Many Democrats describe their party as “weak” or “ineffective,” according to a new survey showing growing pessimism in the party. In the July poll, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, respondents were asked to share the first word that came to mind when thinking about both parties. Researchers then grouped those words into categories of positive and negative attributes.

More than one third of Democrats, 35 percent, use negative attributes to describe their own party — including roughly 15 percent who use words like “weak” or “apathetic” and 10 percent who describe Democrats as “ineffective” or “disorganized.” Only 23 percent of Democrats use positive attributes to describe their party. Among Republicans, the results are nearly flipped. Republicans ar

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