2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumDonald Trump Is Unpopular, and So Is the GOPs Agenda. How Can Democrats Capitalize?
When you win, you look strong, and right now, Donald Trump looks strong. He has the White House, and his allies in the Republican Party hold both chambers of Congress. The House is set to pass a sweeping agenda that would gut the safety net, and the Senate is set to confirm hard-right jurists to the federal bench, including to the Supreme Court.
If Democrats held a majority of governorships or state legislatures, the picture would look a little different. But they dont. Over the eight years of Barack Obamas presidency, the party has suffered historic losses at the state and local levels. Some of this was the result of poor party leadership from Obama and other figures in Washington; some was demographic, as the Democratic Party relies more on a young, diverse, and less consistent electorate; and some was the final leg of the Souths transition to an almost solid wall of red. Either way, Democrats are in dire straits, fighting a defensive battle against a newly invigorated Republican Party.
But we shouldnt exaggerate the state of play. Neither Trump nor congressional Republicans are as strong as they appear. Both enter the field with severe disadvantages, and both risk overplaying the hands that they have. Democrats are on the defensive, but the conditions are there for pushback and resurgence
Donald Trump Is Unpopular, and So Is the GOPs Agenda. How Can Democrats Capitalize? - Slate
https://apple.news/AFKr3euRwT5GPwlsujDCv0Q
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We can argue about their motivations and beliefs. What is true, however, is that among those voters, Trump is not as strong as he looks. Hes vulnerable. If Democrats can mount an effective oppositionrallying in defense of core priorities, forcing confrontation and dramatizing the stakes of every battle, organizing at the local and state levelsthey can capitalize on these glaring flaws. They are the weak spots that threaten the structural integrity of Trumps political project and the fortunes of the Republican Party itself.
Thrill
(19,295 posts)as good as Repubs. And it doesn't help when idiots still float to Fox News every chance they get.
SidDithers
(44,268 posts)so that nothing that passes is considered to have bipartisan support.
Make them totally and completely own everything that they do.
Sid
Raster
(20,999 posts)We need to tie their calamitous, shitty decisions around their GOP necks until they rot and fall off. I agree wholeheartedly. The Democrats in Congress need to make last term's Rethuglican obstructionists look like a bunch of pikers. Oppose EVERYTHING! RESIST at all costs!
pbmus
(12,439 posts)msongs
(70,178 posts)Chasstev365
(5,191 posts)pbmus
(12,439 posts)brutus smith
(685 posts)We need more of our younger Dem congressmen and Senators to step up to the plate.
Raster
(20,999 posts)...and request their most vigorous and obstructionist courses of action. We need to make it ABUNDANTLY CLEAR to every Democrat in Congress: AIN'T NOBODY ROLLING OVER!
#RESIST