‘Bad, Bad, Bad!’ Democrats Are As Unpopular as the Cracker Barrel Rebrand, CNN’s Data Guru Says

Democratic politicians are as popular nationwide as the much-maligned Cracker Barrel rebrand, CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten quipped during a segment on Monday evening. Which is to say, if this were high school, they would be getting stuffed in lockers right about now.

“The Democratic brand right now has about the appeal with the American voter as the Cracker Barrel rebrand has with the American consumers,” Enten said. “Bad, bad, bad! What are you doin’? Oh my goodness gracious.”

Cracker Barrel — as anyone on X or watching cable news over the past week has noticed — has been getting torched for its bland update to its logo. President Trump even got in on the action on Tuesday, saying the chain restaurant should “admit a mistake” and go back to its old branding ASAP.

CNN’s data guru then explained the dire situation for Dems heading into the 2026 midterm elections. Republicans, Enten said, are in their “best position” since 2005 based on party registration data in four key swing states: Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

In those four states, Republicans have made gains of between 3-8 points compared to the same point during Trump’s first term, Enten explained.

“For Republicans, they are converting old, former Democrats to their side of the ledger, as well as picking up new voters,” Enten said.

While Enten spoke, CNN’s all-caps chyron drove his point home: “DEMS STRUGGLE TO FIND NEW VOTERS IN FOUR KEY SWING STATES AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS.”

“The bottom line is this, Jessica Dean,” Enten told his CNN colleague, “when it comes to party registration, Republicans have made massive gains compared to eight years ago. They are in their best position in these four key swing states dating back at least 20 years… so Republicans [are] looking pretty gosh darn good, at least when it comes to party registration.”

One point of optimism for Democrats, though: they rebounded from the ’05 depths mentioned by Enten to win control of Congress during the 2006 midterms. But it does not sound like Enten will be betting on history repeating itself next year.

You can watch Enten’s segment via his X account above.