimately strengthen America’s economic future.

But the sluggish economy is not the primary reason Republicans find themselves behind the eight ball with Democrats. The primary reason is Trump himself.

Ironically, Trump has enabled radical leftists to take over the Democrat Party because they have successfully painted him as the great existential threat to democracy itself. Trump is the Democrats’ bogeyman — they wave him before their constituents, which effectively distracts voters from the Democrats’ own atrocious record and policy positions.

Like a cult, Democrats have effectively been brainwashed to embrace a TDS mindset. Orange Man Bad is their one argument that trumps all other considerations. Unfortunately, Trump too often plays into this negative characterization, with his ill-conceived, often needlessly offensive remarks or his social media engagement that underscores the Democrats’ negative narrative on him.

If Republicans lose Congress in the midterms, there’s one question they will be forced to face: Was it because of Trump?