If your main, most identifiable spokesperson speaks of nothing but healthcare, over and over and over again, saying the same things in the same way over and over and over again - with no apparent interest or ideas or policies on any other topic, including the economy, foreign policy, public education, and infrastructure - to name just a few - it's all over. It is so obvious that it is mindboggling that no one is moving the ball to get out there with broader strokes and something more than the case against Trump - which is a good case but not enough.
2
The Democrats deserve to lose especially after siding with the overpaid whiners in the NFL who show such disrespect to our flag and anthem.
2
Please seek out Clinton's entire army of 85%ers, America benefitted immensely from their last project.
We will just do the best we can. A year ago, I was one of the few Democrats I know who was giving money to Hillary Clinton every week and doing volunteer work all the while expecting her to lose. I have a low opinion of humankind, so I am never surprised -- except occasionally pleasantly, as in 2006 and 2008 -- by election results.
A year ago, although I believed Trump would win the election, that made me even try harder to elect Clinton. As long as we work hard, contribute the most we can to our candidates -- with money, work, or by trying to influence others to vote Democratic -- we ordinary people can't go wrong.
We will do better in governor's races, I feel, and maybe in state legislatures and statewide offices. Hey, we can't do much worse. We will be lucky to stay even in the U.S. Senate, given the map. And every seat we pick up in the U.S. House is a congressional seat that will narrow the Republicans' margin.
Work hard for the best; expect the worst to continue.
1
The Democrats are generally deluded in their belief that the current level of taxes on the middle-class is politically sustainable. In Hilary Clinton's speech announcing her candidacy she said that the middle class pays too much taxes. She never mentioned a middle-class tax cut again. Presumably, due to pressure from Sanders who pushed her to the left, which severely hurt her chances. Most Democratic politicians are not aware that, by far the best thing government could do for most middle-class households would be to lower their taxes. Thus, in many cases middle-class households will grasp at any chance they think could lower their tax burden and support candidates who promise them a tax cut, no matter how odious the candidates might be otherwise.
Today the top 3% of households pay about 50% of Federal taxes and the rest of the 97% pay the other 50%. In 1969 the top 3% of households paid 75% of Federal taxes and the rest of the 97% paid only the other 25%. It is quite possible that the Republicans may be able to have the top 3% of households pay only about 25% of Federal taxes and the rest of the 97% pay the other 75%. Estates under $5.49 million are now totally exempt from the estate tax. Billionaires are not as able as mere millionaires to employ various strategies to avoid estate taxes. Repealing the estate tax will give billions to a fraction of the top 1%, which will ultimately have to be made up by the rest of the taxpayers..."
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4067359
2
“You have to shoot for the stars,” the Democratic operative Hilary Rosen told me. “You might just reach the moon.”
What a cliche, if that's the quality of thinking forget it.
However, there are enough California seats almost alone to the flip the House and repubocons couldn't gerrymander seats either, so they're ALL going down.
9
Americans are going to be going to the polls in 2018\20 and voting on (4 ) variables. ( that can change wildly from now until then )
1. Competence ~ so far, this administration has shown little competence ( especially the corresponding optics\legislatively ) in regards to just basic government, and in particular the responses to natural disasters ( with more coming )
2. Tax cuts ~ The last election was won solely on this issue ( regardless of whether there was collusion\hacking\treason with Russia ) People wanted theirs and didn't care about the cost. This congress may or may not deliver.
3. War(s) ~ There are still troops out there and who knows what battles are to come and possibly lost. Also, there might be new ones started and the American public may vote solely on this issue whether they have the stomach for it.
4. Wild Card ~ Robert Mueller is still out there digging away and depending on what he finds\presents and\or whether he is fired will dictate the largest part of the future imho.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The odds of everything falling into place for republicans to hold onto power is almost nil ( again just my honest opinion ) , but if you look at all the variables, then the future looks bright for Democrats, America and the world.
People just have to get up off their duffs and vote.
18
I don't know if the Dems stand for anything - other than identity politics. 2016 proved that is a loser. I think there will be a lot of disappointed Democrats come November of next year.
29
Americans are going to be going to the polls in 2018\20 and voting on (4 ) variables. ( that can change wildly from now until then )
1. Competence ~ so far, this administration has shown little competence ( especially the corresponding optics\legislatively ) in regards to just basic government, and in particular the responses to natural disasters ( with more coming )
2. Tax cuts ~ The last election was won solely on this issue ( regardless of whether there was collusion\hacking\treason with Russia ) People wanted theirs and didn't care about the cost. This congress may or may not deliver.
3. War(s) ~ There are still troops out there and who knows what battles are to come and possibly lost. Also, there might be new ones started and the American public may vote solely on this issue whether they have the stomach for it.
4. Wild Card ~ Robert Mueller is still out there digging away and depending on what he finds\presents and\or whether he is fired will dictate the largest part of the future imho.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The odds of everything falling into place for republicans to hold onto power is almost nil ( again just my honest opinion ) , but if you look at all the variables, then the future looks bright for Democrats, America and the world.
People just have to get up off their duffs and vote.
7
Reading most of these posts by deluded liberals assures me that the GOP will continue to win, grow their leads in the House and Senate, and again win the Executive branch in 2020 and 2024. Democrat party has gone the way of the Whigs.
19
Roy Moore 'a fossil from the 1950's?' 1750's is more like it
7
Look, the Democrats are so focused on their own base that they have forgotten everyone else. Now Trump to his credit actually courted the forgotten voters which got him elected. As far as I a can tell the Democrats are doing all they can to keep these voters in Trumps camp because the more they attack Trump the more firmly he holds these voters. Also being civil with the "others" would help. Being filled with rage and hate towards people who don't share your worldview is your right but do not expect them to vote for your side. If the Democrats would use a little more imagination and a little more thought they could likely be more successful but right now this seems to be in short supply. Anyway, while Trump is in office anything can happen. So if you have not done so already, please fasten your seatbelts.
19
Hilary Rosen is right -- we Democrats need a vision for America, and we are thinking too small. Democrats should propose a really massive infrastructure rebuilding program and giant employment stimulation, along with REAL job training that goes with real jobs at good pay. "Full employment" nowadays means more and more Americans working part time with no benefits at poverty or not-much-better than poverty wages.
Here in the real world, the only way to break that downward spiral is -- get set for a shock, Republicans -- big government spending. Will that generate a big deficit? Yep, and so what? Republicans routinely propose tax cuts leading to giant deficits in order to enrich the superrich. Let's run deficits to really raise the living standard of most of the American people. Our theme: "Great Jobs For a Great Nation."
12
Turnout turnout turnout.
The Dems will have no problem recruiting candidates while the GOP will be dealing with retirements. It will be up to the DCCC and other parts of the Dem fundraising infrastructure to get behind candidates that channel enthusiasm, not the ones with institutional party bona fides. No more Patrick Murphys.
State legislatures matter as well.
3
The Democrats need to get out and work with all the Individuals who have, or will be disenfranchised by the policies established by Trump and the Republicans. They need to stop Preaching at these people and start looking for leaders among the various groups to work for and with the Democratic Party. These should include families whose elder parents and disabled or well children who are at risk of losing medical coverage. They should be listening and recruiting working class and middle class individuals who have lost their jobs, their once expected benefits, and have not seen their wages increase in decades. These individuals easily make up the majority of US citizens; the ones that Trump successfully targeted, but delivered nothing other than to scapegoat minorities and immigrants as the reason why they are failing in this modern economy.
5
I don't quite see how anyone can discuss the 2018 election without discussing the state legislatures. The Democrats are laying extensive groundwork to reverse control of statehouses and stop the illegal gerrymandering. The fact that it is never even discussed in this article shows a continuing state of blackballing by liberal (national) press, which deemphasizes the importance of these races. Unless Democrats move the dial in 2018, they are starved for talent in the statewide congressional races and fail to make the critical grassroots connection.
11
Democrats will lose big - so will Republicans. TWICE as many people consider themselves Independent rather than either Democrat or Republican. People of the Establishment (this probably means YOU) are living in denial. Most adult Americans feel disenfranchised and feel disaffection toward BOTH parties. If all adult Americans voted these sentiments would be even clearer.
The best hope for Democrats is to: a) open up their primaries (Bernie would be our president now), b) massively reform campaign financing, c) demand election and pre-election news blackout periods, like every other major democracy has (so the media establishment have less ability to determine elections.)
18
For the Democrats handing out free stuff is a losing proposition (a free increase in wages, free college tuition, free health care - Medicare for all, etc.).
For the simple reason that the people are better at math than are progressive/liberal politicians.
Here is a simple example. Medicare cost $600M last year and covered 15% of the population. To cover everyone would cost 600/.15 or $4T a $3.6T increase. But Medicare only covers half of the cost of the care, so reimbursements would have to double. So the cost of Medicare for everyone is $8T a year.
The government only collected $3.5T a year in taxes last year. Who is going to put up with an over 100% increase in all Federal taxes just to pay for "free" health care.
Free college. Do the math.
14
That math is contrived to reach a desired faulty conclusion. It is wrong because Medicare covers the old, the most expensive part of the population. Covering everyone would cost not much more for actual care, cut out the parasitical middlemen of the insurance industry, and the spread the cost over everyone.
Every developed country spends less than we do for health care, covers everyone, and gets better results (longer lives, healthier babies, and so on). We can do better than we have been.
33
That cost would be well over $600 BILLION a year, not million. But the point is correct - "Medicare for All" is a truly dumb, fantasy idea.
5
Perhaps democrats should take a leaf from Toronto's playbook when we had to get rid of Rob Ford.Almost by magic much of the electorate decided to vote strategically and select the person most likely to be halfway reasonable and vote for him. It might have been unfair to the other candidates but it worked.
Stop dissecting democrat party candidates and decide that you will vote for the party through your misgivings. Criticize the party once it's in power but get a handle on Trump. He's running rough shod over everything and it's awful to watch. It must be even more awful to live under.
21
In lots of ways, we react to Trump like puppets on a string. He says or does something outrageous, and we expend energy in responding. We treat him with more respect than he deserves, as though he is something.
If we ignore him, as though he were just a lot of noise, and instead made a focused attack on every extremist Republican, we could beat them. It would take a little bit of money from each of us, a little bit for each one of those elections where winning is possible. Couple that with supporting the groups who fight against Republican legislation - the ACLU, NARAL, SPLC. And we should keep up those phone calls to all in office. Our country has lost the respect of everyone who counts; let's win it back.
11
I love the neo globalist mindset. "Lavish" spending, compared to whom? Barack Obama's administrations jet-setting, celebrity hiring m, twenty vacation laifestyles of the nouveau riche?
16
Mr Bruni quotes from the latest polls regarding the popularity of Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Anyone who bases their opinions or decisions on opinion polls is foolish in the extreme.
Secretary Clinton, and most of the United States, thought that she would be the next President, based on the polls. The polls were wrong. Mr Trump became President.
Prime Minister May based her decision to call a snap election on the polls. The polls were wrong. She was wrong too and lost her majority in the House of Commons. One wonders how long she will last as PM.
So think twice before you base any political decision on the opinion polls.
23
You can cite meaningless polling numbers all you want ...The accuracy of which still has Hillary and Maddow losing sleep . The Democratic party does not have it's finger on the pulse of America ...Republican incumbents up for reelection may very well lose ...But it will be to more populist Republican challengers in primaries . You still don't get it .
23
Yo, America
It's Canada. We just spent a good while despairing over our politicians as well. We somehow elected Rob Ford, and Stephen Harper for the better part of a decade. The lesson learned: run charismatic and hopeful people and liberals will win. The national liberal party of Canada was nearly destroyed in the last two elections - running Trudeau brought back a party many thought was dead. We tried running intellectuals like Clinton - look up Michael Ignatieff and Stéphane Dion - and had the exact same results. Things will get better, just weather out the current storm as best you can.
20
Hillary Clinton is intelligent, but you're giving her way too much credit by labelling her as an "intellectual".
13
With all his liberal blindness, Frank conveniently overlooks the simple fact that outside of the little bubbles like NYC, (where Frank lives,) and a few other bastions of liberal utopia, the vast majority of the country despises the Democrats and what they stand for, especially recently with their swerve to the left. There's always lots of talk about gerrymandered district maps and voter suppression, etc. but if you study a county maps across the vast majority of the USA, it wouldn't matter where the district lines got drawn. The painful truth for the Dems gets down to the fact that their platform of open borders and illegal immigration, tax and spend liberalism and income redistribution, weak on notional security but strong on transgender bathrooms, there is little wonder why the party has been all but wiped out in the past decade. People in NYC and LA may believe it, but nobody between them does. If the Dems really want to stop kidding themselves and start winning elections again, they will need to do much more serious soul searching about what they believe and what there policies are, not who carries their flag for them.
27
LOL!
"The vast majority despises the Democrats"
Just plain wrong! More people voted for the Democrats in each of the last several Congressional elections than they did for the Republicans -- by a substantial margin. However, thanks to gerrymandering, the Republicans repeatedly took a majority of the seats.
Furthermore, *3 million more* people voted for Hillary than for Trump.
*10 million more* voted for Hillary, 3rd party candidates, or wrote someone in than voted for Trump!
Plus, on major issue after issue, political polling for years -- and even more so under Trump -- has shown majorities, often vast majorities, favoring key progressive policies espoused by the Democrats.
People need to get the facts and stop watching Fox Fake News!
26
The important point you're missing is that tens of millions more people didn't vote at all, than voted for either Trump or Hillary. And I think it's a reasonable assumption that a substantial portion of them aren't very fond of the Democrats.
12
I'm pretty sure that grown-ups in the Democratic Party were saying issues-oriented things in early 2001 after the voters gave them their last upheaval from the White House. The party still cared for workers than and talked to them about the next election already.
But the progressive-anarchist Left controls the party today, and there are no grown-ups available. All the liberals ask of their voters today is to hate, and then hate some more - just check most of the comments left here any time you choose. No issues, no ideas for the future, just mindless hatred.
17
Sweeping nonsense.
The "progressive-anarchist-Left" controls the Democratic Party?! LOL!
First of all, you've jumbled together a bunch of different philosophies and groups.
Second, the Party establishment backed Hillary, a corporate centrist and hawk, over Bernie, the liberal.
Third, it's too bad that all three groups you mentioned don't control the D.P. If they did, you'd see a coherent, progressive, people-centered program, a new New Deal as it were.
Fourth, and finally, you've missed a generation (or two) of political history as the Democratic Party moved to the center and the Republicans moved to the right, with a big portion of it now far right.
Oh, well! That Trump Kook-Aid certainly is some magic anti-truth, anti-science, and anti-facts elixir! I'd recommend turning him off, stop listening to Rush, and get some friends other than Fox and Friends!
14
I can't believe that such meaningless drivel still takes up space in the media.
People must finally understand that this has nothing to do with politics, freedom or anything else normally associated with the topic. This garbage is designed to distract you and constantly keep your attention from what really matters.
They have infected your brains to the point where everything is politicized. There is no common ground or willingness to cooperate. Unless people wake up and realize we've had numerous leaders on both sides governing the steady decline our downward trajectory will not change. Forget about the stupid, manufactured "issues". They are designed to trap you in endless exchanges that will only raise your blood pressure and accomplish nothing substantive.
We are dealing with insidious, pernicious, seditious, brutally vicious brainwashers and sometimes the only winning move is to not play.
I just hope the day doesn't come where you think to yourselves, "That crazy guy in the comments section was right." By that time it will be far too late.
Unplug for a month. Think of things independently. Instead of doubling down on failed politicians and parties, ask questions. Take a step back, reflect and take a deep breath.
9
"sometimes the only winning move is to not play."
Can't say it better than that.
2
The Dems are just a Bankrupt Blue State and Big Cities party now. After they lose congressional seats in 2018, the party will crack-up into the various fanatical interest groups that compose it. Since the U.S. doesn't have a parliamentary system, those groups will have regional significance, at best. The "disputes" within the GOP are sensible policy debates befitting a national party. The Dem party factions only have Trump-hatred in common. They despise the Trump supporters and don't even really want their votes nor can they get them.
12
Frank, I think the rabid deplorable-baiting by the GOP combined with its manipulation of the voting process, add the the ennui of most Americans, who find self governing to complicated (you need intelligence to do that), their willful ignorance of history and what can happen to a country when the people give away their rights will end up sealing our fate toward Fascism.
As soon as Americans stop being enthralled by oligarchs and enable the GOP to shill or them and take back their government (Democrats have a lot to answer for on this point too), IMO, is when pigs will fly.
It's nine months into Trump's presidency where he is skimming off tax-payer money to enrich his "brand." What else has he accomplished except trying to destroy President Obama's legacy for spite?
I'm not optimistic. Democrats will lose to human nature's heart of darkness.
7
Just stand up for the poor and let the chips fall where they may.
Otherwise you're simply a progressive Independent or Republican.
7
I have never voted, nor would I ever vote Republican. My conscience wouldn't allow it. Especially now. But I can no longer vote for Establishment/ Corporatist/ Neo-liberal Democrats of the Clinton mold.
35 years of complicity in transferring national wealth ever upwards to donors at the expense of working people has made the Democratic party as unconscionable a choice as the GOP.
Liberals and progressives have had it up to here with an entrenched, self-serving party machinery that continue to lose election after election, seat after seat, state after state with incrementalism, identity politics, Orwellian double-speak (I'm With Her? Really? Not one well-paid consultant thought "She's With Us" might be more effective in an angry, populist climate? Of course not. They get paid and apparently are still sought out for their 'expertise' by NYT editorial writers, win or lose.) and inter-party shenanigans of the Wasserman Schultz/ Brazille variety and who continue to stand by losers like Nancy Pelosi for the sake of fund-raising and donor access.
If Donald Trump wins 2020, the DNC can go looking for the deplorables responsible at 430 South Capitol Street.
13
The Democrats will lose again because their progressive wing is every bit as susceptible to Republican and Russian propaganda as the conservatives. I’m already seeing Facebook memes on Progressive and Occupy sites calling for progressives to send a message to the Democrats that they will not be voting for their candidates if they are not sufficiently supporting the causes they believe in. Convincing liberals that compromise is for suckers has worked time and again to keep their ideas from being realized.
9
What I think is deplorable is that anybody earning less than $400k believes that Trump will advance their interests. They may have lost hope in the Democratic Party, they certainly deserve better government, but they are either anarchists or deeply confused by systematic disinformation and propaganda. If you don't like like the word deplorable, what word would you use to describe the situation where Americans have been persuaded to vote for the self-interests of the richest grifters?
Democrats, keep it simple. Acknowledge the despair felt and state principles that will guide your actions. The rich deserve to repay, healthcare is a national embarrassment, security rests on friendship and concerted action.
Republicans remember, Obama reversed the depression and saved the car industry, and then you won the midterms and shut everything down. Show some remorse.
Build a better America, together
5
White house is a bit of a frat house. Democrats need to make this point.
1
.
I was a democrat for 15 years, but I truly do not understand why any Working Class American would vote for a democrat today.
.
15
Let's see. Because the Democrats stand for:
Labor rights
Raising the minimum wage
Job retraining
Massive public works
Rebuilding our decaying infrastructure
Jobs programs, especially for rural areas
Expanding health care
Women's rights
Workplace safety
Tough protection of the environment
Raising taxes on the rich, financial transactions,
Strengthening consumer protections
Basic ethics and decency towards families and peoples of all kinds, races, and religions
Tolerance
Competence
Respect for science, reason, and facts
And so on -- and so forth.
In each case, as we've seen clearly, the Republicans embrace the opposite, including massive tax giveaways to the rich, raising the lowest tax rate from 10% to 12%, backing the interests of corporate capital, etc
They have even created and voted for plans that would throw millions of people off of health care!
No, the real question is why any working class American would ever vote for the Republican Party, especially one that is so committed to undermining labor, shifting resources to the wealthy, and making America less secure economically and socially!
19
The American public now views its political contests as reality television, a diminution of American greatness that you, nytimes, are significantly responsible for. Had you done your jobs properly and appropriately exposed the subordination of your political process to foreign and financial interests, you wouldn't be confronting yet another election where policy is largely irrelevant, and big personalities offering the best entertainment are the only ones who can win. The United States is at a crossroad, largely economic in its making but with profound political consequences and implications, but your determined allegiance with the status quo, otherwise known as the Estblishment, has made you blind to the perils that are now approaching. Your greatest fear should be that ultimately, it won't matter who wins in 2020, let alone 2018. The damage has been done. At this point, these elections are little more than arranging deckchairs.
5
The best and most effective thing that voters can do is to begin to weed out all Democrats AND Republicans in the course of the 2018 Campaign and Election. That weeding out process must continue between 2018 and 2020 and ultimately lead to the dissolution of Congress.
Termination of Congress and an overhauled, revised and reformed system of who actually leads or represents the United States of America is more than sorely needed. The American system was too innovative to begin with, and it is now seen and described as an experiment that failed. The Founders were trying to create an ideal of a democratic republic that has traveled a very rocky road since its inception and is now broken down and just debris in a junk heap.
America would have been and still could be a type of parliamentary democracy with a much wider ranger of parties in government and more frequent national elections. American leadership is embalmed, static and stultified. Unless someone or some group is sincerely ready, willing and able to break the mold, the elections of 2018 and 2020 will only lead to a government and an America that most Americans are fed up with.
3
Keep history in mind here:
"A conventional pol will get chewed to bits by Trump."
