Here are the simple stark facts, the Democratic Party, at least as it is now constructed, faces disaster in a scant 20 months (11/6/18) from today;
The Democrats face grim prospects in the midterm congressional elections"
"The Democrats need to pick up a net of three seats to win the Senate (there’s no realistic prospect of taking the House in the foreseeable future), and saddest of all for the Democrats, the party will defend 25 seats next year and the Republicans, only 8. Only one Republican senator, Dean Heller of Nevada, a freshman, is in a state won by Hillary Clinton, an indication of the temperature of the water.
No other Republican seat, says the authoritative Cook Political Report, “appears to be even remotely in danger.”
No other Republican seat, says the authoritative Cook Political Report, “appears to be even remotely in danger.”
But several Democratic incumbents may be fighting for survival in states that Donald Trump carried by margins up to a remarkable 42 percent. These endangered incumbents include Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota, Joe Manchin in West Virginia, Joe Donnelly in Indiana, Jon Tester in Montana and Claire McCaskill in Missouri. They have survived frights before, but this time the politics is strange and new."
If the GOP takes eight senate seats from the Dem's they will have a filibuster proof majority to add to their control of Congress, the presidency, the Supreme Court and they will have total power. What would be left of the Dem's would be a faction ridden rump most likely controlled by the Sanders radical wing.
"Republicans control about 4,170 state legislative seats across the country, almost 1,000 more than they held in 2009 when Barack Obama was sworn in. Today, 33 governors are Republican; when Obama took office, just 21 governors were Republican."
The compete rejection of Obama would reach right down to every strata of government. The Obama presidency was a complete aberration driven by an infatuated media and only came about because of the G.W. Bush disastrous foreign policy and the crazed financial community greed which led to the 2008 collapse.
Rahm Emanuel has a clear understanding that that disaster can not be fixed overnight but he offers no prescription, except time, to right the sinking ship. The obvious solution, jettisoning the "social justice warriors" the Sanders faction, and creating a platform which discards the stealth attack on the second amendment, leaves "identity politics" and social issues alone (or to the states) and addressing the concerns of industrial workers is a bridge to far. But not crossing that bridge will simply hasten the end of the Dem's.
"Rahm Emanuel Tells Dems to ‘Take a Chill Pill’: ‘It Ain’t Gonna Happen in 2018’
Pam Key Breitbart
David Lieb is also realistic;
"For Trump Foes, Democratic Gains May Remain Elusive in 2018"
David Lieb Real Clear Politics
And voices from the left,whose prescription will be ignored if the Sanders/Warren wing triumphs;
"How the Democrats can rebuild"
Joel Krotkin OC Register
"To win consistently in the near term, and compete in red states, Democrats need to adjust the cultural and racial agenda dominating the “resistance” to one that addresses directly the challenges faced by working- and middle-class families of all races. This notion of identity politics, as opposed to those of social class, is embraced by the progressives’ allies in the media, academia, urban speculators, Hollywood and Silicon Valley, since environmentalism, gender and race issues do not directly threaten their wealth or privileged status."
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Gautam Makunda reviews the policy options for the Dem's and warns that "Time is not on their side"
"If Democrats Want to Challenge Trump, They Need a New Strategy"
Gautam Mukunda Harvard Business Review
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Hatalsky and Kessler explain why "identity politics" is a dead end because the Hispanic vote is mostly in safe Dem's states so no matter how it grows it won't affect the Electoral College.
"Why demographics weren’t — and won’t be — destiny for Democrats"
Krogstad and Lopez expand on the danger/ dead end of identity politics
"Hillary Clinton won Latino vote but fell below 2012 support for Obama"
Yascha Mounk at Slate covers similar, if by now obvious ground, of Hispanics identifying as white and young people growing conservative as they age
"The Coming Democratic Majority? Not So Fast."
Demography, despite the dreams of the left and the fears of the right, is not destiny. Tempting though it is for liberals to think that history is on their side, there is no realistic substitute to winning the battle of ideas. To beat Trump, Democrats will have to build a convincing case they can take to the nation as a whole.
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Reid Wilson makes the point that unless the Dem's make significant inroads into electing governors and state legislators in 2018 they will be effectively shut out of the redistricting of Congressional electoral boundaries ensuring a further long-term grip on Congress for the GOP.
"Democrats face fierce urgency of 2018"
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