President Donald Trump is the unquestioned leader of the Republican Party, and he has been for nearly a decade.  

But who is the Democrats’ leader?  

In a recent poll, CNN asked a representative sample of Americans to name one person who “best reflects the core values of the Democratic Party.” The most common response: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

But we hardly needed a poll to confirm that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez is the unofficial face of the Democratic Party. She’s currently touring the country with Senator Bernie Sanders, holding rallies with tens of thousands of attendees at each stop; no other Democrat is receiving that level of enthusiasm right now. 

The same CNN poll found that just 29 percent of people approved of the Democratic Party, the lowest mark since CNN started asking the question over three decades ago.  

The Republican brand was also underwater; just 36 percent had a favorable view, compared to nearly half of respondents who disapproved.  

Should this really be a surprise? By a 16-point margin, Democratic voters want their party to be more moderate, per Gallup. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez would not seem to meet that criteria as she is the second-least bipartisan member of Congress, according to the Lugar Center. She is a self-proclaimed “democratic socialist” and a founding member of “the squad,” a group of far-left members in the House.  

When faced with these options, it’s no wonder Americans are leaving the two major parties in droves. Gallup’s latest figures show that 43 percent of people identify as politically independent, tied for the highest share ever. The GOP and Democratic Party, on the other hand, claim just 28 percent of voters each.  

It could get even worse for both parties. The Gallup data was from before the Democrats notched their lowest approval rating ever; and the latest polls show President Trump is losing support from the middle, with nearly two-thirds of independents disapproving of him. 

There’s a wide swath of commonsense Americans out there that the major parties just aren’t speaking to. Whichever “side” can get to the middle first will win in the long run.