Setting aside Jimmy Carter, when was the last time an incumbent President failed to get re-elected? Even lightweights like Harry Truman and George Bush the Younger got re-elected. Richard Nixon won in a landslide.
Unless Trump dies in office (a possibility: he is, after all, the oldest person ever elected President), he's got a huge leg up on anyone the Democrats might run in 2020.
5
"Their hopes — stoked last week by a series of humiliations for the Trump administration,"
Indeed, come 11/2018 no GOP voters will remember or care about anything that has happened now or nest year. That 40% support is set in concrete. The GOP knows that in a general election effort that number is easily increased.
“Those who look to the past to predict the current political moment do so at their folly,” said Representative Joe Kennedy III,"
This is what the MSM, poll takers, the Dems, liberals, politicians, all tend to do; Make sweeping assumptions based on accepted wisdom or 'group think'. This almost always leads to a disaster, such as the 11.8.16 debacle. Hillary and the Dems believed they had WI, MI, PA, and perhaps OH in the bucket. Not so.
6
It's discouraging to see how clueless the Democrats are. They had their chance with Bernie. If he hadn't been obstructed and was recognized as the candidate drawing big crowds he would have been the president today. He would've appealed to both BLM and Bikers for Trump. But it was her turn. And now, in the face of the surrealistic nightmare that is the Trump administration the Democrats still don't know how to be big and bold, ready with a plan to make things right. How can they fail to prevail in the face of unspeakable ugliness?
7
I don't know any Republicans and/or Trump voters, the Democrats should win every election easily.
2
This is some high level thought here. Get out and meet some people who don't live in your city. Or your state.
10
Repeal and replace was a worthless pursuit. The ACA should have just been repealed. That is what the American people have been demanding for the last 9 years. A great number of us don't want the Federal government involved in our healthcare or dictating what sort of coverage we should have.
5
Trump and his appointees are going to run the next census.
Abandon hope.
4
Democrats will ill not win by attacking trump and the right wing. Democrats wil not cawin because of the ongoing mismanagement and failure of trump, the nation is becoming accustomed to it and numb. Democrats will win by advancing a sound agenda such as single payer health care, a true jobs program and educational reform to include college tuition. They will win by advancing an equitable tax overhaul. But what remains to be seen is if they can wean themselves from their Wall Street corporate benefactors to get the job done or continue to be meek and timid mice.
4
I really must thank the NYT and all liberal media in getting Trump elected. Had it not been for the total negative coverage of Trump there would not have been such polarization of the electorate. The negative, destroy Trump at all cost is what propelled him to the presidency. I truly believe if the media had been nice to Trump he would not be our president. Was this planned by the liberal media? Well, given the unprecedented level of propaganda we see in the news these days and the usual duplicitous nature of the liberal media, they could well secretly love the Donald. If so I would like the thank the liberal media for getting Trump to the presidency.
8
Frank, you need to get real. Wolfson and Rosen were both certain of an HRC victory in 2016.They are part of the 1960s cabal that made it possible for Trump to win.No amount of dysfunction in the Republican Party will make up for lack of credible leadership amongst Democrats.The Gerontocracy, with it's now obsolete winning formula is still in place, Presidential candidates "for our times and as an alternative to Trump" have yet to emerge and the platform for candidates to run on in 2018 is anyone's guess.Both 2018 and 2020 could be disappointing unless the Party moves on from the old planks of the Democratic platform, social justice and the environment, and gets down to a credible economic agenda that Americans can relate to.
5
Strong voter apathy out there.
No one thinks their vote counts anymore and they are right.
Privately owned and programmed, computerized voting machines hooked up to the Internet. What could possibly go wrong? The younger generation are savvy enough to notice this and know it is a scam. As do some of us oldsters.
7
People say that Democrats have not been taking care of the middle class voter and that's why they are losing.
But the Republicans are ten times worse for the middle class and poor West Virginia voters.
7
Liberals appeal to our logic.
Conservatives appeal to our emotions, fear being a big one.
6
Frank repeats much of the dismal news Stephen (forgot last name) told us yesterday, the numbers - especially in the senate races-- are against us. And unless we can stop the Republican controlled states from pulling the same voter suppression tactics that beat us in 16, we may not even win the House. It was those dirty tricks (voter ID, few polling places i-n black and/or Latino nbhds, etc.), not Russian meddling, Bernie or Comey,, that robbed Hillary -and us - of the presidency. But the Repubs still control those states and it will be almost impossible to win them in time to prevent them from doing the same thing in 20.
It would seem impossible for the party of Trump - especially after yesterday's outrageous tweet to the mayor of San Juan! - to ever win another American election but, unfortunately, it seems quite possible.
1
It is utter nonsense to fall into the absurd calculations Bruni pursues. The only issue to be addressed is what matters. Citizens united has enabled the Nation to be crafted for the elite few not the many so, where does that leave the rest of us? Jobs, jobs, jobs matter. We are losing them to technology. Where are the strategies to address this radical shift? Health care for all matters but with the machinations of Republicans only the wealthy will have access while millions will die without affordable and accessible health care. Safe streets in vibrant communities matter. There children can grow into caring and competent adults capable of participating in the life of those communities. As they advance their own lives they contribute to the lives of others in the vibrant life of that community. Where is that vision? Where is that passion? Where is that dedication? Trump promotes himself in every way he can. Where are the Democrats who passionately speak to the lives of all of us in all communities? All of us, each and everyone of us matter. Seeking comity and collaboration and common ground to achieve these goals matter. Who in the party of FDR, Johnson, Kennedy can lead us? Frank Bruni told us last June 24, 2016 in 14 young Democrats to watch. Where are they now? Who will lead us matters. Who will that be? Leaders matter. Are there any powerfully persuasive who can do this? Sanders might have won and Hillary actually did except...and that is the rub. Who will lead us? Who?
2
Democrats have to wake up and quit taking the bait. Everyone knows that Democrats back the LBGTQ community, pro-choice, immigration and stronger background checks for gun purchases. Why do they keep getting wrapped around these axels? Why don't they get their platform for jobs, infrastructure and education out there? Whether you are LBGTQ, pro-choice or own a gun, you have to have a job. You have to get there on a crumbling infrastructure and you have to get an education and educate your children. Wake up and show your support for the American family, whoever they might be.
6
"...Republicans will go into the midterms with almost nothing to show for their turn at the helm of the federal government."
You think so? Trump has done - or is the process of doing - three key things:
- put a Constitutionalist on the Supreme Court (with another 1 or 2 likely during the remainder of his term(s)
- showed Kim that we are serious about putting limits on his nuclear program, something no other President would touch
- is in process of breaking the back of political correctness, which has evolved into a new form of McCarthyism as universities and the media ditch their ethical and moral standards, resulting in a 21st century version of the Salem witch trials. (On this point I should note that obvious acts of hate and violence always should be universally condemned. The problem arises when mere expression of opinion is condemned as hate.)
If this is all Trump accomplishes I for one will be quite satisfied. And I doubt I'm alone in this thought.
10
You are making exactly the same points as my Tea Party neighbor, who wants to purge the universities, I suppose taking the climate scientists with the political ones.
4
The Dems definitely need to become a party of something again. Let me suggest one modest plank in a new platform: Tax all income at the same rate--meaning, ending the penalty for wage earners. Why is it that if you sit on your duff and collect income from dividends (or sale of long-term stocks), you are taxed at a maximum of 20%, whereas if your work is back-breaking labor or even professional work, you are taxed at a rate of up to 39.5 %? This is such a slap in the face to wage earners.
Changing this would have a direct appeal to many of Trump's core supporters (disaffected workers who rightly feel the system is rigged against them). It would also expose the hollowness of Trump's purported concern for these people (his tax plan continues this travesty). Finally, by taxing both equally, you could bring down rates overall--albeit modestly. But at least you could do it responsibly.
4
Why the Democrats are so clueless about exciting voters is a mystery.
The youth vote is there for the taking, but featuring Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer as spokespeople for the Democratic Party is not communicating "we are the party of the future, and the Republicans the party of the past
Best slogan the DNC could up with: "A Better Deal," which is being likened to a slogan for a pizza franchise. High school kids could better than that. Maybe the DNC should talk to some young people outside the beltway, instead of paying big bucks to beltway strategists and PR types.
And don't promise free tuition or anything that the Republicans can deride. In fact, Dems don't need to promise anything specific. Just do what the Republicans did when they were the party of opposition.
Merely ask voters if they like what they are seeing with Trump and the GOP in power? Tick off the hypocrisies and mistakes Trump and the GOP have made. Be funny and make fun of the Republicans. Surely there is plenty of material to draw from. Look what Trump has done for the careers of comedians Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Bill Maher.
Americans like to laugh, and the Republicans are conspicuously lacking in wit or genuine humor. Trump and the GOP's idea of humor is some pre-adolescent snarky remark and lame put down, and when have we seen Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan laugh at themselves, or show an inkling of warm empathy for others?
Be a contrast to the GOP; be human
3
So Joe Kenney III is "heartened by the quality of Demoratic candidates". That's the sort of assessment a CEO might make about new MBA hires. Democrats willl lose until they convince voters that they'll be off better with Democrats in charge. Democrats, not Democrats, Inc.
2
Universal health insurance; food stamps and school nutrition programs; a woman’s right to choose; regulation of financial and other corporations to protect consumers; environmental protection; addressing climate change; protection of Social Security and Medicare; defense of labor unions; higher minimum wages; stronger overtime pay rules; protection of worker safety through OSHA; greater support for public education including higher education; reform of student loan system; establishing a broader system of childcare and early childhood education; creation of affordable housing; civil rights; a tax system that is more progressive.
The above are some of the issues mainstream Democrats have been fighting for over the past several decades, always against implacable Republican opposition. Those who say that Democrats have no distinct agenda, offer nothing to help working people, or that there are no substantive differences between the parties are simply ignorant.
8
I just made a third-grade error in my last comment, so here's another try:
If their goal is to win, they'll probably lose. If they have some other goals, anytime is a good time to start the discussion.
I would suggest with a theme like Bernie's theme of fighting for working families. Now, what policies are most important towards that goal. Now here's a new tactic: rather than promise outcomes, promise only to fight for outcomes.
What a bunch of radical ideas, hugh? It seems like I learned this kind of stuff in third grade when I sometimes confused 'their' for 'they're'. I guess I was learning the wrong lessons, hugh?
1
"Alabama Republicans’ nomination of a Senate candidate who’s a fossil from the 1950s"? Does it even cross Mr. Bruni's mind that a majority of Americans completely reject the politics of the Left now that Dinosaur Media no longer controls the flow of information and disinformation? If Trump will just start a third party, even Frank may wake up to reality.
4
You are focused on the wrong thing. Instead of figuring out how to win elections, prognosticating on the future based on past "pendulum swings," and conniving how to stay in power, please work on figuring out how to solve problems. Create effective policy options for the many questions that need to be addressed. Craft a narrative that explains why your governing philosophy is effective for all of the people of the United States. Encourage substantive conversations with all stakeholders on important questions.
Isn't that what members of the government, at all levels, are supposed to do?
3
Once the Trump derangement is introduced into evidence (which comes early enough in the piece, quite mercifully), we are spared the burden of reading any further. Where is the columnist who understands there is no need to be advancing Democrats right now, because Republicans are doing just fine at not repealing Obamacare, not reforming taxes, not building the wall, not making America great again and not locking her up?
We should all be out there supporting the efforts to end gerrymandering -- with our voices and our pocketbooks. If the Supreme Court doesn't come down with a forceful decision against gerrymandering in Gill v. Whitford, I fear we will be forever doomed.
4
The Democrats have become a parody of themselves; they are not attracting young people who are disillusioned and disappointed. The Democratic Party, such as it is, is not your parent's party..they have failed to deliver. In many parts of the country the face of the Democratic Party is Pelosi, Hoya and Schumer..how can one be excited? It was not Trump voters who elected Trump, but those "progressive" who voted for Jill Stein and who were enamored with the platitudes and empty, unworkable promises of Sanders. And, yet, many want Sanders to run again....like lemmings to the sea..One looks around and what does one see? Not because of Trump, but in spite of Trump, the Republicans will continues with their tricks and deceit and continue to win..the medium is the message, and they are very good at controlling both.
4
This is a perilous time for our nation. America's post-WWII purpose and mission have shredded the social contract. Inequality is greater today than the period after the end of WWI. Racism and xenophobia are strengthening. College graduates have been saddled with debt for the rest of their working lives. The federal debt to GDP ratio is dangerously high with no relief in sight. Upward social mobility is a thing of the past. Opiate addiction is worsening. Industry after industry has been hollowed out even as corporations invest internationally while the federal government does nothing to address the crisis. Our so-called "leaders" are no more than opportunists who enrich themselves by holding office. Not only is talk of political parties irrelevant, it completely misses the point that 21st century America looks a lot like post-Maria Puerto Rico.
4
Democrats will ose if all they can do is mount sill e-mail solicitation campaigns that ask for readers to sign a petition and then make a contribution. I have contributed more than a few times--and the question I have for Democratic leaders is--what are you using the money for? I don't see any results. May I suggest one practical use? How about TV ads that remind Americans that Obamacare is still the law of the land. Direct viewers to the government website with clear instructions on how and when to sign up. This would accomplish at least two things. First It could help counter Trump's efforts at ACA sabotage. It would also give Democrats much needed positive and constructive visibility. It would also suggest that my five dollar contribution being spent on something better than those cheesy, breathless e-mails from Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren, or Al Franken.
5
Predictions are impossible. October is upon us. If I am right Mueller will surface. I am not ready to predict anything other than that Trump will not be here that long.
There seems to be a double standard: Republicans get respect for being wily, aggressive and all about the win regardless of any substance, while Democrats are reviled for being calculating -- they could have solutions for healthcare and global warming and world peace, and they would still be pounced on for looking smug in the debate. If they try to play the GOP game, they'll get tarred and feathered by both sides; if they run on sound, progressive policy, they won't be heard by the people they need to convince... The only way would be to find a TV star with better ratings, but Al Franken says he won't run.
1
I think the pie is baked. Between gerrymandering and the Repub SCOTUS, we have to ride this Fox News, Brietbart, Trump fever to its end. We will look and behave differently as a country when it's over, but I have no idea what that will be.
2
The DNC has endless money, so where's the nationwide get out the vote campaign? Where are the billboards and TV/Internet ads? The DNC does not want to get out the vote because that would elect Sanders. It want DNC democrats to pick a candidate beforehand, and manipulate the path to their candidacy, then take their chances. Winning a national election is something the DNC does for itself.
3
If the Supreme Court upholds political redistricting ("gerrymandering", office holders picking their voters instead of voters picking their office holders), then we will be in a permanent condition in which 40% of the vote can win 60% of the seats. That will be the end of democracy in the US.
4
The comparison between Trump and Truman is inapt for at least two reasons: (1) the country was not as polarized at it is now (race and abortion were barely a blip on the radar screen. It was communism, communism, communism, 24/7); (2) the House districts were not gerrymandered as they are now. "Safe" seats were rarely spoken of, except for incumbents. Any Democrat with a sense of history will, I hope, see this and abandon all hope of a "Truman surprise."
2
I don't get it. What is a "Democratic Party?" I know I get email ad after email ad sent to me, but the senders never tell me how they're going to spend the money they want me to send them. By the way, how much money does the Democratic Party have to spend? I'm a Democrat, or so I'm told, but for the life of me I don't know how to participate in "my" party. I once wrote a letter to the DNC and told them I wanted to help start a large monthly event where communities could gather to talk about all of the good things that can be done in this world under the Democratic banner. Get the people talking by going live within communities, I said. Make it a party. Have a little fun. Didn't even get a response. Apparently, standing up live and in person to the world to explain how much greater Democratic ideas are than the Republican alternative of straight up nihilism is not in the cards. More email campaigns to come, I suppose. There is no there there. Democrats, let us help decide how to spend the money. Let us be involved. Who knows, maybe we'll all figure out a way, together, to get the obvious message out there that the Democratic Party is by far the greater party than the GOP. And we won't even have to lie to do it.
2
"...because the long game is the White House"
This is the reason the Democrats are in dire straits. The Democratic and left-leaning political and media establishment view the White House - and the White House only - as the only brass ring.
Meanwhile, the Republicans have been busy winning state legislatures and state governorships, and are in control of gerrymandering, and have been busy making life hard for the poor and marginalized in many, many states.
But Democrats only care about the White House, really.
(Imagine what a Trump presidency would look like if the majority of the statehouses pushed back on his healthcare and environmental plans)
3
Right now the democrats can only win in large urban areas. Somehow, someway, they are going to have to at least compete in suburban and rural areas.
I'm not sure they can do it. Liberals in the media, in entertainment, and now in sports are reflexively hateful to anyone who is even remotely conservative, and in the case of the NFL, even remotely patriotic. So even when the rare democratic politician tries to reach out to red America, the liberal cultural apparatus is so hostile that it makes it almost impossible.
I see the GOP picking up senate seats and maybe losing a dozen or so house seats in 2018. Trump will get two more supreme court nominations before 2020.
5
As unpalatable as it may be for Democrats inside the Beltway to come to terms with, Democrats need a radical restructuring aimed at building power from the state legislatures and governor's mansions up--rather than from the White House down (paradoxically, directing resources locally will actually increase the likelihood of taking the White House in 2020). Controlling statehouses is the only way to undo the damage of gerrymandering, the only way to assure that the policies of a Democratic president have a chance of being carried out nationwide, and the only way to create the sense that there is a true "movement" on the Left, rather than a centralized Party apparatus of DC elites whose sole aim is to parcel their cash and resources to do what's best for those inside the Capital city, rather than what's best for all Americans. Every individual precinct needs its own "Democratic Club." Every county, however rural and Red, need door-to-door "Missionary" outreach preaching the gospel of a social contract and a public (not solely private) good, every month of every year, not just when we have candidates to promote. Yes, it's harder to control a decentralized movement, but Republican decentralization in the 80s and 90s are precisely why we're trapped under the tyranny of their awful hegemony, even when Democrats sit in the White House.
3
Is the problem with the democratic party the demographics, the constituents or is it with the leadership? Having Nancy Pelosi in a top leadership position in the democratic party is the same as a Shopping Center owner having Sears Roebuck as an anchor at a failing shopping center. Sears is not the retail store the consumers want or favor and Nancy Pelosi is not the party leader the democratic voters want. Sears is failing its share holders and Nancy Pelosi is failing the party voters.
7
The DNC has not supported local candidates for several election cycles. Without great Democratic candidates in local positions there will never be great candidates at the national level. And without Democrats in every level of government, destructive organizations like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Koch Brothers and their ilk will continue to dominate politics. We have seen that even with national Democratic leadership, the local Republican trolls can still find ways to destroy equality and human rights. This Republican dominance came about because of Democrats' neglect of the grass roots.
There was a movement early in the summer with Tom Perez and Keith Ellison to try to engage Democrats in a 50-state, every precinct strategy. As far as I can see, this has fizzled because of lack of DNC support. Fundraising has been flat and as one can see from this editorial and the many comments, people are desperate, but discouraged at the flabbiness of the Democratic effort and message. With all the new candidates stepping up to the plate, we can hope that some progress will be made to take back our nation from the Trumpsters, but these candidates will lose big if they are not supported.
3
I gotta admit...
"Don't be giving speeches to Wall Street, Hollywood, and rich liberal enclaves to raise funds for the Democrats."
If you remember the weekend before the 2016 election, Clinton made several appearances with celebrities (Bruce Springsteen, for example), while Trump visited a few swing states that he eventually won (Michigan, for example). I thought then, and still do, that meeting with celebrities was perhaps not the best way for Clinton to counter criticism that she tended to like celebrities but not really care about common people. Apparently she thought (as most of us did) that she had such a "lock" on the election that it really didn't matter. But I would not have taken that chance if I'd been her. I'd have told Bruce Springsteen "Thanks, Bruce, but maybe we should wait until after the election," and I'd have spent the weekends shaking hands at shopping malls outside of Detroit and Milwaukee.
6
"Trump is a lock for 2020."
It's a long way to 2020, and a great deal could happen by then. However, if the election were held next week, I agree entirely: Trump would win, and win big.
Nor can I even imagine who the Democrats might nominate in 2020. Bernie Sanders is an obvious possibility, but he will be 79 years old and many voters might not like that "socialist" label. HRC says she won't run again, and I believe her. Joe Biden is about Bernie's age, and I can't imagine him running. Elizabeth Warren will be 71 -- younger than Trump was -- but I suspect she'd be crushed by Trump.
The Democrats' only real hope in 2020 is to come up with someone new. Al Franken? Kristin Gillibrand? Kamala Harris? Cory Booker? I can't imagine any of them winning, but that could change if they get started now.
7
The Democrats can't beat anyone until they stop moving left. If they move any further left they'll fall off the edge of the world.
I was once a democrat. I didn't leave the Democratic Party, it left me.
7
Single-payer healthcare is a loser? Not according to recent polls. In June, a Pew poll showed that only 33% favored such a system; ten days ago, a new Harvard-Harris Poll shows that as a whole, 52 percent of Americans support a single-payer system. The longer Republicans make American healthcare more precarious while not reducing the cost of care, the more Americans will rethink any reluctance to take the step of simplifying and securing care. Mr Bruni says that when Americans see the cost of single-payer, they will blanche at supporting such a radical change. But as in all things, this depends on the design of the system and the way it is sold. If all current government monies and all private insurance premiums are added together, and additional taxes on investment income, salaries above $250,000, and more modest Medicare-style premiums are aggregated, AND health cost reductions -- including drug cost negotiations, limitations on hospital and medical device prices and changes from fee-for-service to standard charges for medical care -- Americans can do the math and see that the single-payer system will save the public enormous amounts of money that currently enriches only a segment of society, while guaranteeing care for all. And if we do not allow Republicans and self-interested medico-Pharma groups to lie about the program changes, Americans will see where their real interests rest.
3
The long game is certainly not the White House. The long game is control of state legislatures where redistricting takes place. The White House and Congress will follow.
4
If they're goal is to win, they'll probably lose. If their goal is something else, any time is a good time to begin the discussion.
2
The ultimate test of the Republicans gerrymandering in the 2018 midterms. The democrats get more overall votes for the house but will it be enough to overcome republican gerrymandering?
1
Single Payer Health Care is the truck that will, eventually, drive over any politicians standing in its way.
Profiteering in the US Health Care system continues to drive prices that are far above what they need to be. Sensible countries around the world contained these costs long ago by consolidating bargaining power in a national system.
ONLY a single payer system can rein in costs, because only a single payer plan will have the leverage to produce real savings. Any other proposals to reduce the cost of American health care (e.g. "technology", "better record-keeping", etc.) is a smoke screen designed to keep people content with the status quo.
The Democrats need to stand up, and be the party that gives people a chance to vote for single payer health care. It maybe not happen for another 10 years, but it is inevitable. They might as well get on board or they will be run over, too.
2
Frank quotes a Republican strategist as saying Dems need to move more to the middle -- of course a Republican would want that. Did the Republican party gain control by moving to the middle? No, and the Dems need to claim the progressive identity much of the nation longs to see. Less emphasis on "culture"(one cannot convince people their beliefs are wrong), more on the money. The Republicans continuously take from the working classes to give to the already rich, that is what Dems need to concentrate on.
3
It is interesting that Democrats say they have to have a positive message to win.
But Republicans have been winning for years on fear and identity - the Southern Strategy, the culture wars, etc.
And with Trump, on steroids.
2
Well, for one thing the Democrats need to get their people to go out and vote. Given the history of the past 40 years this will be a near-impossible task no matter what. On top of that, they have to get the newer illiberal Left Wing to understand that, as it took over 40 years to get here, it'll take as much to get back. The new kids (and their old compatriots) will have to learn that our system was designed for incremental change and why, in America, they'll never get either the leftist autocracy they so clearly desire or anything other than incremental change.
Every pundit who writes for publication seems to not understand how long we've been sliding towards oligarchic autocracy and how reversing course (now that people have finally noticed) will take decades of hard work. Bruni comes close. Trump didn't blow up our democracy, we did; he's merely one of the final symptoms. The more Democrats and Independents recognize and accept this fact, and the more they accept change doesn't happen from a single vote, the more likely we'll be able to reverse it.
Personally, from reading comments here and interaction with other self-proclaimed Progressives, I'm not holding my breath.
2
The problem with illegally rigging a nomination is that the folks you cheat are not likely to help you win again, ever.
2
Bruni asks: "But what’s the spread for Democrats in 2018?"
Answer: The spread is "Gerrymandered congressional districts."
Until we can have fair elections, and that means fairly drawn districts, Democrats will never again win control of Congress. Nothing else matters.
2
With Americans' 401K plans getting richer and richer in the Trump economy, due to huge stock market gains (based on the more favorable business environment), few people are going to want to vote against that.
5
Why would I vote Democrat after the exposed shenanigans of the DNC during the primaries. I feel my vote didn't count and my donation went to candidates who don't support my interests.
8
The Democrats will lose because their policies are out of touch.
10
You lost me at "Republicans, who’ve demonstrated little backbone for standing up to an erratic, egomaniacal president in desperate need of containment."
WHAT?! The RINO GOP has been stopping Trump at every turn. The base of the GOP is livid at the RINO leadership in Congress. Bruni does not have an accurate pulse of the conservative electorate.
7
Some free advice to the Democratic Party, for what it might be worth:
"Donald Trump speaks for nearly half of Americans - gullible, racist, xenophobic, simplistic, white and angry. If Democrats fail to cater to these folks they will continue to lose."
If you do "cater" to these people (also known as "voters"), try not to refer to them as "gullible, racist, xenophobic, simplistic, white and angry," even if you believe with all of your heart that they are. They're more likely to vote for you if they don't know you feel that way about them.
7
Stop Hillary.
4
It was racism?
"I Realized [HRC's loss] really was always about Racism, not so much about jobs."
And here I'd thought it was misogyny (be honest: had you even known that was a word before 2016?). Or Jim Comey. Or Vladimir Putin. Or the electoral college. Or Citizens United. Or lots of other things.
Now you tell me it was racism all along? Sheesh! Have you told Jim Comey and Vlad Putin yet?
7
What's the old saying -- "third time's a charm?"
"Hillary in 2020!"
I'd try not to get your hopes up.
3
42% of Americans say, today, that Trump appears presidential to them.
Those are almost insurmountable odds for any reasonable policy approach to be used to underpin electoral campaigns or actual governance.
What Democrats actually need to learn from Trump and Republicans, is how to control the debate and discussion. Trump is a despicable man, but he is brilliant at dominating discussion (all the time!). The facts and what's best for America and Americans are beside the point. That Trump can still appear "presidential" to almost half the country, is not just scary, it shows what works in American politics, and that is a reality that America's Democrats must absorb and incorporate, rather than lecturing the country on all the policies that actually would serve it much better.
4
Don't worry, they've been ready to lose for more than 8 years. And they've been practicing.
9
Though I am not a Democrat, the only way I see them surviving is by becoming more moderate and having enthusiastic candidates with positivite messages that appeal and are relevant to working class people. After all, what is the Republican party really doing for the working class (at least at the federal level)? Nothing. In fact, they are taking away banking regulations that protect citizens, environmental protections that hurt people's health, and are now proposing a tax bill bill that would further hurt them.
I don't see where messages from the extreme Left will help Democrats get elected though they (like free tuition and universal health care) sound too utopian right now. In truth, they're just not practical to our current situation and more fiscally responsible messages are needed. The current election process doesn't need any more outrageous behavior and bombast even if there is a certain percentage of the population that is entertained by it. Great leaders will always possess charisma, but it will be balanced with altruism.
4
Oprah Winfrey, perhaps?
A conservative journalist reported that he was very much impressed by OW in her chairing of a session with dissatisfied voters. I've always thought the "new leadership" everyone agrees the Democratic Party needs would come in the form of some politician, but why? Trump, after all, was not a politician, and I sure don't see any politicians within the DP that appear likely to rise to the top by 2020.
So why not Oprah Winfrey, or some other outsider? After all, it's not as if there are great alternatives within the party.
2
"Single-payer math" doesn't look good, but there is a way to make it look a whole lot better:
"Single payer is estimated to cost $3.4 trillion a year. The Federal budget is $4 trillion. Do the math."
Taxes definitely would increase dramatically. But health insurance premiums would decline. I don't think that increase and that decline would even come close to one another quantitatively, but that's nevertheless what I'd be arguing if I wanted to persuade people that single-payer is the solution.
3
@MyThreeCents
The money for single payer is already in the system.
That $3.4 Trillion is what we are currently spending for health care in the US.
It is the money we are paying to private insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid.
We just pay the private insurance to Medicare, either directly like we do to Blue Cross.
Or we get that money back in salary and pay it to Medicare in taxes.
And we would probably save 10% when you get rid of insurance company profits, advertising, and dividends.
2
That reminds me...
"I don't know how it looks across other states, but in my Congressional district..."
When I was a young boy, our family drove about 2.5 hours on one of the very first US freeways, getting off at an exit in a rural area. I remember telling my father that I had no idea what the people living in this area might be like. He replied that all of us had at least one thing in common: We all lived in the same congressional district. Even though these people lived 2.5 hours away from us, our congressional district had been gerrymandered so extensively (by the Democrat-controlled state legislature) that we were all represented by the same Congressman.
I later looked up a map of our congressional district and understood clearly where the second half of the term "gerrymander" came from.
4
Antifa isn't doing the Democrats any favors - especially when Pelosi, Sanders, Warren, and Fienstein endorse them.
9
Hillary in 2020!
2
In my dreams she swings at the nomination again. Possibly better would be Biden and Bernie who will be using walkers by then. While the R's DO have their problems, the D's are septuagenarians, thugs, goofy "professors" and "hollywood"
4
"My neighbors still remember that the Clintons had Vince Foster murdered."
I've never thought much of Hillary Clinton, but I've disbelieved every tale about her alleged criminal behavior, with two-and-a-half exceptions:
A. She should not have used a private email server for her State Department emails, but I attribute that to monumental stupidity, not criminal intent.
The "full" exceptions:
1. Her commodities trading.
One of 2 things must be true, and either makes her look very bad. Either (a) she was NOT being protected against loss by some friendly broker hoping for favors from her governor-husband in return, in which case she behaved extremely irresponsibly with a young family's limited money (given the high leverage used in commodities trading); or (b) she WAS being protected against loss by some friendly broker hoping for favors from her governor-husband in return, which obviously means she behaved badly.
2. The Donna Brazile incident.
DB reportedly passed on 2 debate questions in advance to HRC's campaign, and bragged that she could get more if they wanted them. Knowing debate questions in advance isn't useful unless an actual participant in the debate knows those questions -- i.e. HRC. It's possible that DB just kept feeding debate questions to HRC even though HRC didn't want them, but why would DB take that risk if her previous indiscretions had been rejected? HRC must have let DB know, indirectly, that those debate questions were welcome.
8
@MyThreeCents
Hello again.
Are you familiar with the W. Bush White House private e-mail server?
gwb43.com
22 Million e-mails deleted and from the build up to the Iraq War and the firing of US attorneys for political reasons.
Nobody seems to know about this but people around the world know about Hillary losing 33,000 e-mails.
The Republicans are way better at Democrats at PR. And the Democrats have Hollywood. I don't understand it.
http://www.newsweek.com/2016/09/23/george-w-bush-white-house-lost-22-mil...
1
In response to your points...
1. The commodities trading
o This happened in 1978, nearly 40 years ago. Since then both Bill and Hillary have publically released ALL of their taxes every year, which is more than ANY other politician running for President has ever done.
o Like all of the Clinton "scandals" this has been investigated multiple times with NO illegality ever being found
o If you are going to hold this over her head as "behaving badly", then please show some consistency and hold all of the other politicians to the same standard.
2. Donna Brazille
o She gave the Clinton camp TOPICS that would be asked, NOT detailed questions (ex- that the Flint water crisis would be asked at a town hall in Flint MI).
o She stated that se had offered her help to BOTH the Clinton AND the Sanders teams (she said that she felt her job was to make BOTH campaigns look good in preparation for the general). In fact Ted Devine, senior advisor to the Sanders campaign stated the following:
>>Tad Devine, who was a senior aide to Sanders, said this week it was not unusual for Brazile, who is currently the interim chairwoman of the DNC, to contact their campaign and give guidance.
"She would get in touch all the time for guidance, so I can verify her recollection on this issue," Devine told NBC News. <<
--- so basically the Sanders campaign backed up her helping them too.
@MyThreeCents
My neighbors truly believe the Clintons had Vince Foster murdered. Seriously.
These neighbors are real. I am not joking.
How do you have a conversation with people like that.
And whatever criticisms of Hillary, Trump is 1000 times worse. A conman who will go down in history as one our worst presidents ever.
And yet people chose him over Hillary.
1
I used to believe especially after the election that Democrats were not listening to the Rural people out of work. But when those same Rural people were told about the Republican Health Care Repeal and Replace Plan and that it would decimate their lives and they still backed Trump, I Realized it really was always about Racism, not so much about jobs. Trump has energized the Racist America many of us were hoping was much smaller. He is continuing with attacking the NFL, Hispanics dying in Puerto Rico, Charlottsville...the list is growing. Unless Democrats start talking like Racists ....they will not get those votes. Good riddance I say.
4
The hatred for Trump has metastasized so virulently the anti-trump folks are unable (long past Unwilling) to understand that neither Trump nor his supporters are ipso facto Nazi’s; that people who find Hillary objectionable are not ipso facto misogynists, that people who want reasonable immigration laws enforced are not ipso facto RAAAACISTS.
These people have become the Dr. Strangelove party and they have one abiding thought: I HATE TRUMP.
6
And you really believe that many are racist? The very same voters who voted Obama in for eight years suddenly became racist in the last presidential election in order to elect Trump? Oh, that's way too easy. Are you on the ACA for your medical? Do you live in rural America? I answer yes to both and know what it cost to be on the Affordable Care Insurance or Obamacare. It isn't affordable unless you have never worked and have no or very little income. It is the greatest intentional redistribution of wealth away from the middle class this country has ever seen. Not from the wealthy mind you, the middle class. And not only the middle class but the older, less healthy middle class. The young and the healthy won't sign up, witch puts even more of a load on those who must. Stop watching and reading agenda driven media who want to paint the ACA as the greatest thing since sliced bread and the New Deal. Talk to those who actually finance it through very high premiums and astronomical deductibles and copay. Then you will see why Trump was elected and not Clinton.
7
Actually I have no hatred for this man. I feel sadness for anyone who has such a need to be cruel to other humans. I would welcome a change in his behavior to kindness, and some empathy. Clearly this is not this man. Are you discounting that he is benefiting from stoking Racism ?
1
Democrats account for only 15 of 50 governor’s offices. Blasted Republican gerrymandering!
6
One day some genius will figure out a way to gerrymander a statewide election, just watch,
Mr. Obama campaigned for several losing candidates during his term of office but I can't recall them ever being mentioned here in the party outlet. Losing doesn't make for easy propagandizing.
Look at the size of those states and their populations.
2
I find your article demoralizing and fear it will cause those that oppose Trump to become complacent. Is that your intent?
3
I though it was "it's how you play the game"...
1
Pelosi HAS TO GO. She has served well. but it's time to signal NEW LEADERSHIP.
We won w/ Barack bc he was fresh. Learn that lesson.
3
Better ask Barack Obama about this:
"The electoral college was instituted to protect slave holders/sellers/buyers, and racism will continue to protect the grotesque system."
As I recall, Obama had no complaints at all about the electoral system. He thought it worked pretty well -- twice, in fact -- and never once suggested that it be changed.
8
That is because Obama was smart enough to play by the rules of our electoral process and win; TWICE as he pointed out to the (at the time) hapless GOP. HRC and DWS were NOT smart enough to play by the rules and beat a buffoon like DJT and what is their response, and that of almost every other Dem? Replay the election of course and clamor on about "the resistance" It is a very dark forecast indeed for the Democrats and alas, for everyday Americans as a result. Because of their truculent, crybaby reaction to the 2016 election, (not poll, election) the ground has been ceded to the GOP and their corporate masters.
3
Single payer is estimated to cost $3.4 trillion a year. The Federal budget is $4 trillion. Do the math.
4
The $3.4 Trillion is what we are currently spending for health care.
That is the sum of private insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid.
The money is already in the system.
It is just a matter of paying Medicare instead of private insurance companies.
And Medicare is already in place in all 50 states.
Millions of people switch from private insurance to Medicare every year.
It does not change the medical industry of hospitals and doctors.
Not near as hard as it appears once you start to analyze.
And we would probably save 10% not having to pay insurance company profits, advertising, and dividends.
Plus the reduced complexity of a single provider with a single set of rules.
1
You guys need to take Seth Moulton more seriously, and you also need to explain why you left George Clooney off your presidential hopefuls list. If there's anybody who can win against Trump, it's Clooney, and he's up for it.
1
Summing up the prevailing opinions of the thousand or so comments, Democrats will win back the country by embracing the socialist views of a man that lost decisively among registered Democrats to the flawed Hillary and by insulting the intelligence of the voters they need to win over.
Good luck.
7
To sum it up: Lead by an incompetent rich man, the alt-Reich and republican party will hold on to power by espousing and pandering to old white supremacist rhetoric and outmoded 80's Reaganomics into the 21st century.
Yea U.S and the world will need some luck indeed.
2
Some say it's "jobs, jobs, jobs"....well, it certainly isn't that here in the bright red state of Idaho! The economy is good here, the unemployment rate is lower than the national average, and the predominant religion, and Fox "News" rules....The red, intermountain West votes Republican for very different reasons - hate regulations, hate welfare people, etc.
During the 2016 Primary season Bernie Sanders held a rally in Idaho Falls, where I live, and he had a packed auditorium and lots of enthusiasm. During the caucus, which I attended, there were very few Hillary supporters, but a big turnout of Bernie supporters. (I'm an 84 year old who voted for Bernie in the primary, but voted for Hillary in the general.)
2
Forget it. GOP picks up seats.
5
That "Republican" voters cant name the party leader is irrelevant. Not when many didnt know the ACA and Obamacare were the same thing. Or that most Americans likely cant find Iraq on a map, let alone Missouri!
I will agree that Pelosi remains a problem, but not for the reason mentioned. Its not her SF liberal status, its her "Where's Waldo?" problem! So she was in a meeting, with Schumer, creating an as yet un-cemented agreement with the unstable POTUS. Big Whoop! Where is she now? At yet another fund raiser? Handing out HRC's books at a signing? Where was she in 2016?
Here on the east coast, I just don't know what she does for the party, or where or when she does it! She's a problem because she's a ghost. What is she doing to help defeat Trump and the GOP in general? Unless she's in a lab creating a Secret sauce...I just have no faith in her. And no one in the party makes a case for her!
Turning to the Dems in 2018, and 2020. They have to campaign hard, and do so with more then sales pitches. Americans need to see/hear some reality,and not on their web sites, but from their mouths. Some cold, hard truths need to come out of their mouths as to the whats, the hows the GOP have been doing their dirty business. And not have it sound like whiny little biatches!
Repubs love to call-out Dems on X, Y as being dangerous and unholy. Dems have to lead with the sins of the GOP, do it with facts, and conviction, and not sound whiny at the same time. Not sounding whiny is key.
1
The problem for the democrats is that if they were in the least bit honest about their anti, tear America down agenda, the American people would rightly hang them all.
4
Oh please!
"My neighbors still remember that the Clintons had Vince Foster murdered."
I've long thought of Hillary Clinton as a mediocrity, but I've never believed for an instant that she (or Bill) had anything whatsoever to do with Vincent Foster's death. He committed suicide -- end of story.
1
@MyThreeCents
Come talk with my neighbors, seriously.
I am not joking. These neighbors are real.
1
Like it or not, Donald Trump speaks for nearly half of Americans- gullible, racist, xenophobic, simplistic, white and angry. If Democrats fail to cater to these folks they will continue to lose.
I don't know how it looks across other states, but in my Congressional district, we have had so many potential candidates come out of the woodwork that not only can no one candidate raise the money required to win but also there simply isn't enough oxygen to support the numerous candidacies. I understand the need to flip Congress, but I would far prefer seeing progressives starting in local races and working their way up. You know, the way Republicans have done it for 50 years or more.
1
If you look at the historical polling in the Quinnipiac poll, Trump's approval and popularity is the same now as it was when he was elected (or just after he was elected).
Personally I wouldn't be drawing the conclusions from those numbers that Bruni does. It's as if ignoring the polling from the past year makes sense. The media didn't grasp that they failed to poll a large segment of American voters then, and they are failing to do so now.
8
OK, we won't:
"And don't even get me started on the electoral college, gerrymandering, Citizens United and the concentrated corporate ownership of the news media..."
3
How about voter fraud?
Lee,
OK, I promise not to get him started on that either! I'll even throw in Michael Flynn, Steve Bannon, misogyny, racism, Jim Comey, and Russian collusion. Any other requests?
Democrats are forgetting the wisdom of this famous maxim:
"People who are good at making excuses are rarely good at anything else."
Stop making excuses. Stop blaming others. Offer something substantial or get off the stage. We Independent voters know all too well what you are "against." Enough already.
2
These suggestions will be anathema to the DNC, but here goes: Bring Michael Moore in (thru the the back door, if necessary) to your strategy meetings, and listen to him when he tells you how to win over the old blue collar labor union voters. This group of forgotten and angry voters used to be the backbone of the Democratic Party. You need to get them back, and here's another hint about how to do it: stop being more vocal and concerned about the rights of gay couples to get a wedding cake from a right wing Christian baker than you are about millions of Americans who've seen their jobs and livlihoods disappear with trade agreements.
14
While I agree with most of the analysis, the x factor is Trump---start a couple of wars, get into trade war with China or England, let slip the n word, invite OJ to the White House...there are countless pathways to self-destruction, which at this time, Trump appears ready to embark on a number of them.
1
To my fellow New York Times readers.
I can tell you why Trump won and why Republicans will continue to win.
My neighbors still remember that the Clintons had Vince Foster murdered.
They would rather have a con-man in the White House than a murderer.
And the right-wing media is giving them a lot more of where that came from every day (and making a lot of money selling advertising in the process).
5
As long as the democrat party is seen as Anti-American, and continues to attempt to divide the country into the identity politics its has chosen to push its progressive, anti-American agenda, it will continue to lose. When democrats endorse the actions of those who would denigrate American culture and history they seal their own electoral doom. While the vast majority of Americans are not blind to imperfections in our society, we do not define our society by those imperfections. We do, however, reject those who do, which includes all leaders of the democrat party. It is really that simple. Not racism, not anti-women, not homo-phobic, not anti-immigrant. When the dems endorse those charges against the majority of Americans, they lose.
16
The Democrats will lose more seats in the House and Senate because, well, they're Democrats.
10
as an example, North Carolina, showing the way, as Democrats rack up substantial voter wins, yet still wind up vastly unrepresented... the very pattern of Trump's "win" in the EC.
at issue, manipulation of districts, as suggested by the framers, to give a lot more political power to low population, rural areas compared to more thickly settled, urban areas.
or, more power to old fashioned agricultural places than to more educated and progressive urban places.
or, as we call it today, more power per head for Republicans than for Democrats.
a cockeyed playing field, favorite of the GOP, party of business, party of money, using the rubes as pawns nd laughing all the way to the Caymans bank.
2
Don't be giving speeches to Wall Street, Hollywood, and rich liberal enclaves to raise funds for the Democrats. Wrong message for who the Democrats should stand for and poor optics.
9
But that is who they are, and also why they are disliked by the 99%.
1
More than 80 years ago, the humorist Will Rogers summed up the basic problem of the Democratic party: "I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat."
More recently commentators have described Democrats as the party that brings a knife to a gunfight.
Yes, Republicans are masters at finding issues (many false, but some true) which resonate with their base and tarring and feathering Democrats with them.
Most of those issues are not worth fighting, since Americans (and especially the Republican base) have no first-hand experience of them and are inclined to take them at face value. Issues such as empty promises of a boarder wall that Mexico will pay for, or the return of coal-mining and factory jobs, or the rant that all Mexicans are drug dealers and rapists and that all Muslims are terrorist.
But one issue that a majority of Americans have increasingly experienced in their personal lives is the real benefits of the Affordable Care Act. As a result, an increasing majority of Americans were against Republican efforts to repeal and replace it -- and, if anything, wanted it strengthened and improved.
Since a majority Americans know first hand the benefits of the Affordable Care act, and which party created it, and which party spent seven years trying to kill it, this should be the key issue Democrats run on in the coming midterm elections. It's a big gun for them in what promises to be another political gun fight.
7
".... or the rant that all Mexicans are drug dealers and rapists and that all Muslims are terrorist."
And this is exactly why people are tuning out the democrat echo chamber. They over exaggerate and lie right to your face. For some reason they just cannot tell the truth.
1
Yes Democrats, please try to run on how great Obamacare is.
4
I sincerely hope we do. And on the fixes that Repubs wouldn't allow the first time around but now scream are essential. A working health care system overrides any other issue, except the risk of nuclear war, and should be a major election focus.
A Republican operative "marveled that Democrats had done nothing to take away one of Republicans’ most trusted targets: Nancy Pelosi."
Please. The GOP smears every Democratic leader. if Bernie Sanders had gotten the nomination, they would have painted him as worse than Stalin.
And your Democratic operative's advice is no better: "Don't get down in the mud with Trump--maintain a sunny disposition." That might work in real life, but sorry, not in politics. Trump is an un-American draft dodger who attacked war hero John McCain, a fake university-scamming con artist who gleefully mocked a disabled man. That's your president, GOP! Shout it from the rooftops!
I'm sick of the Democrats showing up at a gunfight with a sunny smile and a peashooter.
www.newyorkgritty.net
12
You truly need to do some introspective analysis before claiming the high road. When you denigrate people for 'clinging to their guns and religion' or alienating a significant portion of the populace as 'basket of deplorables', why in heavens name would you expect any respect for your message. The democrat echo chamber is killing itself.
4
IF they go low, we'd better go low.
1
If there is anything to be seriously learned from 2016, one simply needs to look back at 2008 where the same conditions existed politically.
In 2008, 3 out of 4 people surveyed said America was on the wrong track. So the GOP put up a 70 year old white candidate reeking of Establishment. Bad move.
The D's put up a junior inexperienced backbenching Senator from IL. And he won.
In 2016, 3 out of 4 people surveyed said the nation was on the wrong track. Trying to deny political physics, the D's put up a 70 year old white candidate reeking of Establishment...and under criminal investigation by the FBI. The R's didn't have a choice..but as a proxy..they offered up a disruptive force. And he won.
The lesson to be learned is stop listening to the pollsters and pundits and listen to what the American people are telling you. If there is angst, anger and fear about a continued pursuit towards more and more identity politics, you need to find a way to keep your party from going off the deep end.
Fact is...Trump and Sanders were two peas in a pod. Trump sold his Populist Nationalist Independent story with a healthy dose of Capitalism. Sanders sold his Populist Independent Nationalist rhetoric with a health dose of Socialism, and this county will never ever go for a Socialist approach.
Our schools do too good of a job of teaching history for us to buy into this collective storyline. I don't care if someone voted for Obama and Kerry and Gore...they're not going down that rabbit hole.
5
If In both 2008 and 2016, 3 out of 4 people surveyed said America was on the wrong track, I think that for the eight years Obama was president, you would have paid attention to the survey. Things stunk in 2008 and after eight years they still stunk. That is what what the American people told you, but you didn't listen in 2008 or in 2012.
3
Time to get over Hillary Clinton and this 'Almost won' mindset. New times, time for a new party.
It is time for a new Democratic party to inject some new blood, and go bold. Bernie had the energy and the youth vote, start a new farm system for political action. This is a long-term strategy which is winnable, repubs are still using the old decrepit southern strategy which is on the verge of breaking.
A lot of, hate to say it, old people here are talking about 20th century political strategies and Dem-in-the-middle garbage positions that got us here in the first place.
Pandering to closet racists, the good ol' boys, and I use this loosely 'Hard-Working Class Americans' is a played out trope. Frankly, pandering to this losing crowd is what got us here in the first place.
Go hard.
8
Reason has left the building. This what happens when the emotionalism of social media and MSM takes over political discourse. If it bleeds, it leads, and it's bleeding all over the place. Divide and conquer actually works. It's past time to focus on what unites us as a nation rather than what divides us as a people. Identity politics be damned.
5
That leaves absolutely no place for the democrat party now or in the future. Division is the left's biggest club. Actually, it's only one.
5
It's the Democratic Party. Please take note.
Who's fault is that?
Dear Liberal Urbanites, you are reading a paper that gave Trump a 9% chance of winning. You are so out of touch, so extreme in your political views, you read articles like this for information and analysis.
You, Dems, liberals are so so so lost you give support to people who kneel for the national anthem. Whats next -- Democrats against Mothers Day?
Trump is a lock for 2020. Its over. There is no challenger. There will be nobody close to Trump.
Identity politics is OVER. Its all OVER. Nobody cares if you call them a racist, a sexist, a fascist.
This will all sink in over the next 5 years or so. You values are DEAD.
Enjoy.
20
"Democrats against Mothers Day?"
Great! Another issue for Hillary to waver on- until the results of the focus group are presented.
5
It will never sink in. Leftists are completely delusional, and when reality does not conform to their ideologies they just scream louder that reality can't be right, and they create more sick fantasies to explain the discrepancy.
4
In a classic example of projection, you have perfectly described Republicans.
1
Fossil, erratic, egomaniacal, in desperate need of containment...according to Bruni, that's the Republicans. So why, then, do the Democrats keep losing? (Hint: Look in the mirror). Trump wins, Dems try to bribe the electoral college to switch votes and they did...in favor of Trump...and Jill Stein gets a recount in three states Trump won...and Trump wins again. Hard to swallow, I know, but strident, disparaging hate-filled politics from coastal elites just does not energize other Americans, except to roust a populist vote against arrogant, condescending politicians. I know, I know...it's just deplorable.
13
Just a guess mind ya but I can see 10 new Republican Senators possible so 63 ish.
7
Best cycle I have ever seen for Republicans and the Senate. Should be 60 plus.
Thank you Frank. And here it is in a nutshell: "...additional reasons for Republicans not to tremble in the face of the pendulum’s potential swing. Thanks to gerrymandering and intense polarization in the electorate, fewer districts are truly competitive..."
He is so right: ONE political party can manipulate zip codes so much so that entire regions of our USA become voting deserts, disenfranchising thousands from democratic participation and enabling the country to leave so many unrepresented, outnumbered and outgunned. What do we hear that Democrats are doing to fight gerrymandering? Silence! Deafening silence!
While voter suppression is actively and quietly going on in the background, and for the next 12 months, trump will continue to create political division and disillusion with outlandish targets, most recently the NFL taking a knee: reframing a racial protest into an anti-patriotic demonstration; and offering tacit support for the white supremacists base: reframing an anti-Nazi protest into an anti-free speech movement. Now, he's claiming that bankrupt Puerto Rico made it's own bed so go sleep in it (not to mention that he did this whilst in the luxury of his New Jersey resort - which we paid for his air and SS detail).
The Democrats can offer their own stark contrasts but somehow they just don't understand derisive labeling and instead continue to believe that taking the high road is better. Hello, it's called the Road Less Traveled for a reason!
6
Dems must get out there with something real, explain it well so that everyone understands and shout it loudly so that everyone hears. Stop whispering in the corners. Get some new vibrant life to pump the party and stir up the voters for the good of the voters. Something that can and will be delivered. There might be a chance but then, gerrymandering.....
1
It’s not a game Frank. Governing is actual work, and I resent you covering it like it is just some dumb game.
If governing was a game then Republicans ought to be a lot happier than they have been.
3
Expect session movements if the party of hate/death/money continues to "win", especially if their "win" was with the help of Putin.
1
I cant find the article with the numbers right now, but from what I understand, if Democrats win every single district Hillary won and all of the districts Trump won by a narrow margin, they still fall short of taking the house.
And the number of vulnerable Democrats senate races actually predicts Democrats a net loss of possibly 5 to 10.
What makes anything in play for Democrats is republicans that should be democrats in the senate who are bent of destroying Trump or stopping his agenda. If the trump agenda is unleashed, the prosperity America will see begin, will be a slam dunk for re-election...but it will show that both Republicans and Democrats have been playing the American People all along (which is fact)...because if an outsider can come it and right the ship and turn the economy around for the majority of Americans that fast...it will be crystal clear that the elites in both parties never wanted what's best for America's majority...which are STILL White Middle Class...which the Democrats completely wrote off and began to demonize around 2011 as I recall...right after being spanked in the 2010 elections...and then went on to lose the rest of over 1,000 elected seats nationwide putting Democrats in the least power nationwide since 1929 I think.
No matter what democrats in their bubble think, America is not ready for their Marxism and Keynesian economics. Neither EVER works out well for the common people...only the elites.
9
Good analysis of why the swamp critters in both parties are doing all they safely can to undermine our country's interests during this administration. Trump success will expose them for the incompetent, thieving, lying frauds that they are.
3
Frank is right. However, one bit of caution: in today's political world, Trump's 42% approval rating is actually pretty good. Reminds me of the line in the old Buffalo Springfield song 'For What It's Worth: "Nobody's right if everybody's wrong." Today, everybody is wrong. Look at Pelosi's ratings, Hillary's, etc.
Nothing is certain anymore.
2
Out of touch, hateful, condescending elitists who are incapable of honest self-examination, which they sorely need.
I don't really see any hope for them until Trump is reelected.
15
There are certain Hollywood stars that should have bowed out from the public arena long before their immense talents started fraying. Sinatra comes to mind--his penchant to keep singing late in life truly risked his legacy. Ditto Barbra Streisand (I know, Mr. Bruni, heresy, but the hyper-engineering of her music is like putting the proverbial Vaseline on my earbuds like Mark Harmon's NCIS camera lens).
Likewise, certain politicians of a certain, er, age, and I'm not only speaking of Democrats (are you listening Mitch McConnell?), but Nancy Pelosi--grateful to her as I am--is nearing Aunt Pittypat in 'Gone With the Wind' status, wildly waving her hands and in need of smelling salts at the slightest Republican indiscretion. Senator Schumer, too, could be a stand in for, well, name your character on HBO's 'House of Cards,' they've all become so ridiculous in a series that should have ended after two seasons.
To retake Congress and the White House, as John F. Kennedy said, a torch needs to be passed to a new generation. We don't need the benefit of our elders' institutional knowledge (that's what Google is for--and, my early Sinatra and Streisand vinyls), we need younger talent, with concise and inspiring messaging, measured and realistic policies. Save the "dues paying" arguments for fireside chats with Congressman John Lewis and other esteemed generational leaders, they're sure to help guide, but the Democrats need new, younger blood to galvanize.
3
But, buy, but ... what about our beloved octogenarian Bernie.
I can't believe this... Mr. Bruni embroiling himself in the ugliness of "politics". There's no empathy or morality in politics. What are you doing there?
Perhaps another round of losses will finally convince the Democrats that their protests rallies, sit-ins, free concerts, drum circles and poetry slams- DON'T WIN ELECTIONS!
Voting wins elections! And before the flurry of, "HRC won by 2.3 million popular votes!" comes pouring in - those were redundant votes cast from California and New York. Democrats need to organize and win every state in EVERY conceivable election: City, State and National.
The radical left Democrats have disenfranchised and marginalized their own party. They no longer recognizes moderates.
-You can't be pro-gay rights without showing proof of a gay thought.
-You can't support BLM unless you despise all police officers.
-You can't advocate conservation and environmentalism unless you cultivate and maintain a backyard compost pile.
Keep chanting- Keep planting- Keep smoking all that medical marijuana- You guys will keep on losing until you unify, organize and VOTE!
6
The democrat party is the most intolerant organization in the nation. There is zero room for even minor variation allowed from every position they have whether it’s immigration, abortion, LGBTRGNKXYZ. Maybe if freedom of individual thought was allowed they could fare better in elections. Americans notice that they are against any form of opposing viewpoints and are anti free speech as witnessed on college campuses.
13
So you are not against the free speech and individual freedom of kneeling during the national anthem?
2
When the wingnuts complain about free-speech its usually in support of mental midgets like Milo Yiannopolis and Ben Shapiro, or any censoring of hate speech, literally, for that matter. These guys are not intellectuals, they are Ann Coulter 2.0 out to shock and disgust. For them its not about debating its about Agitprop and hate, yea I said it, Hate.
Ironically last time a checked, Trump supporters were marching through the streets of Charlottesville screaming blood and soil and a bunch of racist garbage...yea these guys are the symbol of tolerance. The white right has a funny way of making grievances out of nothing.
4
No I am not against it. Unapologetic about it happening either.
When the corrupt and immoral have no legs to stand on, they play cute political games like this. The dominant society is so uncomfortable with anything challenging the racial status quo. The path to equality is littered with the salty tears of the oppressive operative class and racist bigots.
Stop the deranged and immoral treatment of black people and Latinos.
More Katrina‘s Harvey’s Irmas and Maria’s for this administration who whose sole philosophy is pay for the military and nothing else. Tax cuts for The top 1% should be damming but won’t be. This administration is in power based on the fact that a black man was was the previous President. These billionaires and millionaires who now infest the Executive Branch may not be racist but they need the votes of racist to keep them in power.
Watch out for a person named Jerry Mandering. He will play a prominent role in 2018 and 2020 elections.
Bruni may have a serious point, inasmch as the commenters here assure me that Democrats are stalinists, fascists, and Republicans, who care nothing for economics and public policy.
I am also assured--very likely by people who did not show up and vote, or who voted for St. Bernie, or Jill "RT Dinner" Stein, or Nader--that Nancy Pelosi remains Satan Incarnate, that Dems don't fight, and a whole swivet of other things.
Keep it up, kids. Worked to get Trump 'lected, didn't it?
4
Living in a patch of red surrounded by blue where I'm one of the few that read NYT, the divide
1
To Democrats, don't call the Trump voters "deplorables" . They have a voice and you didn't hear them in 2016.
8
Dems can’t help themselves. They truly believe they are morally and intellectually superior to Republicans.
4
Actually, I hear the Trump voters every day.
A lot of my neighbors still believe the Clintons had Vince Foster murdered.
They are still buying "tax cuts for the job creators" and voting against their own self-interest.
They still believe Republicans are the party of fiscal responsibility even though deficits went up under Reagan, HW, and W and deficits went down under Clinton and Obama.
Even those voters in West Virginia know that coal is a dying industry. Hillary wanted to give them job retraining. Republicans want to take away their health care and give the savings to the billionaire class.
I hear them. I just don't know how to get them to believe anything that differs from the alternate reality they get from right-wing media.
Also, the venom they have for Hillary, Obama, and Nancy Pelosi.
I think Trump is a con man and will probably go down in history as one of our worst presidents. I want him out of office. But I don't have venom.
2
I suppose we only have the past to measure what may happen, but it's near folly to try to build a bridge between what happened to Harry Truman and the subsequent Congressional results and what may happen in November of 2018.
Other than numerical comparisons most all other assumptions are wildly incomparable. The ability to poll and read the voter through research is light years apart. The totally divergent influences on the American voter and the voter herself or himself is made even more complex by the changes in the Partys, the issues facing the country and in fact the country itself.
Mostly is the deep bone bruise that sits on Truth and the American Way and the incorrigible nature of a digitally distributed communications both personally and politically as a result of the internet.
We are sitting in a Democracy that has not maintained democratic features that made it fair. Our Constitution sorely needs review, and that won't happen as long as the actual minority has the knarly levers of power.
3
Mr. Bruni's title should read:
Democrats, Please Get Ready to Lose Again
5
Amazing. Not a single mention of the Dems' constant, relentless support for and enabling every fringe kook out there, from Cat in the Hat to transgender bathrooms to dissing the flag, and so on. This support for disruption of society is obvious and open, and more people are seeing that the Dem party is in favor of it. If the Dems can't return to some semblance of sanity, they will continue to tank.
12
The snarkier and uglier the rhetoric against Trump, the better. Let's see much more of the same.
Not since the opening night of "Springtime for Hitler" have I laughed so hard at all of the SNL/late night comedy or Sunday morning talks show sketches. Whether the cast and crews know it, this is really (really) good stuff we are all witnessing.
1
If the Democrats are taking their political queues from SNL then they are in bigger trouble than I thought.
2
The two party system in the US, like many institutions, is breaking (or broken) because of a widening wealth gap that is destroying common ground between the 99% and a tiny (0/1%) idiot elite.
Of course the 99% is experiencing increasing division too as despair and anger smolder. So called "conservatives" imagine some fantasy period in the past when there was security and hope. Leftists imagine reformed institutions reforming the treacherous human heart. The political class is at a total loss with no ability to bridge the current gaps or find a new paradigm to create a new social contract. In the meantime vultures and incendiary opportunists are wresting temporary bursts of profit and power from the roiling confusion.
If we don't get our act together some economic or political cataclysm may devastate any foundation we might have for preventing nuclear destruction or the nullification of human civilization by climate change.
1
I hope the Democrats lose many more seats both in the House and especially in the Senate. They are nothing but obstructionists fighting against EVERY piece of legislation. They are so far left that America needs to RID ITSELF of the Democrat party. This is the party of the Violent Antifa and Black Lives Matter movements. I can't stand what Democrats stand for anymore. Let them fad away into oblivion.
4
Why is it even necessary to give the Democratic Party this astute advice?
"Here's a clue: listen to the voters ... [so they don't] elect an idiot like Donald Trump."
This may be difficult for the the Democratic Party to keep in mind, but:
1. Voters get to decide -- that's how it works in a democracy.
2. Someone is less likely to vote for you if you tell him he's stupid -- even if you follow that up with a pat on the head and a promise of forgiveness.
3
Your underwhelming views are mostly indecipherable. The energy which permeates this piece is fear and its mate doubt.
These dark whisperers have destroyed many possibilities. If you cannot seethe Path to victory best to keep you mouth shut.
2
Let me be crystal clear Democrats, if you want full African-American support + young people:
ATTACK white racism, PROSECUTE out of control police, and the DIRECTLY ATTACK the economic inequality plaguing the nation.
There I said it.
4
This breathless commentary sounds like the same dribble put forth by you clueless visionaries during the campaign. Except, you got the headline right.
1
Don't know why I'm bothering to write this, as it's over simplification and an old one at that, but here goes. Democrats lose when they allow themselves to be bullied and cowed by republicans. They look weak. It's time they come out swinging and state clearly, forcefully and unflinchingly that republicans have been hosing their voters for decades. Make it idiot simple. When they try republican lite for the umpteenth time, they lose. Why buy a pretend republican if you can get the real thing?
Democrats, straddling a fence only gets you one thing - a sore backside, full of splinters. Get off the fence already. You have the winning argument. Make it.
9
This article makes the same mistake most Big Media articles make--it thinks insider politics are what is important to Main Street. Big Media keeps being wrong on elections because it sees the world as a battle of Insiders. Outside the Insider Naval Watching Corps, no one actually cares which money sucking toady is in a Cabinet chair. We voters know that whomever we send to Washington will be corrupted and misuse public money.
What Main Street and its voters care about is Washington not ruining their lives with endless micromanaging and politically correct interference in their lives.
As long as the Dem party is the party of massive government control, it will lose.
5
Keep whistling past that graveyard, lefties...
3
The issue for the Democrats is quantitative as much as it is qualitative. Democrats simply do not turn out for elections in the same numbers as Republicans. It was low Democratic turnout in the cities of Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee that gave the electoral college victory to Trump. In the 2014 off year election, the national turnout rate was a shockingly low rate of 42%, the lowest since World War II.
The various Democratic constituent groups that make up the party, especially minority groups, have largely given up on the system and do not participate. Add to this the institutional barriers to participation, the various GOP voter suppression tactics that disproportionately affect minority groups, and it is easy to see how hard it is fro Democrats to win elections.
Democrats, unlike the GOP, face a double task in their campaigns. Not only do they have to win over voters to their positions, they then further have to persuade those people to actually take the time to vote, which again, given all the institutional obstacles thrown in their way, is no easy task.
And don't even get me started on the electoral college, gerrymandering, Citizens United and the concentrated corporate ownership of the news media, all of which favor the GOP.
It is not easy being a Democratic candidate!
The problem with free college tuition, single-payer health care, and job retraining programs is that Americans are so averse to paying for social programs with increased taxes. This problem is fundamental for Democrats trying to help people improve their lives. It is inherent in our national psyche and chronically and pervasively difficult to figure out how to overcome it.
Trump offers a tax cut plan that will primarily help the wealthy, those like himself. But the little people think they will get a break too, even though they won't. It's an offer of a quick sugar high, with no mention of the crash that comes later.
Voters are like five-year-old children. Which parent is more popular -- the one who gives them whatever they want when they want it, or the one who says that they can't have any candy before dinner because it will spoil their appetite? If a quick vote is taken, which one will be elected president?
That's the trouble we're in now. Democrats will need a whole lot of sizzle with their steak in upcoming elections to get over the hump, and at this point they haven't even gone shopping for the food.
5
What are the Democrats selling? The removal of Confederate statues? The blind pursuit of Russians? The enforcement of gay wedding cakes and transgender bathrooms?
What was Hillary selling: "I'm with Her?" and accusing any woman of not bowing down to her coronation as a tool of the patriarchy? (She is still doing that, by the way.)
The Democrats do not have a message that interests most Americans (most of Hillary's votes were reactionary to Trump's personality, not his policies).
And if you think "single payer" will excite the electorate, you are hugely mistaken. Single payer, when the details are revealed, will be seen as a huge new tax to fund a system, Medicare, that is already on target to go broke in 12 years (and which doctors increasingly refuse to participate). True, Americans already pay a part of their health care premium for private insurance through their employer, but they now have choices regarding what kind of plan to purchase, and how much to pay, and their employer often pays the lion's share. If you tell Americans that you are hatching a plan where they will have NO choice, and they will have to fund the entire cost, and the government bureaucracy will run it, you will lose them instantly.
9
Employer health plans limit you. And they keep raising co-pays, deductibles, etc.
And if the Republicans passed their latest atrocity, they would have laid the framework for employers to stop providing health insurance, period. Not sure if people saw that little tidbit.
There is no "blind" pursuit of Russians. Mueller sees them quite well, in fact.
My wife and I voted for Hillary for a variety of reasons. All of the Republicans were terrible choices. Trump is the absolute worst.
I'll buy you an impeachment cake.
1
Joe from Poole - who do you work for,that you can choose what plans to take? Most of us are handed Option 1, 2 and something else. The choice is not really a choice, but a price-point alternative. High or low deductible. Dental or not. I cant choose BCBS, if my employer is offering United.
You toss around the word choice, like Cohn thought a $1000 tax break was real money. Real choice is non-existent in the current system.
IF the Dems presented a single-payer plan with most of the kinks worked out, it would be viewed in a more positive light. Trouble is, they are under the gun with the 2018's right around the corner.
Single-payer needs the right pitch and pitch person. Just like sexism, racism,and xenophobia get theirs...Trump and now Moore.
1
Boregard,
Sorry, but most Americans are content with their private health plan. The idea of being kicked off of that and onto something run by the government will be very unappealing. If Democrats run on that, the party will be crushed.
To Hillary Clinton's credit, she never said otherwise:
"Most voters aren't saint-like; neither are they deplorable."
HRC actually said most Trump supporters are NOT deplorable. Unfortunately for her, most replays of that remark ended after the word "deplorable" came out of her mouth:
Advice to HRC: Don't ever let the word "deplorable" come out of your mouth. You might not be the one who gets to edit the videotape.
MyThreeCents: I actually have seen the videotape of Hillary's speech. To be accurate, she says "half of Trump's supporters are deplorables".
She says they are KKK and White Aryan nation, which is beyond ridiculous -- such folks (tracked by the FBI for decades) number no more than 3000.
Trump got 63 million votes. Therefore, Hillary called 31.5 million American citizens and voters "deplorables in a basket".
To her credit, she does realize and has admitted that this statement lose her the election.
Debbie Rosen: Yes, you are going "down in the mud" with the trumpies.
1) Twice lately I've heard that Democrats are looking around for anti-choice candidates. Do so, give Party approval to anti-choice candidates, and you have lost my vote.
2) And, you can't "patch up" what you willingly helped to break. Take the Defense Budget that Senate Dems just voted on:
Obama asked for $582.7,
trump asked for $636.7,
the Defense Dept. asked for $639.1,
and what did the Senate just pass?
They passed $696.5.
89% of Dems voted for that huge INCREASE.
That's 41 out of 46 Democrat Senators voting FOR it.
Only 4 Dem Senators voted against it:
Gillibrand, NY; Merkley, OR; Wyden, OR; and, Leahey, VT.
Independent Sanders, VT, also voted against it, as did 3 R's: Corker, TN; Lee, Utah, and Rand, KY.
Three didn't vote at all: Graham, R-SC, Mendendez, D-NJ, and Rubio, R-FL.
No, Democrats are not making it.
Up your game, Dems, or count on getting left in the dust.
If you want to roll in the "mud" with the Republicans and be Republican- lite, then resign, get out of the way. This nation doesn't need any more war-greedy uber-conservatives.
We already have too many.
I haven't a clue how you are going to fix this and you obviously don't give a fig what I think - just don't expect me to vote against my own interests.
will not.
5
"...to wrest Congress from Republicans, who’ve demonstrated little backbone for standing up to an erratic, egomaniacal president in desperate need of containment."
And that's the rub. Trump needs containment by all means necessary. Not containing his daily moronic behavior, or his piece by piece dismantling of everything important to everyone in the United States. Even this last thing is important, for Trump is killing US citizens and residents one by one with what he is doing.
But the one thing that...er, trumps all of that is that this man has his finger on the button. You know which one. I fear that out of his grandiosity, out of his need to be the third world country strongman, he may seriously be tempted to push the button. Against North Korea, or Iran, or some other country. That could conflagrate with Russia and / or China retaliating.
If that happened it would be the end of all things. Can we truly take the chance of letting him continue on much more?
If we don't try, then the only other chance of containing, if not outright removing Trump from power and safeguarding the rest of the United States and the world lies in Robert Mueller and his team.
2
Polls, polls,polls. After the last presidential election and recent local elections, why does the media keep hyping polls from the same discredited polling companies? They are meaningless. If the spread is what counts, then polling must go into every local swing district. This is where the action is. Who cares if one party is up or down in a national poll. These polls are a sham and don’t reflect reality. They should be ignored.
7
If Republicans can engage in endless, expensive wars without worrying about how to pay for them, the attitude is that we can afford free healthcare and college tuition.
4
I agree. Unless the Democrats adopt a new - modern - sensible platform and dogma, they will fail and wonder why. Over the last 15 years they have generally been spineless and feckless. No matter how badly the Republicans behave, there is very little from the Dems in the media calling them out for it. For me, the weakness of the Democrats has been far more disheartening than the horrible, but completely expected behavior of the Republicans.
4
Sorry to have to tell you this, but...
"The Citizens United decision sealed it."
Campaign spending isn't everything. Hillary Clinton far outspent Donald Trump, and she still lost.
11
If the democrats could for one second remove their blinders and stow their hate, they just might see that republicans are very happy that Trump fired/Price resigned. They are tired of the wasteful spending and glad to see that Trump won't tolerate it. As far as the fossil from the 50's is concerned, Trump only endorsed his opponent in order to appease McConnell. The failure of McConnell to deliver anything as promised has sounded his death knell. There will be many more republicans, who also failed to deliver as promised, primaried and replaced by those who will help 'drain the swamp'.
While the democrats fiercely thump their chests and point to their popular vote win by Hillary, we have witnessed that it is the electoral vote that counts. It is precisely in the areas where it counts that the democrats are losing ground.
The democrats don't have a message nor a deep bench, for that matter they don't have much of a bench at all and what bench they have is consumed with backbiting and attacking each other. There is no party unity, just a total disarray with their only hope ... Hillary is back out campaigning. The democrats have already lost 2018, and 2020 could possibly put the final nail in their coffin.
7
Really?! Trump won't tolerate "wasteful spending"?! Then I guess he will resign and take his entire family and cabinet with him for running up gigantic bills for his endless weekend vacations, the government and military planes his champagne cabinet take for personal business, the demands by cabinet members for security details larger than Obama's, the #300,000 security costs for one family ski vacation, the costs for his continuing political campaign rallies that serve only his ego, and on and on -- not to mention the armies of lobbyists and lawyers, the private email servers, and waste of time and money fighting for "repeal and replace" and other legislation the vast majority of Americans don't want.
3
You need to write a column about gerrymandering and voter suppression, two primary reasons why the Democratic party will have trouble in the future.
That being said, I agree with you but not for the reasons you stated. Donald Trump has brought into the open what many of us have long known - there is a significant population of White Americans who are racist, misogynistic, homophobic and xenophobic. Pundits have tried to spin these facts with myths of "economic anxiety", but the truth was evident last November. These people are problematic and as long as the Republican party stokes and exploits these issues among White people, they will remain in power.
5
Well said.
I love how proving who you are as when you borrow a book from the library is called suppression from the crooked left. The very people you say will be disenfranchised are the ones almost certain to need and be receiving assistance, which requires ID.
3
The sick thing is that the DNC will actually take advantage of Democrats' desperation to stuff some "it's his/her turn" party hack candidate down our throats.
9
Another real possibility is the madman gets impeached or declared unfit before 2018, or 2020. So consider a president Pence scenario as well.
3
Trump isn't getting impeached. You need to let go and move on.
I do believe Trump will pass on running again in 2020, paving the way for Pence to take the helm.
Question is how much deconstruction can be done in a single term. It appears State and others are on their way to 20% staff reductions, which is great news for the working men and women in America.
1
The important thing is not whether the candidates are "moderate" or "populist" by the standards of the Beltway. The important thing is that candidates have a rapport with their potential constituents and understand their concerns.
That means no DNC interference in the campaigns of primary candidates who have enthusiastic popular support. No putting up official primary challengers to candidates or incumbents who color outside the lines. No delusions that money is enough to win races.
Above all, no trying to find "safe" candidates who will woo Republicans. Most prudent ex-Republicans have already switched to the Democrats.
Instead, go for the unaffiliated voters and the non-voters. Find out what their concerns are. Yes, some of them are just stupid and/or apathetic. But a great many are simply disillusioned, seeing the Republicans as insane and the Democrats as out-of-touch.
They are winnable, but business as usual won't do the trick.
4
Fear, hatred and tribalism are always easier sells than compassion, reason and inclusiveness. This puts Democrats at a near-permanent disadvantage.
4
The answer to Hilary Rosen's question-- "What is our change, patch up the system? Not very sexy" no Ms Rosen our change is to stop the whole sale destruction of what's left of our system and to stop insulting everyone not named Putin. I don't think it could be considered heavy lifting based on what's already happened and frighteningly what's likely in the next 12 months.
Unfair, but not far off:
"Democrats are viewed as a hate group."
I certainly don't think so, but that could happen if the Democrats don't distance themselves from the recent efforts to suppress free speech. I must admit I'd never even heard of Milo What's-His-Name until the University of California at Berkeley revoked his speaking permit. I'd heard of Ann Coulter, but she too (not to mention Milo) became known by more people when her speaking permit was yanked. Same with Middlebury College. Denying your opponents the right to speak, or beating them up when they do, isn't the way we do things here in the US of A, and eventually you'll be thought of as a "hate group" if you do that, or even condone it.
The Democratic Party is far from there yet, but it's time it took a firm stand on this.
6
No matter who wins, the issues still remain:
1. Health care is too expensive, and there is no conceivable scheme of payment that will supply it to everyone.
2. The costs of attending college are too high, and mere high school graduates can't find jobs because they know nothing and have no useful skills.
3. States have promised huge pensions, and are facing bankruptcy. They would have to raise taxes dramatically to balance their budgets.
4. Young people have a hard time finding jobs and housing, and don't have the skills employers need. The lack of economic growth is hurting them, while retirees receive a steadily increasing share of the GDP.
Whoever gets into power is going to have to deal with a wide range of tough problems.
5
What's inconceivable about Medicare for All? It saves money and lives by expanding a program we already know works.
When was it that high school graduates had the requisite skills and employers didn't complain that they couldn't find people with the right skills? That's been a standing complaint all my life as far as I can tell. What's new is that employers don't feel any need to train their workers.
6
Two problems with this comment:
"It's obvious we need a new constitution."
1. For as long as I can remember, the losing candidate/party has insisted that the Constitution needs to be amended.
2. Amending the Constitution -- especially to eliminate the electoral college, which presumably is what you're focusing on here -- ain't going to happen.
11
Agree. The electoral college was instituted to protect slave holders/sellers/buyers, and racism will continue to protect the grotesque system.
A candidate who promised voters that s/he would put an end to the electoral college would be destroyed by . . . the electoral college.
2
Here's the problem with Hilary Rosen's statement: "...the party wasn’t focused on change in the right, compelling fashion. “The change that Donald Trump was selling was blowing up the system,” she observed. “What’s our change? Is our 'change' to patch up the system? Not very sexy.”...
Trump's focus wasn't on "blowing up the system." Trump's message was the same as Bernie Sanders' message, the outlier-disruptor candidate accurately representing the voices of his power base.
8
The state of our politics is so wacky it's hard to predict what will come next. Obama was elected largely because people were sick of the status quo. And Trump, I argue, was elected largely for the same reason. People are generally fed up with the do-nothing leaders---of both parties. So history would indicate if Trump continues down his path of craziness, voters will elect the next candidate who promises something different than the current status quo. Hopefully, history will repeat itself. Hopefully.
3
All studies indicate that Trump's voters were motivated especially by "racial resentment." The other stories--economic anxiety, sick of status quo, etc.--are either fabrications with little basis in fact.
Randy wrote:
"... Obama was elected largely because people were sick of the status quo. And Trump, I argue, was elected largely for the same reason. ..."
Please cite exactly what studies you are referring to?
1
wouldnt it be nice if the electorate actually knew anything about the candidates they elect. Vote for america and americans, for the right to be left alone and to strive to make our families stronger. Vote american NOT R or D or I .
2
Mr. Bruni’s invites us to take a ride in his 2018 spin machine.
I look for certain markers determining whether the article is real or another con-job.
First is the setup. The definition of terms.
Are progressive democrats compared with establishment corporate Democrats or are the corporate Democrats vailed as “centrists” and “moderates,” which hides the source of their donor class.
Second, when referring to progressive healthcare reform is the progressive proposal characterized as “Single-payer” or Medicare-for-all. And
Third, does the counter healthcare argument neglect to mention that Americans already spend 50% MORE per capita for health services compared to any other developed country? It therefore follows that the main reason we need healthcare reform is that we can’t afford our current $3.2 trillion healthcare spending consuming nearly 1 in 5 GDP dollars and projected to hit 1 in 3 dollars by the 2030s.
It’s not the case that healthcare reform is more expensive than the alternative of relying on our current for-profit health insurance scheme, which is destined to bankrupt millions of Americans and ultimately our economy.
The current no change – no way Democratic Party 2018 congressional campaign strategy can be summed up as another “Lessor of Two Evil” campaign. It worked so well in 2016 – why not try it again?
5
"There are additional reasons for Republicans not to tremble in the face of the pendulum’s potential swing. Thanks to gerrymandering and intense polarization in the electorate, fewer districts are truly competitive than in the past."
This is the real story, barely touched on. The "contest" is already over.
4
There hasn't been a competitive House race in Massachusetts since the legislature gerrymandered districts to assure that Margret Heckler got turned out and that Gary Studds and Barney Frank got elected.
2
I think Democrats will lose. It's already written into the law of the land. Voter suppression thanks to Kris Kobach. Gerrymandered districts thanks to the Red State Plan of 2010 so majority votes do not matter. Computerized voting done with no public scrutiny whatsoever. Russian hacking which will only get worse thanks to our current administration's doing absolutely nothing to secure election integrity.
The time of one man one vote has passed. It no longer exists in America. The GOP has institutionalized their continued victory. Jeff Sessions is using the Department of Justice to help Kris Kobach make sure that by 2018 there will not be enough Democratic voters due to being wiped off the record or not allowed to register.
I am afraid for our democracy. Hillary's win of the popular vote and the therefore significance of the Electoral College for the benefit of the GOP makes future voter manipulation highly likely.
It is getting time to take to the streets. Democrats can not effect change if they do not hold the seats in Congress to do so. And the courts? Will the Supremes decide in favor of fairness and transparency? I'm not hopeful.
6
Elizabeth,
I for one want to know how many Russians voted for Trump in MI, WI and PA.
The only way to discover this is to let the presidential commission do their job.
Sure..they might show other voter fraud such as Zombie voting and college students voting at home and at school (out of state), or they might even find hundreds of thousands of ex-cons voting who do not have voting rights...but that's small stuff compared to finding out how many Russians voted for Trump illegally.
Do you have another way of uncovering this?
1
Elizabeth: I suggest you look up "gerrymandering". It only applies to Congressional races, not to state wide nor national races.
And Democrats gerrymander too -- they invented it! I live in a long gerrymandered DEMOCRATIC district, a crazy quilt designed to insure we always always always send a black Democrat to Congress.
Trump did not invent the Electoral College either. EVERY President since day one has been elected by the Electoral College -- whether you realize it or not!
If the Supreme Court ends the extreme gerrymandering that results in 60% of the win on 50% of the vote, things may even out. But the court is conservative and may like winning.
It is likely that Donald's daily diet of flubs and outrages will numb voters to his extreme departure from acceptable conduct, so they will follow the shiny object.
But it's also possible that criminal charges will so offend even the bored voter that change is inevitable. Same for economic crisis.
Democrats can get voters' attention with scandal and economic depression.
Democrats should jump on the "blowing up the system" train in 2018 and 2020 with some innovative ideas. Trump is there for many reasons but one of them is that ordinary people are tired of being left behind while the rich keep getting richer. Black or white, male or female, our leaders have not addressed this inequity in any way that makes a difference to ordinary Americans. We don't need Democrats to "take back" the house. We need them to infuse it with new and progressive ideas that take us forward and are good for all Americans. We need new laws that can deal with the dangers made clear by Trump's election. Someone has to move to get us back to a paper ballot by 2020. Where are the think tanks for Democrats? I'd like to participate.
4
As bad as Trump is, who will be his Democrat opponent in 2020? The Democrat talent cupboard is bare. An 80 something socialist is their best hope. Doesn't sound good, especially if the economy continues to hum along. Democrats also need a strong specific platform showing precisely how every rule, regulation, statute and tax they want to enact or restore will benefit the middle class. Trust us, we're elites that know what we're doing does not cut it anymore. Democrats have a credibility gap when it comes to governing. Finally, they need to take on the public sector unions for which there is deep antipathy across the US. Single biggest reason Republicans control so many state governments.
3
As a conservative who supported Rubio but voted for Trump(for Scalia's replacement, and a non HRC vote) I can tell you the person I would like to see the D's embrace is Howard Schultz.
Service based leadership...his success with a capitalist enterprise....and his business acumen...are winners in Red States.
Problem is he's not rabid enough for the bi-coastal Progs.
That's your mess to clean up.
1
We must recognize that the two party system has been a failure and needs to be replaced. It is clear that politics have always been divided academically into at least three ideological segments - left, middle and right - so why stuff everyone into two lousy parties?
1
The left wing of the D party HATES Hillary Rosen and those like her. I doubt they will heed her advice or the advice of anyone to the right of Sen Sanders.
3
The only way the Democrats win is by going after Trump and his band of fawning sycophants in his cabinet.Going after them personally....for their views and behavior past and present.The rhetoric about" new job opportunities" and how "we'll help you get a leg up" etc. bore the voting public.If you want to hear how not to win,listen to Hillary's election eve speech.It's time to move away from discussions of policy and go on the attack. We might lose in 2018 but it's the only long term strategy that will work and that will build a new Democratic party.
1
Why is it always "Bernie Sanders and his ideas," or "Bernie Sanders and his followers?"
Ideas don't get to run for office. Followers do, but you have to pick one -- preferably one who can win.
As for Bernie Sanders himself: he'll be 79 years old in 2020, if he's still alive then. That is old -- repeat: That is old.
Maybe it's unfair, but that's real life: Bernie Sanders is too old to run again. His ideas can't run for office. That leaves "followers." Since that's the only choice, it's high time to start picking one or more of Bernie's followers to run.
1
Old Bernie's followers are like him in many/most ways: lazy, unwilling and unable to come up with specific plans for implementing their pie-in-the-sky notions, angry, afraid of women, etc.
It may be a tad early to write the obituary for the Democratic Party:
"Seems like it may be over for the Democrats."
Let's not forget:
Though HRC was not an ideal candidate, she did almost win. Just a few more votes in PA, MI and WI, and HRC would be sitting in the Oval Office today. There is plenty of room for improvement, but the Democrats came very close to winning as it was.
2
Close only counts in horse shoes.
Look at the EC vote: it was a blowout for Trump.
The person who will beat Trump in 2020 has not yet stepped forward. At this point in the election cycle, few people nationwide were aware of Bill Clinton or Barack Obama either. That person will save his or her ammunition for a ripe moment when the tide is turning.
1
One option for the Democrats would be to do nothing.
After all, HRC did almost win. Maybe the DP strategy would have worked if they'd had a different candidate. I don't know who that candidate might be next time (that's a serious problem for the DP), but almost anyone would do better than HRC.
It may not work, but the DP shouldn't rule out entirely just doing the very same thing but with a different candidate: patch together a bunch of special-interest groups and count on demographic changes to swell the membership of those groups, pick a more electable candidate, try harder to get out the vote, and hope for the best.
1
Seems like it may be over for the Democrats. Once the party that was slightly less authoritarian than Republican theocrats, the Democrats have morphed into a party that wants to force it's ideology and behavior control on everyone. Thus, although the issues may be different, there is little philosophical difference now between the two parties, so voter choices will be based primarily on economic factors, which the Democrats have failed at addressing in recent history.
8
This comment is not based on the fact-based real world. The Democrats provided health care and insurance to tens of millions of people who had never had it before, but the Republicans tried to take health care and insurance away from tens of millions in order to give the rich a tax cut. Etc., etc., etc.
RC wrote "... there is little philosophical difference now between the two parties ..."
1
I would think that in that case, the voters would vote based on what sort of behavior they'd prefer to be forced to follow.
Traditional values existed because they suited most people.
1
Lose??? Just how much worse could things GET? Oh, it's Trump.
Never mind.
5
Until Democrats are willing to get down in the mud ring and fight like the Republicans do the 2018 mid-terms will be the same old, same old. Like bringing a knife to a gun fight.
Visited Hyde Park recently, the home of FDR. We need more of THAT kind of Democrat, politicians who are not afraid to stand up and be proud of the social programs they fostered, and stop apologizing for caring. "The 'New' New Deal?" Please.
Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead.
12
Fight for what? That is their problem. If they fully avowed their goals, they'd be wiped out. So they are stuck pretending to be moderate, and then sneaking in more radical ideas through the back door when they get elected. Unluckily for them, the voters are onto this.
2
Agreed!
1
The dithering of the Democrats in the face of the proto-facist Trump is a disgrace. The problem now isnt Trump, isnt the Republicans, isnt Fox. Its the Democrats.
3
It isn't dithering though it might look like that. In case you had not noticed, the Republicans control Congress and the executive branch. Conservatives comprise the majority of the Supreme Court. Democrats are very limited in what they can do. The bipartisan health care effort by Senator Murray and Senator Alexander was exemplary.
Sophia wrote:
"The dithering of the Democrats in the face of the proto-facist Trump is a disgrace. The problem now isnt Trump, isnt the Republicans, isnt Fox. Its the Democrats."
2
Democrats are viewed as a hate group.
6
Hardly. That is a pathetic false equivalency to what are truly hate groups. Flip and trite.
2
Joe Kennedy III for President!
Google him!
Read his tweets to Mayor Cruz, to those observing Yom Kippur, etc. What a difference from the fake president.
Born October 4, 1980. Young and exciting. Handsome and sane.
7
I would love to vote for President Kennedy.
4
The Kennedys are history, thank god. Older (even the young ones) and less relevant than the Clintons
Donald Trump's "wackiness"? Get a grip. That is much too playful a word, and shadows the entire article with inaccuracy.
7
This clown couldn't manage a little league team.
Biggest trouble in Frank's thinking is the assumption that the "average" voter has remained complacent. They are the ones overthrowing the status quo. Demo Party presents no ideas other than "hate Trump." That has has repeatedly failed to win votes.
7
The Antifa wing of the party will continue to drag the Democrats too leftward to win.
A serious dilemma here:
"[It] doesn't take a political genus to know that you hitch your wagon to THE most popular politician in the country AND his ideas ... Bernie Sanders..."
Unfortunately for the DP:
1. Bernie Sanders will be 79 years old in 2020.
2. Candidates run for office -- not "ideas."
So what does that leave -- Elizabeth Warren, who will be 71 years old in 2020, and -- let's face it -- is no Bernie Sanders.
It doesn't matter that Bernie Sanders isn't a "real" Democrat (i.e. not actually a member of the Party). That's been true for decades, after all. It DOES matter, though, that he'll be 79 years old in 2020 (assuming he's still alive then and chooses to run).
A very serious dilemma.
4
The mos popular politician in America lost decisively to Hillary of all people in a Democratic Primary.
Im not sure why so many Sanders supporters think that translates into winning a general election.
4
Frank can't even be consistent within the beginning few paragraphs. He first says the GOP congress has no appetite to disagree with President Trump. Then a couple sentences later he talks about all in-fighting between the GOP congressmen and the President. Which is it? Your paper is virtually unreadable by anyone that is logical.
4
The Democrats are humiliating the very people who depended on them to beat Trump. No new faces, no new ideas, no charisma. They keep asking for money...
and their dumb questionnaires!!!!!!!!!!! Any of the people who showed up in Washington to stop "repeal and replace" could run a campaign that makes sense. The issues are right there. A belief in serving the will of most of the people
could be a win. People want reasonable solutions to climate change, health care,
too big government, AND corruption in gov't. PLEASE ! A young ,smart, charasmatic man woman or child [think DJT] bring it on. And read JFK inaugural speech...therin lies the answer.
1
42% of Americans characterize Trump as fit to serve as President! Are we collectively that dumb?
6
Yes, Mike OK. Yes we are.
The key for Democrats to win in 2018 is simple in theory, but difficult given Democrats' long history of poor midterm voter turn out.
The key to winning is the critical urgency each and every Democrat must feel about the 2018 midterms and then show up to vote!I
Are democratic leaders up to the task? So far it's business as usual from the vantage of my party e-mail solicitations, and media coverage.
No larger than life, from 30,000 feet, passionate visionary plan or messenger emerging so far to entice the typical stay at homes to vote.
Please Democratic leadership - shake it up- put passion into and show vision in your message, then repeat over and over....
The best way to shake voters from the apathy hammock; as seen in 2016.
2
And let's not forget Bill Clinton's mantra: It's the economy, stupid.
And it still is the idea that matters the most.
4
For Trump's voters, the idea that mattered the most was "racial resentment." Appalling, yes. Correct however.
For what it's worth, President Clinton's mantra "it's the economy stupid" was the guiding idea for Senator Sanders who was an economical progressive. (Sanders largely ignored social progressivism.)
Mgaudet wrote:
"And let's not forget Bill Clinton's mantra: It's the economy, stupid.
And it still is the idea that matters the most."
1
It's easy to predict that the Democrats will not win because they are slow learners. In their never ending search for clues to their failures they stop with who, aside from themselves, is responsible. Here's a clue: listen to the voters and try to imagine how you can present what you are offering in a way that doesn't leave them running as fast as they can to elect an idiot like Donald Trump. You'll neither win their affection nor their votes if you focus even a moment on how badly the voters you need disappoint you. Win them back to the idea that you are not elitist without making it seem like you forgive them for only being 80% enlightened. Listen to their economic needs. You can and must be pro-labor if you hope to be progressive. This is the US not a theoretical congregation in search of Nirvana. Most voters aren't saint-like; neither are they deplorable. Or you can say, hey, we mean well and we're happy losing, the way Nancy Pelosi said in her little speech after holding onto the House leadership. Either wake up or continue losing, as you have for the past decade or so, in terms of total elections. You're failing us when we need you most.
69
So far as labor is concerned, it is quite surprising to me how out-of-touch all politicians are with what people actually do at work. The days of millions of people walking through the factory gates with lunch buckets are gone. Today, millions of people enter office buildings and sit at computer terminals.
When I worked at a large bank, I used to joke that if we formed the Vice President's Union, we could march down Fifth Avenue 100,000 strong, stretching on for miles.
You LEFTIES have one common theme, each of you has the best way for everyone else to do as you think.....you tell each other that each of you ' have the game plan'..when in fact , you havent a clue.......ie hillary.
Conservatives just take care of themselves, their families and their immediate communities.......they care not for the perma victim.
According to Reality Check, there 12.5 million manufacturing workers in the US. There are additionally millions of construction, service industry and miscellaneous other lunch pale positions that still dwarf the salaried workforce in terms of total employment.
1
As Democrats have proven over the last 9 years, they are losers. Led by fools like Clinton, Pelosi and Schumer, they will lose more seats in 2018 in both the House and Senate, especially if the Republicans provide the middle class with a tax cut.
3
Yes, Democrats should run on patching up the system, and they could make it sexy given the environment we are in. "Make Government Functional Again." Sound boring? Good! A lot of Americans might be ready for boring, functional government. It could be very hard for Republicans to run against, given their lack of productivity, their constant denunciations of government and governance, their extreme proposals, and their extreme ways of campaigning. Democrats need to show how their support for functional government translates into boring policies that help ordinary citizens in effective, boring ways.
3
Frank, Frank! Let's have another Scotch!
You gotta get out of NYC for a change!
You wrote: "They must move heaven and earth to wrest Congress from Republicans, who’ve demonstrated little backbone for standing up to an erratic, egomaniacal president in desperate need of containment."
You see, a lot of people think he is predictable when it counts, he showboats but isn't suffering from egomania (as was his predecessor) and he is extremely law-biding and deferential to the other branches of government (perhaps too much so).
So you were on auto-pilot, pushng your deadline? Frank, let's have another Scotch!
1
My god, egomania? That would be fine with me compared to the horrifying sociopathy we are being forced - through a rigged election - to endure.
1
President Obama was more egotistical than Mr. Trump? My goodness! Which alternative universe is this coming from? Is this what Fox, Breitbart (Nazi-lite) and the miscellaneous fake Facebook accounts are telling people? To folks like JJ Juris, the only thing worse than a bad black president was an excellent one. And Obama was excellent.
JJ Juris wrote:
"... You see, a lot of people think he [Trump] ... isn't suffering from egomania (as was his predecessor) and he is extremely law-biding and deferential to the other branches of government (perhaps too much so). ..."
3
There is no hope for US in the forseable future.
It will be Trump for 8 years. We are a silly nation. 48% of us don't vote in presidential elections, particularly when it matters most. That means, in very clear statistical terms, that almost half of adult citizens in the USA couldn't care less about their country.
There is no hope. But there are better places to live.
2
Democrats have to think way outside the box, especially for a standard-bearer in 2020. A conventional pol will get chewed to bits by Trump. How about George Clooney? Whip smart, informed, articulate, beautiful family, Amal a brilliant attorney, make a great active FLOTUS, just had twins. Pair him up with Kamala Harris, or Warren. Let's motivate the Dem base.
5
I'm not going to vote for George Clooney but would definitely consider Elizabeth Warren. She should have won in '16.
2
I am not even remotely motivated to vote for someone whose qualifications book down to
1. He is conventionally handsome
2. He is good at playing make-believe in front of a camera
3. His family is cute.
I want someone who knows how to do all the boring behind the scenes stuff needed to. run a government.
4
Oprah Winfrey.
1
I am curious who the "20 Democrats are" eyeing the 2020 election. I am not so sure there is a rush to campaign by my party's hopefuls. As other writers noted today, there is the biggest hurdle of all, Citizens United, followed by the gerrymandering. Then, we have to overcome the network of cheap shots, Fox News. The fact-free zone of television reportage is loaded with commentators, not journalists. Ya' gotta hand it to those Fox folks for creativity, if not for honesty.
And lest we forget, 2016 was Russia's rehearsal dinner before the other main events. As Trump's fan has proven over and over again, fact-checking is for liberals and moderate Republicans. They have not time for the truth. That want any answers and they want them now. Think of Carrie Fisher's character in her book-turned-movie, "Postcards from the Edge," when she responded to criticism about always wanting instant gratification. She replied, "I have no time for instand gratification." Welcome to TrumpLand where the "swamp" has become a community plunge full of sharks.
So how do we get candidates for congress and the White House that remind us of President Jed Bartlett in "The West Wing," someone of immense intellect, compassion, empathy, and vision, with a staff that understands the job?
With nutty Republicans either in the Congress, or running for a seat, I am reminded of honky-tonk Texas singer, Kinky Friedman's gubernatorial race, with this slogan: "Hey! Bush was governor. How hard can the job be?
A Republican strategist publicly advising the Democrats to dump Nancy Pelosi sounds like the fox advising the chickens in the henhouse that their guard dog is a liability.
1
"While Republicans control both the governorship and the legislature in 26 states, Democrats have that monopoly in just six."
The above fact did not happen overnight….and it did not happen because of Russian "meddling".
It happened because Democrats stopped being Democrats. And the electorate has had enough of "Democrats" who have Republican policy ideals. The only difference is the "Democrat" smiles, speaks well, isn't offensive, wears the rainbow flag, and puts smiling faces on the bombs they drop.
President Obama has even admitted he is a moderate Republican:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=677elaGIsKU
And the "liberal" media has admitted the same:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-revealed-a-moderat...
Until Democrats actually become Democrats again, they will continue to get decimated at the ballot box.
2
"demonstrated the severe limits of the president’s sway"
Severe? Really? This is the 5th election this year and 4 of them were won by republicans against democrats. This last one was between 2 republicans and the guy who won, is more trumpist than the one supported by Trump. If anything, trumpism ideology is harder to beat than Trump himself.
Then the democrats losing so many positions in congress, state legislature and governor mansions, all that while they had a president with such great approval numbers? Why is that? The only explanation I find to this was that Obamas case was truly one like that book "The emperor's new clothes". On the surface seemed that everyone loved him because expressing disagreement with obama was going to be received with scorn, demonization and adhominen attacks (that they were racists or stupid or whatever) but the real disgust showed up in all other elections where Obamas name wasn't in the ballot, but his policies were.
1
Please give me a break. Winning seats in 2018, even if it doesn't tip to a Democratic majority, is a psychological boost and leverage for 2020. I just love perpetuating the myth that Democrats are losers too. That we have nothing to offer, no one to offer it etc. These self-congratulatory yet condemning articles are a waste of time. Your choice NY Times. Write about Democratic leaders with a chance to expand their influence instead of painting all of them with this distorted brush. As a lifelong liberal, I feel compelled to criticize the media when I feel it unfairly sets the Democrats up to fail. You know, like when you printed a huge amount of articles about Donald Trump before the election as compared to those about Hillary Clinton. When Maureen Dowd enabled Donald Trump throughout the campaign. Et tu Frank Bruni? Please do something constructive rather than throw the Democrats under the bus this early. Is this supposed to be tough love? Not having it. The risks are too great more moderates and independents don't change their votes to Democrat in the next election. We're in BIG trouble, and all of the media needs to take their role a little more seriously, the next go round.
9
The Republicans still have the electoral machine they built in many states, with gerrymandering (-----please donate to votersnotpoliticians.com, a grassroots organization seeking a nonpartisan redistricting proposal in Michigan--which will go blue if it isn't gerrymandered to a fare-thee-well-- this is a crucial bit of activism here, and it mustn't fail-- this is a crucial bit of activism here with the potential to affect national races----), voter suppression and propaganda. But this 'republican' machine was hijacked in 2016 by Trump and the Russians. Wonder who will hijack it this time...
4
I look forwards to NYT giving more detailed break downs of statistics. When one looks at the location of those disapproving of Trump and Republicans, is there really likelihood of party changes.
I say this as someone in Austin. in a gerrymandered district that contains a strip of Austin and countryside to Houston.
"Democrats had done nothing to take away one of Republicans’ most trusted targets: Nancy Pelosi. " Include Chuck Schumer too. These two may be powerhouses inside their political clubhouses but to me (flaming liberal) and I think to many on all sides they are monstrous caricatures. Ms Pelosi should retire and Chuck may still guide while hiding in the bushes.
This article presciently explains how and why the Dems will indeed fall short in 2018. I'm exactly the type of voter to whom they continue to fail to appeal--even though I reluctantly voted for Hillary because Trump et al are so anathema. The Democratic party is squandering the opportunity to become the party of responsible government as the Republicans drift further into their delusional, belief-based nonsense led by an uber-incompenent dolt-narcissist. The Republican strategist cited in the article is spot on. Instead the Democrats are becoming a caricature their own stereotype--all about big government, tax and spend programs, and nothing else. NEVER any position on fiscal responsibility or limiting the role of government. There has never been a more fitting time for a true MODERATE party to split off and capture the vast middle of the left and the right.
79
the GOP is what you are really talking about...they borrow and spend which is way worse than tax and spend...
1
Here is a reasonable democrat; how they've become an endangered specie.
"[T]he Democrats are becoming a caricature their own stereotype--all about big government, tax and spend programs, and nothing else. NEVER any position on fiscal responsibility or limiting the role of government. There has never been a more fitting time for a true MODERATE party to split off and capture the vast middle of the left and the right."
The Democrats already ARE that moderate, pro-big money party. Just look who they chose as their keynote speaker at their convention last summer: MISTER free-market-small-government Michael Bloomberg. That's why their base is deserting them and why they will keep on losing.
On a brighter note, Republicans are learning the hard way this year just how many of their Red State voters on Medicaid like "big government' just fine.
I'm hard pressed to think of a less insightful and more hackneyed 'thought piece' than this one. If only Democrats' establishment players would step down, recognizing they are little different than those they oppose, and allow the breath of fresh air that Bernie Sanders' and his followers bring, and the true Democratic values along with them, into the arena, they could win early and often -- and would have won the 2016 presidential election (virtually all polls showed that Bernie would have trounced The Donald). Democrats don't need to get ready to lose in 2018; they're already adept at that, thank you very much. What they need do is realize they win by allowing true representatives of Democratic values vye for elections, and receive generous support from party players -- and in doing so, win or lose the election, they win.
2
It's really hard to predict what will happen 13 months from now. but it wouldn't surprise me if the Democrats fail to win the House, given that the GOP has a built-in advantage due to gerrymandering. And, as the author says, Democrats could even lose seats in the Senate.
In 2020 the Democrats must avoid nominating another retreat politician who will not motivate enough of their voters to turn out. That means Biden above all, but also Sanders and even Warren (the latter seems like a retread even though she hasn't been around that long). A Booker-Gabbard ticket would really cause turnout to spike among Democrat voters. I would actually like to see Gabbard at the top of the ticket, but that might be a leap too far in 2020. So make her the VP candidate. The aforementioned ticket would cause turnout to spike among minorities, women, youth.
2
You guys always cry "gerrymandering"! It's a very nice talking point for your side but then how do you explain conservatives controlling nearly all the state governments?
1
Obviously (or not), "retreat politician" should be "retread politician." We got a new dog yesterday, and he's distracting me a bit. But he's a good guy.
@Gerard: You guys? I'm not a Democrat or a "liberal" in any conventional sense. Anyway, to your question. I didn't mean to imply that red states don't have lots of conservative voters. The latter tend to turn out more than liberals, except when someone like Barack Obama is running, when the liberal turnout increases. Research indicates that conservatives turn out better in statewide races in particular. As far as gerrymandering is concerned, the fact is that Republicans got a little less than 50% of votes cast for Congress in 2016, yet they won about 55% of the seats. Why? The main reason is gerrymandering.
There are, of course, progressives in every state. The problem is that they are mostly concentrated in the larger cities. As a result, Republicans running a majority of states had no trouble concentrating most of the Democratic vote into relatively few districts. That is the "spread" we must beat: how many votes beyond a simple majority we need to take back the House.
Howard Dean, when he was chairman of the DNC, ran a very successful 50 state campaign. We need to give progressives in Alabama and Mississippi hope, as well as those in California and New York.
2
The Republicans have successfully branded the Democrats as the big government party, while simultaneously declaring that government is the problem, not the solution. Gerrymandering has locked up numerous districts, Republicans simply do not vote for out of party candidates. Thus I don't see Democrats winning many new seats in this election, so we'll end up with a status very much like it is today.
3
The "prominent GOP strategist" is himself making quite huge mistake in underestimating the public thirst for a more just society. May he continue to make that mistake, say I.
5
Most voters define "just" as which party will put more money in my pocket.
Two main points emerge from many comments:
1. Candidates matter more than the issues.
2. The Democratic Party needs younger leaders.
Both good points. It shouldn't be all that hard for the DP to come up with good candidates, and leaders who aren't hooked on Geritol.
Some caution is called for, though: Don't be so eager to come up with new, young leaders that you pick someone just because he or she is new and young. Just as the DP doesn't need leaders pushing 80, it doesn't need new leaders that can be picked apart by the opposition.
2
That's why Joe Kennedy III would be such a good candidate.
Bring it on. The only thing worse than a young Kennedy would be a young Clinton. Appeal to middle America with a scion of Camelot. While Jack, Bobby and Ted were okay, the next generation was bad and the current worse. Talk about a dearth of ideas and a paucity of character.
Many Democratic candidates and pundits now seem to think the unpopularity of President Trump and the do-nothing Republican majorities in the both houses of the Congress are good reasons to shift further to the left. Just the opposite is true.
Democrats should now make every effort to accommodate decent citizens with conservative tendencies who share their contempt for what the Republican Party has become.
4
Step one is to find an outstanding DNC chairman
Perez is not the right one.
Pay that person minimum of $2,000,000 plus incentives for success
Step two
Recruit a team of people with executive and HR experience
That can identify and recruit outstanding candidates that have a strong moral compass and can get elected., and qualified to govern.
Right now, the hope for a democratic victory is the failure of the Republicans
The average CEO of the top Fortune 500 companies earn over $10,000,000 per year.
And they are much less important to this country and world than the right DNC Chairperson and a strong staff
The person should not have elective ambitions,
2
So the PR team can create the illusion that the democrat party loves America, is not in the pocket of billionaire hedge fund owners, Golman Sachs, Hollyweird and Silcon Vslley billionaires? That’s what it will take to win, just like Bill Clinton faked the middle. Good luck
Great DNC Chair candidate: Al Gore.
