The Left keeps insisting that unvarnished progressivism holds the key to future Democratic Party success. A new poll from WBUR suggests it might not even be the future of Democratic success in Massachusetts. Only 44 percent think Elizabeth Warren should win another term in the Senate, while slightly more say they’ve seen enough:

Over four years in office, Elizabeth Warren has staked her claim as the Senate’s liberal lion. And many Massachusetts voters like it — 51 percent view her favorably. But according to a new WBUR poll, only 44 percent think Warren “deserves reelection.” Forty-six percent think voters ought to “give someone else a chance.” “No one’s going to look at a 44 percent reelect number and think that that’s a good number,” said Steve Koczela, president of The MassINC Polling Group, which conducts surveys for WBUR. “No one’s going to look at it being close to even between ‘reelect’ and ‘give someone else a chance’ and think that that’s reassuring.”

WBUR compared Warren’s standing with those for current Republican governor Charlie Baker, and … it’s not exactly a populist uprising. Baker gets a 59/18 favorable rating for a +41 overall, while Warren gets 51/37 for a +14 — not bad, but hardly what one would expect for a Democratic incumbent in a deep-blue state. When it comes to re-elect numbers, Baker gets 51/29 for a +22, while Warren’s 44/46 and -2 look like a big, red flag for Democrats, especially on the national level.

How did it get this bad? WBUR’s analysis shows that Baker gets broad support across the political spectrum. Even among Democrats, Baker wins a solid +12 plurality for seeking a second term, 48/36, and 50/26 among independents. Warren, on the other hand, gets a 5/92 from Republicans and a 40/46 among independents — and a surprisingly weak 61/32 from Democrats. Talk about a lack of reassurance!

Bear in mind that Democrats already face daunting midterm prospects next year. They have to defend 25 seats (including the two independents that caucus with the Democrats) against only eight for Republicans. Ten of those seats are from states which Donald Trump just won in November, and Republicans only need to convert eight of them to strip Chuck Schumer of the legislative filibuster. Democrats already will have their hands full with defensive triage in those red states without having to worry about bolstering faltering incumbents in supposedly safe states. Unless Donald Trump really steps all over himself over the next eighteen months, Democrats are looking at a massive thumping that could reset blue/red expectations in even more states, especially given the turnout dynamics of midterm elections over the last decade.

Here’s an interesting question: What happens if Baker decides to take on Warren? According to WBUR, he’s $500,000 ahead in fundraising for 2018, although presumably for re-election to his current office. Republicans might be whispering in his ear about the potential for unseating Warren, and delivering a massive defeat to progressivism.

Addendum: The situation in the House doesn’t look much better for Democrats, as Josh Kraushaar notes: