While the topline takeaways in the latest NBC News poll related to Donald Trump and his weakening public standing, there were some revelations related to Democratic voters’ attitudes that were every bit as interesting, if not more so. From the network’s analysis:

Back in April 2017, 59% of Democrats said they wanted congressional Democrats to make compromises with Trump to gain consensus on legislation, with 33% saying they should stick to their positions even if that means not being able to get things done in Washington. Now, that sentiment has completely flipped. Almost two-thirds of Democrats, 65%, say they want congressional Democrats to stick to their positions even if that risks sacrificing bipartisan progress, and just 32% want them to make legislative compromises with Trump.

The shift from 2017 to 2025 is certainly notable, given the relevant parallels: It compares the beginning of the president’s first term with the beginning of his second.

But there’s also value in looking back even further. I wrote an item for the Washington Monthly about this way back in 2011, noting an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that reflected striking partisan asymmetry: At the time, in the wake of the 2010 midterm elections, more than two-thirds of Democratic voters (68%) said they expected their party’s leaders to make compromises as part of a broader effort to gain consensus. The same data found a majority of Republican voters (56%) arguing that GOP leaders should stick to their guns and avoid compromise, no matter the consequences.

A week earlier, a Pew Research Center survey pointed in a nearly identical direction: Most Democratic voters said Democratic officials should focus on compromise, while most Republican voters wanted GOP officials to stand on principle. A Gallup poll taken around the same time found very similar results.

The disconnect between the parties was extraordinary, and it endured for quite a while. For over a decade, Democratic voters embraced a compromise-based approach because it appeared unavoidable: In a complex, Madisonian style of government, filled with choke points and pitfalls, give-and-take is baked into the system. It seemed wholly unrealistic to think any one party or faction would get everything it wanted, so rank-and-file Democrats naturally understood that concessions and negotiations would be part of any responsible approach to governing.

The Democratic base not only endorsed compromise as part of a mature policymaking model, those same voters also expected it.

Most Republican voters fundamentally rejected such a posture, insisting that those who compromised were guilty of weakness and betrayals.

Not surprisingly, the parties’ elected officials internalized these attitudes. It became the norm for Democratic officials — in the White House and on Capitol Hill — to strive for bipartisan agreements, while GOP officials equated bipartisan dealmaking with defeat.

In time, not surprisingly, Democrats noticed that they weren’t getting many RSVPs to the compromise parties they threw. Republicans slapped away outstretched hands. Olive branches were treated like poison ivy. GOP officials even abandoned some of their own ideas and priorities the moments Democrats endorsed them.

In other words, there’s no great mystery as to why, exactly, the Democratic base has shifted so dramatically in its approach to bipartisan negotiation and cooperation.

To be sure, it’s a multifaceted dynamic. The increasing radicalization of Republican politics necessarily repulses much of the Democratic mainstream, making compromise effectively impossible. Relatedly, given the degree to which the incumbent GOP president appears indifferent to bipartisan governing and reality, it’s not too surprising to see so many Democratic voters reject the idea of trying to work with him in good faith in pursuit of common ground.

But at the heart of the debate, there’s an inescapable realization: Democratic voters were on board with compromises until they grew tired of being alone. Now, according to the data, they’re ready for something different — thanks entirely to the conditions that Republicans themselves created.

The question for party leaders is whether Democratic policymakers are ready to reassess years’ worth of assumptions and adapt to their base’s new set of expectations.