Though I'd rather have him as POTUS.
I don't pretend to be a political genus, but it doesn't take a political genus to know that you hitch your wagon to THE most popular politician in the country AND his ideas and you run with them. I'm talking about Bernie Sanders, who filled raucous coliseums, and who went into deep red states like West Virginia and spoke to the people from his heart and not talking points or a sad pamphlet called the 'New Deal'. You go back to your roots of FDR and talk about the economic pain the middle class is experiencing. Stop apologizing for your ideas and fight for them. Extricate yourself from the taint and bondage of corporate donors which will allow you to find this voice. Do this, and you will create a movement that will win.
4
I do miss the Bernie excitement. However, we really need some new young blood in this party. A Bernie/Booker ticket would be incredible.
1
Frank, all the miscues and failures that have infected the Republicans recently are good fodder for the media, but in reality, they are manna for the GOP base. It's true that 63 million people voted for Trump, which is almost half the country's voting population. But the point you miss is that Trump's core base isn't half the country, it's more like a skinny third.
Just as 30 percent of voters are hard core Democrats and would never vote for a Republican, the same number are hard core Republicans who would never vote for a Democrat. That leaves a good 40 percent of independent voters in the middle, many of whom voted for Trump. They are reachable in 2018, so it is
them who must be swayed for the Democrats to win either or both houses of Congress. And they are getting ever more nauseated at Trump himself, and at the failure of Congress to get anything done.
I would disagree, however, about the House being the better target for Democrats to win next election. The numbers may say so, but given that at least one part of Congress will stay red, the clear choice for the Democrats to win at all costs is the Senate. The role of advise and consent is too critical to America's survival to let stay in Republican control.
Win the Senate.
4
Judging from the comments here, the author is completely correct in his assertion that the democrats will continue to lose. This is largely based on their lack of strategy (attacking Trump, which has never worked for R or D candidates), lack of vision (majority of america does not support illegal immigration, higher taxes, free college, etc), and suboptimal candidates (HRC)
For the democrats to win any office, they will need to claim the large independent vote, which is composed of borderline dems and republicans. Specifically, they will have to support lower taxes for all at least in the campaign, as promoting higher taxes is an otherwise killer. When they win office, they can promote lower middle class taxes (as opposed to Trumps plan which increases it on 30% of people). Next, they would have to support bringing healthcare costs down, not just government funded healthcare. Specifically, they need to support medicare negotiating with drug companies, decreasing malpractice suits, and reimbursing medicaid and medicare on quality rather than quantity. Most importantly, they need to support legal immigration but come out explicitly against illegal immigration. This is where they are weakest and how Trump and the republicans have a golden ticket to beat the Dems in elections in perpetuity.
If they are going to go after Trump, rather than the russia angle, which many dont understand, go after the corruption, such as Price, his exorbitant golf trips, etc.
2
Not sure I agree. Looking at UK politics, the pundits were saying the same thing about the Conservatives before the last election. They were 20-25 points ahead in the polls and considered unbeatable. The "ultra-left" candidate on Labour's side was dismissed as "too radical" to get elected. But when Labour put forward a genuine social program, the tables turned and the Conservatives lost their outright majority. Millions of young people, who had never voted before, voted for Jeremy Corbyn. Now, the Conservative government is on the brink of collapse, and Corbyn is considered a PM-in-waiting. I understand the US is a different country but I genuinely think that the Dems have become "Republican lite". Obama won because he ran a campaign of "Hope & Change" and pushed through a major breakthrough in healthcare where millions more now have health insurance. Its also why he left office a popular president even after years of racist propaganda. The American people, in my opinion, are sick of the status quo with rising inequality and lower standards of living. I think the Democratic party needs to offer a completely different vision for the country that includes access to healthcare and education for all. Incrementalism is not working. Go bold. It can work. If the famously conservative Brits can vote for an "extreme left" candidate, the maverick Americans can certainly vote for moderately socialist policies that are mainstream in every other Western democracy.
8
There is a whole Lotta money pulling mainstream dems to the right, but yes, in general you have captured the big picture here, in brief. The US is an oligarchy struggling to become a democratic republic once again.
3
Mr. Bruni, the Republican's strategists are painfully out of touch. They would have won nothing if it weren't for Trump, 2020 will be for the most convincing populist, Trump or Sanders.
2
The Corporate Democrats are going to insist that they can win. They will refuse to change their pattern of fundraising from Center-right oligarchs, Wall Street and the rest of the bad actors.
And they will lead the Party to utter disaster in 2018.
By 2020, we'll probably be neck deep in a financial crash and a foreign war. Then, in 2024, Republicans will hand the White House over and restart their cycle of obstruction.
4
Clearly the Democratic Party likes you strategy, but...
"Every win for Trump before 2018 is another nail in the Democrat's coffin. He must be allowed to win nothing."
The Democrats have far outspent the Republicans in the several key races since the 2016 election, but the results haven't been good for the Democratic Party. No matter how much money gets spent in trying, voters can't be forced to vote a particular way.
1
The Democrats must win in 2018 and in 2020. Anything less is not a palatable option. I am losing the country I love. Please, Democrat leaders - inspire those American people who who seek something besides cruelty, Trump, greed, chaos, environmental destruction, worker exploitation, a decaying infrastructure, higher education too expensive for many, relief from crippling student debt, reliable and affordable health care. I believe we are the majority, even in many purple and red states. Persuade us that you can make a difference, and that you will.
3
One has to remember that no Republican will never vote Democratic for any reason, and that Trump supporters, who will never turn on Trump, have a tendency to lie to pollsters, skewing the numbers. And although more willing to face reality, Democrats have their own echo chamber. So it is entirely possible Republicans will GAIN seats in 2018, and Trump will sail to reelection, stunning the world again. However, Trump has never reached out past his base, so the only way for him to win in 2020 is to plan on losing the popular vote and winning in the electoral college, and that means 2020 has to be a repeat of 2018. And making sure everyone who gave him 2016 votes for him again leaves no margin for error.
1
Yes, the supporters of the current Republican president have consistently struck me as being a cult. They are no more likely to reject their deity than the members of any other cult. Instead, work on the independents and the people who don't vote at all. If you can persuade the 48% of the population that doesn't vote that you have their interests at heart, you win in a real landslide.
2
Turnout. Turnout. Turnout.
Trump, Bannon and pals have figured out that you only have to convince a tiny portion of the population to move the goal line. Primarily because too many eligible voters choose to stay home, especially in primaries and mid-terms.
Far from winning, the Dems are about to be routed thru their own complacency.
2
The focus needs to be on 2018, not 2020 because timing is crucial. Clearly a cover up of immense proportions is being perpetrated by trump himself and his henchmen. It's obvious that Putin won trump the election and expects pay back. Trump's next move will be to disembowel the FBI itself, the same way the EPA is being gutted, removing all remnants of its investigation into his Russian connections. With new director Wrey (a Christie cohort essentially), expect funding cuts, resignations and dismissals. Doubtless this cleansing is already afoot with the deliberate sabotaging of all related records throughout the entire administration.
The GOP is using its wider powers to shove their voter suppression scheming into high gear through blatant gerrymandering and tampering with voting rights and mechanisms to colluding with Russian meddling and have become quite adept at stealing elections. At this very moment they are expanding the "Interstate Crosscheck" that has already illegally and unconstitutionally denied over 1 million poor, minority, and inner city people their right to vote. Deliberately demagoguing the supreme court will also entrench this
skulduggery for generations.
4
As long as Democrats are misled and misguided by the three score plus aged old ancient hoary likes of the Clintons, Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders and Nancy Pelosi the Democrats deserve to lose. The Democrats are well too the partisan political right of FDR and LBJ as expected but Ike and Nixon as well. The Democrats need a young new diverse hopeful positive team of messengers and messages.
6
And a logical message, transgender bathrooms affect .004% of the population...
Yeah, so let’s run big on that issue.
Remember the power of the conservative media. The Bush Cheney admin. gave us the largest crash in our economy in three generation. They gave us the largest catastrophe in our entire history in American foreign policy. (The world wars were larger conflicts but were consequences of European, not US, policy).
Yet the American people handed political power at all levels to the GOP. The governments of N. Korea and Russia totally control their media. They have the support of their people despite their wasteful mismanagement.
For decades since Nixon, the GOP supported market based health insurance. If McCain had won in ’08, he might have appointed Romney as Secretary of HHS and implemented Romneycare nationally. That is what ACA is. It was the conservative media that sold a majority that it was wrong, so they turned on Obama.
Whoever controls the media controls a nation. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent on the growth, concentration, and operation of the conservative media. There is nothing remotely comparable for progressives. In the middle, MSM no longer does much journalism. It is the conservative media which thus controls the nation.
1
Conservative media is powerful because there is a demand for that ideology that generates viewers. It’s not bought or manipulated it’s a real ad revenue generating business, you don’t get it.
1
No big ideas for Democrats? How about focusing on the "democratic" part of the party name. How about fixing the clunky and distorted electoral system? Go after corruption in government? How about defending facts, science, and true journalism? These are foundational value issues, which unless fixed, will doom the US on the present course.
3
My son is the president of his high school's Democrat Club. He is politically Left, of course, but thinks that the progressives are out of touch. My daughter attends a liberal northeastern university. A Spanish major (among others), she hangs out with international students who speak Spanish. She and her friends are left-leaning on most issues, but they cannot relate to the progressives and all the protests that are routine (but lightly attended) on their campus. These students are not exceptional. The Democrats are at risk of losing a generation of students who do not embrace the brand of activist progressivism that prevails in media portrayals today. While I don't think they would ever go right, they will also not support the progressive agenda in its current form.
4
Very true. Are you are of the "red pilling" meme among formerly left-leaning millennials? It refers to a moment in the cult movie The Matrix when the protagonist is offered the chance to take a "red pill" to see reality. Now millennials are using that imagery to refer to their own turn toward political realism (conveniently "red," as in red state conservatism) which eschews the crazy campus trends toward socialism, gender identify politics, and multiculti attacks on the fabric of America. This trend is probably also in reaction to the dogmatism of their Leftist professors, who start to get VERY tiresome after a point. The Democrats ARE at risk of losing this generation. I am a baby boomer wth two millennial sons, one of who voted for Trump because his opinion of his social justice warrior friends had sunk so low.
1
Democrat Club? Shouldn't it be Democratic Club? Why have Democrats accepted meekly the Republicans' misspelling of their party's name?
1
as long as democrats select candidates and run "nationally" they are lost. all elections are local. they need candidates who stump in their districts with a local platform that addresses the voters in that district. trying to turn a local electorate to idealistic national goals, no matter how laudible, is a prescription for failure.
all elections are local not national. only a presidential election can be national. even then the candidate must go on the road and clearly explain how their program will address the needs of each state and even district separately.
their are many examples of this. Nixon's messaging differently in different campaign stops comes to mind. as does Clinton's winning the Senate in NY by carrying many of the Republican stronghold districts outside of the metropolitan NYC area. similarly Kirstin Gillibrand, a Democrat in a heavily Republican area.
1
Why think that it's bad for Democrats electorally if they have public post-mortems and recriminations when they lose? 2018 is promising despite the fact that we've had a lot of that after the past election cycle. Maybe these are just issues that need to be aired in public. Given the individual nature of House and Senate seats, maybe party unity is less important electorally than we think. Maybe Democrats don't need a "brand" so much as a critique of the president in power.
I think Democrats are more likely to alienate the on-the-fence Sanders voter if they pretend like there's a DLC consensus instead of acknowledging that there's not, and that there are genuine disagreements about direction and tactic that ought to be aired.
Maybe experimentation is even warranted: why not try a lot of things, and do what works in different districts? Perhaps, from the point of view of the left of the party, Kyrsten Sinema is the best you'll get in Arizona, but perhaps you can get a much more liberal candidate in California or maybe in states that appear to be conservative but are open to a progressive economic message.
5
It's not the message. It's the candidate. I don't agree with Bruni on his prescription for the Democrats. The message is less critical than person pushing that message (i.e., the candidate). The Democrats need to find a new generation of leaders to replace the older, 'Baby Boom' generation of Pelosi, Sanders, Warren, and others. The leadership is old. They have done a good job is pushing Democratic values, but their time is now past (and I saw this as a 77 year old lifelong Democrat).
Find new leaders in their 30's, 40' and 50's. Let them carry the torch of a new generation. They will inject optimism and a sense that we have a future. The electorate will follow. Do it now before it's too late!
11
So long as Pelosi and Schumer remain the heads of the Democratic representatives and senators, the Democrats will be lost and will continue to lose as a result. Both of these figures are ready made punching bags for Republican campaigns, yet they are out of touch with most of the people who are desperate to get off the Trump train before it goes completely off the rails.
You don't need any math or maps to figure this out, just listen to them. Did you hear anything meaningful? Trump likes them? They have a "better deal"? Oh, they won't vote for repealing the ACA! That's it? Yes, their work is done here. Move along, there really is nothing to see.
Without a major blood transfusion, the anemic Democrats will just waste away. Sad.
21
JUSTICE DEMOCRATS AND OUR REVOLUTION. Something has to be the difference between Democrats and Republican.
1
Hillary Rosen (Democratic 'operative,' whatever that means):
"The change that Donald Trump was selling was blowing up the system,” she observed. “What’s our change? Is our change to patch up the system? Not very sexy.”
And that gets to the heart of the problem: the Democrats' (and in particular Hillary Clinton's) obsession with Hollywood celebs, famous musicians, and anything else that's "very sexy"
15
You misunderstood. Actually her point was that what the Dems offer isn’t as exciting as Trump’s blowing up the country. She wasn’t referring to celebs or musicians. Her point was that Republicans are the ones offering something “sexy”, ie, blowing up the system, and unfortunately that’s what gets people excited. The Democrats offer middle class prosperity and incremental progress which doesn’t rouse the mob the way “build a wall” does.
Trump is a "Hollywood celeb." He himself said "when you're a star...
1
I don't understand why democrats are so worried. Democrat candidates are a lock in 2018 and 2020! After all, Trump only won the presidency because Russia "hacked" that election. That's what CNN's been telling me for 10 months, so I have to believe it's true. Therefore the democrats will win big in 2018 and 2020, since the only reason they lost that one time, in 2016, was because Russia bought some ads on Facebook. So relax, dems, we got this!
7
Exactly what I was thinking. This time around, Mueller's going to fix those Russians. Relax, Dems, and stay on message of trillion dollar tax hikes, more and more regulation, suppression of free speech, free education for all, amnesty for illegal aliens, and above all, end white supremacy.
As much as I would like to see Dems run on that platform, there is the outside chance they would win and we would have to live in a US that turned into Nuevo Venezuela.
Neither side looks like they know what they're doing. Just dogs paddling to their death in a pool they can't get out of. One side thinks we should all drown together, the other thinks we should each drown on our own. If we ignore the LGBTQ issues, there is very little difference between either side in actual plans for the future (not words but actions). Looks like society has abandoned the ideology that a person can take care of themselves and red/blue just means how much and in what form the government will be controlling us.
3
"there is very little difference between either side in actual plans for the future (not words but actions)"
Give Democrats control of Congress and the Presidency and you will see different "actions"
All Democrats in the Senate voted to get rid of Citizens United. All Republicans voted to block it.
Democrats gave us Social Security, the minimum wage, Medicare, expansion of Medicaid under the ACA, Republicans are working to undermine the ACA, voucherize and destroy Medicare and privatize and destroy Social security.
Democrats were committed to a massive infrastructure initiative, investing in creating good jobs in sustainable industries... the list is long.
Oh, and Clinton put Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.
Nader and Stein voters enabled the appointments of Alito, Roberts and Gorsuch.
4
After Hillary Clinton's surprising, horrible defeat last year, I am not going to get my hopes up about the 2018 election. I remember the feeling of excitement and anticipation this time last year, and then came Comey and his October surprise. No doubt the Republicans have plenty of ugly surprises planned for the next election cycle. I will of course vote, but it will be with fear and apprehension. I am not allowing myself to get excited about possibly taking the Senate nor the House. Never again do I want to experience the depressing let down I felt last election night as I listened to state after state being called for Trump.
I am dreading the upcoming anniversary of Hillary Clinton's loss. It feels like the approaching anniversary of a death. You cannot avoid it, you just get through it. No doubt Donald Trump will have plenty of garbage to spew that day, which I will not be listening to. How depressing it all is right now except for the resignation of the odious Tom Price. That was a bright spot.
16
What choice did he have? Allow his congregation overseers to discover that more classified material, because of Clinton, found its way somewhere else it should not be and exposed to more people without clearances...this time to the personal sexting apparatus of the nation's most famous pervert...on TMZ. Comey humiliated himself letter her off the hook doing the Democrat's bidding and was repaid by the total humiliation of the NYPD finding it in Weiner's possession. A level political playing field and that would have been the bombshell of bombshells. Maybe the American people recognized that anyway even with the media telling them Comey was the bad guy. Unbelievable.
The American people know ours isn't a racist society where blacks are "hunted down" and where the right practices genocide against people of color...things the media and the Democrats advance with greater zeal than Baptists preach fire and brimstone. We know the kook right is not ascendant but black-masked faces are and attack anyone who dares speak contrary to their leftist world-view when they aren't trying to rid the country of Washington and Jefferson or forcing a religious baker to cater gay weddings (and most of us are happy for gay couples but not ready to make people renounce their faith quite yet). The people know that the Democrats have become the party of the very rich and the very poor and their polices reward both at the middle's expense. None of these realities are going to vanish in 13 months and most people see Trump as a party of one jostling with the GOP as much as the Democrats. And while Trump can be hard to take at times, everyone knows a Democratic-controlled House will focus on Impeachment, Impeachment and Impeachment. And the country has more pressing issues than mollifying Trump Derangement Syndrome. Oh, and everyone with half a brain remembers the past century where the Russians used every medium available to influence public opinion and elections in the Democrat's favor. So the Russia, Russia, Russia cry (to the tune of Jan Brady's "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha") is falling on deaf ears.
11
Ah, Trump, that great champion of the middle class. That must be why he is trying to further enrich himself at your expense. He knows you won't mind if he does away with the estate tax so he can establish de facto a hereditary aristocracy in the US, with Ivanka reigning. He knows you will fall for any propaganda as long as it sounds angry, and will never fail to buy in to the bait and switch. Congrats, Dwayne, you bought a pig in a poke in 2016, but as it turns out, you got a real pig.
3
Gosh your really really nailed it all the points are there.. but most here including Bruni think if they say something that makes it so... that I why this paper had Hilary winning 2016 by huge margin all the way to Election Day
Yes, get ready to lose. So far it has been denial about losing the White House (we won the popular vote) and ignoring the Senate, House, State seats and governorships. Look at the articles in the NYT; Trump, Trump, Trump…. and at the same time calling everyone in flyover states all manner of things but pretty consistently implying 'ignorant racists'. Talking of succession and bad mouthing the Constitution. Painting oneself as a party of angels preening their wings, while still maintaining structures of deeply ingrained institutional racism. Throwing the working class under the bus.
By not being honest about oneself they lose credibility, but that doesn’t matter much as they act like they don’t even want the votes of others.
Democrats are close to coming apart due to conflict between the progressives and moderates.
Get ready to lose.
10
I would still rather be the dems than the republicans. The split in the GOP is the size of the grand Canyon; there is no real solution but to split into two parties. Have fun with that...
2
This isn't that hard, there is only one message the democrats should have and they will win again. Rebuild & expand the middle class. Stop exempting the rich from their social and civic responsibilities and stop subsidizing the poor off the backs of the working, middle and upper middle classes. We know how to do this. Unions. Home Ownership. Higher Education. Savings & Investment. Entrepreneurship. That should be one and only message.
11
You are exactly correct. Can't understand why this is still not self evident to Dem. leadership.
1
Dems, get ready to Destroy!
Destroy everything to come from the right side of the aisles.
And the first thing you must lose is your willingness to play fair.
When they go low, pound them into the ground.
Elections are no longer about "winning" a contest.
Crush the opponents, and keep crushing them, because campaigns are never over anymore.
Destroy, Obliterate, Annihilate. Make Republicans "DOA". And repeat.
Never forget: They truly are the enemies of America's future.
8
This is why you're losing. Americans know who the real enemies are. It isn't Republicans trying to collect their heads or burn their city down. And they're not ready to allow the left to rewrite the Constitution by people in black masks bashing heads. They know the climate has shifted back and forth from water-world to an ice cube several times over and aren't ready to pay ten times as much for energy as everyone else on the planet. Your is now a party of crazies and revolutionaries led by dinosaurs trying to balance all the Frankensteins they've created to gin up the vote over the years.
Hilary Rosen as Charlotte Vale? Who'd a thought it?
Look at the tax charts.
The top 1 percent pay 25 percent of the taxes (and get at least that much of l us income). And we know, from Romney, that the lower 47 percent pay very little in taxes. What that means is the 50 to 99 percent pay the other 75 percent of US taxes, especially the 80 to 95 percent group --15 percent of the population, the "upper middle class), paying over half the US tax burden.
And these are the ones who will actually pay MORE taxes with the Trump tax plan, especially those who live in blue states that have higher state and local taxes. In other words, the college educated voters who voted against Trump are going to pay more taxes so that Trump can pocket another billion , and his other 0.1 percenters get millions each. Hey, 80-95 percenters, keep that in mind-- your taxes are going UP so Trump and the Billionaires can line their pockets with YOUR money.
Ironically, Trump's base is not in the 80-95 percent group, and Trump's cut for them is nominal -- he thinks a few extra hundred dollars will fool them. We shall see if Trump's base is as stupid as he thinks they are.
7
If the states that tax their residents massive amounts find their abuse
is no longer 'subsidized' by letting those residents deduct that state
payment from the money that pays for the US overall federal budget,
that "subsidy" will go away. Then people will get to face the reality
that their state is overspending or subsidizing various programs.
Will their resident really choose to pay more, a lot more, for those
programs? or vote with their feet? California's tax is 9.3% on any single
taxpayer over ~$53k. People may choose to vote with their feet.
If one wishes to parse out, state by state, each state's contributions to and handouts from the federal government, with the same cynicism underlying the Trump tax plan, then we can tally all federal taxes paid by a state's citizens and businesses, and subtract all federal payments to them, including, as noted above, the innate subsidy of being able to deduct local and state taxes, but be sure also to include Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, military spending to each state's military bases, and don't forget roads, bridges, coast guard protection, and federal disaster relief after hurricanes -- you will find that Blue states, and in particular the 80 -to -95 percenters who reside there, pay far more in and get less much back from the federal government than the Red States do. The Red States do not invest in their citizens, with lower education spending, than the Blue States, which is one of many reasons why far more patents, per capital, are issued to Blue States' citizens than to Red States' citizens.
Thank you Nancy Pelosi...but for the good of the country, you must step aside and hand over the reigns of leadership to Eric Swalwell, or Ruben Gallego, or Tulsi Gabbard - or any young visionary Democrat representing CHANGE. The Dems should have let Tim Ryan take over the leadership, as many voters have been conditioned to hate Pelosi. No, it's not fair - it's politics. You had a good run Nancy...it is time to hang it up, and hang out with the grandkids.
12
Yes let’s just kick out anyone with experience and ability for the sake of youth. And if you think the GOP attack dogs won’t smear her replacement and foment hate for that person on the right, you’re kidding yourself.
For Democrats this will be a trying and interminable effort. Like rowing in a very small boat across the Atlantic Ocean. 2018 and 2020 will be squalls not hurricanes.
Democrats must also fix the democracy, including:
* Ballots that cannot be audited or tracked
* Partisan gerrymandering
* Voter suppression
The supreme Court is still majority conservative. Its newest member just gave a talk at the president's hotel. Democrats will get little help from the court for now.
The Democrats' strategy should include:
* Health care and insurance for all (single payer not necessary)
* Quality public education for all, including fair tuition levels (free not needed)
* The Democrats speak for the 99%; the Trump Republicans, for the 1%.
* Republicans=Trump
* Trump and what he represents
It is not necessary to go down the single-payer and free-tuition-for-all-rabbit holes. The size of the group of voters motivated by single payer and free tuition is well known. The Democrats can't win with those voters alone, especially if they aren't willing to do as Sanders did when he blithely overlooked the racists and misogynists in his flock (who voted for Trump).
Democrats must not neglect that group's polar opposite: voters who are fiscal moderates and social liberals.
(As for what this administration represents: It is the most dishonest we have ever had. The most corrupt. Profligate. Incompetent. Chaotic. Self-dealing. Divisive. Hypocritical. Biased. Unethical.)
7
Democrats don't have enough sense to vote in midterm elections.
5
I apologize for my ignorance, but who is the Democratic leader, the visionary, the dynamic one who can rally the party, the Trump haters and maybe even those who should be Trump haters?
8
Cory Booker.
Funny how all the Republicans say the Democrats need to move to the middle. The Right is so far to the Right already that the dems will have to goose step with funny little mustaches to appeal to this crowd. Why not go Progressive polices that 60% of Americans want. The Neo liberal Wing likes Corporate bribes and war way to much to go left.
5
Thank you Frank for being a DNC tool again. The article "Democrats are sooooo much better at everything , why but why do those evil Republicans win ?" Well , perhaps the reason is that the DNC's message is not resonating with the majority.
8
I read over and over that Americans are not stupid. Yet, over and over they fall for corporate ads that keep the Wall Street and corporate politicians in power. I don't know why we even keep talking about. We had one man whose character was unquestionable except by nit pickers with slanted and misinformation. I see only the same repeating itself. We have only ourselves to blame.
8
The Dems are done for....the state control of the governorships and majorities of the legislature tell it all...folks are sick of the "progressives" and simply want a good shot at bettering their life. Dems don't offer that...they simply want to spend your hard earned money on someone else whom they deem more deserving. Suits me.
6
While the republicans just want to raise your taxes so they can give further and bigger tax breaks to those same billionaires who have profited so massively these last forty five years, the ones who already have almost all the money... I wouldn't count on extreme gerrymandering lasting much longer, either.
1
Democrats need to learn about the Modern Monetary theory.
1
And republicans should ponder the French revolution.
1
The one thing you overlook, Ross, is the capacity for Trump to alienate everyone outside of his family and even that is difficult to determine.
This egomaniacal worst leader in the pantheon of American presidents hasn’t been in office but nine months. He can go much deeper into possibly turning off many in his base and motivating the approximately 43% not voting in 2016 to do their patriotic duty.
3
Every win for Trump before 2018 is another nail in the Democrat's coffin. He must be allowed to win nothing.
5
It grieves me mightily to write this, but...
There are many who voted for Trump who would turn to the Democratic agenda, as long as the ticket-leaders are neither black nor female. Give them an all-male, all-white option, they're on board, expensive universal health care, free college and all. This may be the fastest, safest way to regain the White House. Yes, these voters are bigots. But are you going to refuse to accept their ballots?
Another issue, not touched on by Frank: Guns. Make it a sleeping dog. Let it lie undisturbed as much as possible. The mass assassination of millions of Americans at the hands of gun owners has not happened. Talk about responsible ownership; or marksmanship competitions between teams of registered Democrats (there are enough of us) and registered Republicans. Just do not take the bait and go ballistic on firearms.
We wanted it all and we wanted it...then. Then didn't happen. Back up. Regroup. Take deep, slow breaths. Give the voters what they think they want, then convince them there is a better way forward. We can put a woman and a black in the White House, quite possibly filling only half the ticket and covering both bases. But it ain't gonna happen in 2020.
10
Why don't we just let the Klan choose our candidates?
3
One just needs to follow the Facebook posts of conservative friends or tune into Fox or Brietbart from time to time. The Dems will lose over Cat in the Hat, Bathrooms, SJWs, and their inability to fashion a cohesive unifying vision for All America. Are Dems born with targets on their feet?
5
This essay is weak and confusing.
"But they must also, somehow, keep their expectations in check, because the long game is the White House, ..."
"Democrats must recover from a breathtaking decline, during the Obama years, of the party’s representation at every level of government below the presidency."
Both statements are true. Pick one, Frank.
"He also marveled that Democrats had done nothing to take away one of Republicans’ most trusted targets: Nancy Pelosi."
Again, typical MSM genuflecting to the conservative play book. Right now, Nancy Pelosi is the ONLY person in all of Congress (except for Chuck) who knows how to actually govern, and THAT is why the GOP goes after her with such venom.
She knows statecraft and how to govern.
I think the Democrats' secret weapon for 202 has to be Joe Biden:
White? Check.
Male? Check
Experience? Check
The worst thing Dems could do is a replay of their failed 2016 playbook: putting women and persons of color at the top of the ticket. Remember, East of Hudson River dwellers, 70% of the nation is white and 70% beats 30% everytime.
6
I hereby predict the 2020 inugural address, though I don't pretend to know the party affiliation of the person who'll deliver it: "If you can't treat people with dignity and respect, get out!"
3
Amazing that people still don't get it. Republicans don't like the GOP because they are not really conservative. They are not really republican. We are going to vote out every liberal who runs for office. Matters not if they have a D or R next to their name. Americans are sick of the PC culture and liberal policy.
2
Enough with pundits asking what is the "sexy." Is it not enough that our basic democratic institutions are in jeopardy? Is saving this country's dignified vision not enough reason to vote out these cruel and corrupt and morally disgraceful GOP? Is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people not sexy enough for the pundits? Is what they are squinting at in terms of Trump's utter disdain for human lives in Puerto Rico RIGHT NOW not enough to vote out these monsters out?
1
Too old?
"Hillary and Bernie are old news."
Hillary will be 73 and Bernie will be 79 in 2020.
You and Bret Stephens (on Republicans) are bundles of joy. What if you're both right?
1
Important notice from the Department Of Duh: the Democrats need to support issues and push for what actual voters want. DACA is all well and good, no question, but how many votes is that going to produce? Illegal, or undocumented if you prefer, immigrants can't vote! Disgruntled unemployed Midwesterners can!
6
ditch the identity politics rut the dems seem to be mired in and concentrate on us-you know-the people that get up at 5am every weekday and get to it to make ends meet. you know, um, workin people.
6
I for one look forward to voting straight R for the first time in my life.
4
How is it possible Democrats are so blind as to tout tuition free college to a black/brown constituency whose K-12 education is so bad that very few inner city high school graduates could even fill out an application?
In my mind it's the height of elitist bubblehood.
My God, people, can't you even begin to grasp the horrible outcome of years of soft racism you've subjected our minority kids to?
3
Susan - because the Dems favor the teachers' unions over the school kids.
The ultra-left Dems can attack Betsy DeVos all they want, but at least she has worked hard to find an alternative that actually helps.
On your good issue, the Dems need a DeVos.
1
I love this article. Somehow, despite history; common sense; an unfavorable map; and, an obviously rudderless leadership; he manages to eek out some optimism.
Obamacare is STILL a noose around Democrat's necks. Their Identity Politics keeps on backfiring and middle-class Americans are put off by their refusal to stand for the National Anthem and the Flag, their insistence on calling everyone who disagrees with them racist or sexist and their obvious jealousy against rich people and antifa's violence and domestic terrorism.
I predict Republicans have a great 2018 and I predict more Democrat riots.
6
1. Republicans seem to be successful when all they do is attack attack attack what the Dems are doing. Why don't the Dems adopt this strategy? Trump gives them so many rich targets. Forget the focus groups who tell you that 49.5% favor single-payer while only 42.3% oppose it, etc. Don't talk about your internal policy differences and for God's sake don't talk about transgender bathrooms in schools. Just Attack Attack Attack. And then Attack.
2. Dems have GOT to have a campaign strategy that allows a Dem in Iowa or Nebraska or Tennessee to have a chance of winning. Sending an egghead non-resident junior liberal down to Atlanta from D.C. to try to win that House seat is so typical of the Dem' stupidity. Find a good person known and respected in the community, nominate her, and then Attack, Attack, Attack (See point #1, above)
3. I hope they REALLY REALLY love Nancy Pelosi because she creates such a target-rich environment for the Republicans. At an absolute minimum, if she won't step aside and they won't vote her out, appoint a young up-and-comer (preferably NOT from NY or California) as the whip and start putting that person out front and let Pelosi cut deals in the back room and not hold daily press conferences. That alone would help defuse the Repub strategy which, in case you hadn't noticed, is Attack, Attack, Attack.
4. If Dems are too egghead and too clueless to realize how toxic and divisive their emphasis on intramural squabbling is, they don't deserve to win.
3
"who’ve demonstrated little backbone for standing up to an erratic, egomaniacal president in desperate need of containment."
Gee, no media bias here.
What a snowflake.
2
Glad to see Joe Kennedy III mentioned by Bruni. I'd like to see him run for president.
2
The parties are like Isaiah Berlin's parable of the fox and the hedgehog.
The fox knows many things. The hedgehog knows one big thing.
The Democrats know a million different things that are wrong, want to address a million different problems in a million different ways.
The Republicans know one big thing: millions are angry. If they can figure out how to harness that anger in the most simplistic & easily grasped (and even stupid) way possible, they win.
"A better deal" is not going to cut it.
The Democrats don't understand this. It's why they ran dull, policy wonk Hillary. They need to try to remember why they ran Bill Clinton and Barack
Obama. Til they do, they'll lose.
5
The Democratic Party has no visible head, no ears, no single mouth. Like the scarecrow, it has no brain.
Both Pelosi and Schumer are toxic, poisoned by their past misdeeds. DWS is dust. All the people see and hear are a few angry heads complaining and warning.
This observation comes from this former Dem petty official, who was once the "Hon. Larry". I got out of it on the very day I grew disgusted with politicians, too many of whom are in it for themselves.
We, the people, deserve better, but the parties do not control those who run for office.
1
Please allow me to provide an anecdotal scenario as to why Frank is likely correct:
I have coal-miner relatives in WY, the quintessential Rep. state. They will NEVER vote for Dems. and I mean never. The reason? They listen to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. They believe they are under siege by muslims, blacks and the libs in guberment (who want to take their guns away). They are essentially isolationists and willfully ignorant. All they need in the form of political leadership are people who tell them that "their way of life" must be protected and that they will get a $500 tax refund check (tax reform). In short, their loyalties and votes are easily bought. Nothing will change their minds about their republican leaders no matter how corrupt, dishonest or incompetent. As long as the president appears strong by dissing NFL players and thumbing his nose at the rest of the world, they're just dandy out there. They have a simple worldview: me, me, me, me, me and Reps. know how easy it is to get their vote!
The "United" States is, today, merely an outdated brand, meaningless and without much value.
4
The Democrats do not have a coherent message. Trump will drown them out with his tweets.
2
I am sick of the media salivating over that man's tweets.
Sorry, Frank, but which part of this do you not understand?
"Bernie Sanders Is Still the Most Popular Politician, Even as Senate Approval Ratings Plunge"
http://www.newsweek.com/senate-approval-ratings-bernie-sanders-mitch-mcc...
2
"Republicans are expert at affixing a 'kick me' sign to frustrated Democrats. Democrats need practice at not wearing it." No, my dear sir: Far too often the shoe fits, as does the Republican "defining of the Democrat candidate. Just wait until a real socialist demagogue like Elizabeth Warren or an identity politician like Kamala Harris goes for the 2020 nomination. It will be another painful education for the increasingly radicalized Democrats, who are rapidly losing touch with anyone in the American mainstream.
4
The people need a leader who will transcend party politics. Democratic operative Hilary Rosen's question whether it was the democrats' call to patch the system versus Trump's call to blow it up, misses the point.
Draining the swamp by filling it with self-serving corporate executives and oligarchs is enlarging the swamp. It's the economy stupid is still applicable today but with Hillary getting megabucks from speeches to Goldman Sachs and Price and other cabinet secretaries spending megabucks on personal field trips, not to mention Trump's constant golf junkets, the people see how broad and deep the swamp is, and they don't like it. It's ugly and it stinks.
The people need a leader who is not beholden to the wealthy elite and big corporations; who can address the economic and social concerns of the 99% without bigotry; who can be a spiritual leader helping us transcend hate and selfishness.
With Putin and his hacks corrupting America's electoral process and fomenting division in the U.S and around the world; with the republicans disenfranchising voters through gerrymandering and voter suppression; with the 1% enjoying democratic representation while the 99% do not, this leader will have a lot of work to do but the people will be behind him (or her).
America wants a transcendent leader; we've had more than enough of the swamp kind.
1
The Democrats and Republicans, for that matter, basically have no platform. They've been doing nothing for so long, it's become their job description. Love him or hate him, Trump is doing his best to get the do nothings to do something and they are doing everything in their power to get him out of there. The bipartisan support of the Mueller investigation is indicative as is the endless media bashing. The enemy is not Trump, it's the do nothing swamp, both Republicans and Democrats who refuse to do any work of any kind other than quarrel with each other. It doesn't end here. We spend our time quarreling with each other as well rather than demanding these losers earn their paycheck. That's just the way they like it. It's pathetic. Bravo!
"the long game is the White House"
Funny, because the "long game" should be the prosperity of all Americans. Not the rich, at the expense of the middle class. Not the poor, at the expense of the middle class. ALL AMERICANS.
So long as D's, and R's, and cheerleaders like Bruni are aiming for power, instead of prosperity, then Americans are doomed.
1
Bravo, KTJ! This is best short summary I have read defining the recent political landscape - which sadly has its origins in the Bush 41 era of DC establishmentarianism.
Those Dems in those tough races should consider leaving the party and becoming independent. Since our so-called-prez is a RINO, proclaiming distance from "bad liberals" may be the way to change.
1
I stopped reading when the article quoted Wolfson, "who was one of the chief strategists for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign". Job one is to jettison everyone and everything associated with Clinton, including Pelosi and Schumer.
6
I'm surprised Chuck Schumer didn't come up in the conversation. Schumer is that typical cowardly democrat who likes to tell you he's "working behind the scenes," meaning he's too scared to open his mouth and tell Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan what kind of traitors the two really are, starting with voter ID, but mostly for leaving in office the most dangerous president in history. Schumer will make sure nothing really is done and Pelosi will join him, concentrating on staving off challenges more than putting dems in office. Only hope? The woman who used to scream bloody murder but seems to have gone soft after McConnell threatened to censure her. Democrats know how to govern. They just don't know how to play dirty enough to get them in office to begin with.
The only reason for Republicans to hold control of the Senate (especially) and the House is to keep Democrats from controlling those bodies. Since Nov 8, 2017 Democrats have been throwing an endless childish tantrum in a non-stop effort to nullify the legitimate election of President Trump. It is hard to believe that anyone, much less a majority of voters anywhere, would want these juvenile, violent, hateful, thugs to represent them. Hard to believe, that is, until you look at the absolute NOTHING that Cowardly Congressional Republicans have accomplished. These two pathetic parties leave the American voter with nothing but bad choices.
It may be heresy (on this board, certainly it is) but it must be said: As general rule, most people who read, much less opine in, the New York Times do not represent America. Worse, they are illiterate when it comes to the concerns of the 60M+ of their fellow citizens who voted for Donald Trump for President in 2016, and who are ready to do so again in 2020.
Well, those same Political Class "experts" who told me that DJT would not run for president, then told me he would quit the race, then told me he would never secure the GOP nomination, then stated he would never defeat Hillary in the general election, then confidently assured me that the Russians "hacked the election" (whatever that means) are still prognosticating.
I think I'll believe them this time.
2
Democrats should not worry about policy or issue positions. That old Left, Right framework leads no where. It seems to me the issue that needs to be at the forefront and the rearfront is the nature of the Republican Party itself: a party dominated by angry, old fat white men; a Party of, by, and for the 1%; a Party that broke every promise it ever made; a Party that boos and disrespects John McCain, and so shows contempt for our Armed Forces and our flag. Tag them as "Radical Republicans" and say it 100 times a day. Tag them as "un-American" in their anger and policies. What's that you say? This will alienate Republicans. So what. Hillary found out how many Republicans were willing to vote for a Democrat. Go after energizing the base, and persuading Independents to show up and vote.
2
Trump carried the Republicrats across the finish line in 2016, and he will do so again- even though they don't seem to really want to win.
What's really sad is that the Hilary Rosen analysis of "patching up" the system is, in of itself, sufficient reason for all sane Americans to show up at the voting booth and vote in Democrats across the board. The problem is that Americans have the narcissistic idea that "politicians have to earn my vote" every time. That puts the responsibility exactly backwards. It is the responsibility of voters to put into office elected officials who will serve the greater good, not their own personal "me, me, me" issues. Democrats do a much better job at the day-to-day work of governing than Republicans. Unfortunately, day-to-day work is, as Rosen says, "not very sexy". Until enough Americans grow up and realize that governing is day-to-day grunt work and not all about making things look like the Super Bowl halftime show all the time, we're hosed as a nation.
1
I think it's possible to cut through the tangled underbrush on the question being asked here. What the democrats need to do is: 1) like republicans do not back away from excoriating the corrupt and lazy DJ Trump. Simply link that rich and textured narrative of Trump not being fit for the office to the Republican Party and their record, since Nixon's southern strategy, of racist dog whistles, phony trickle down economic theories to disguise their transfer wealth to the mega wealthy, their strategy of dividing and turning Americans against one another; 2), acknowledge one can have qualms about immigrants from terrorist countries without being a racist or an otherwise bad person; 3) an FDR like infrastructure plan to modernize and bring up to date America's physical systems and technology; reinvigorate public education to prepare for jobs of the next century not the last. The FDR 2.0 plan will be sexy and exciting and the withering criticism of the corruption of today's republicans and our whack job president while bring about resounding victory going forward.
1
Even if the Dems fall short, it would still send tremors through the GOP.
If trump can no longer control his base - then what? Do we get more radical extremists like Roy Moore in government? Who knew it could get worse if Trump lost?!!!
This is what government run like a business looks like. The perks and cash all go to the top while the rest of us below foot the bill. Like in private business, the highest costs and greatest waste is invariably at the top. They make the rest of us sacrifice so that they can live care-free high on the hog. Do Republicans really want the country run by these so called business "leaders," running the country, mistreating us and imposing their whims UR FIRED on us like they do their employees? Business interests pretend to be more efficient and save money while all along they are themselves the costliest and wasteful part of the system.
In spite of the Quinnipiac poll, Democrats have an uphill climb against voter suppression, gerrymandering, Russian and alt-right disinformation campaigns that will only get worse as long as Republicans control everything. It only took a minority of voters to elect the dude in the White House in 2016. I am still baffled that trump's approval ratings are so high, 36%!!! Where's the decimal point?
Blowing up healthcare and giving billionaires over a trillion in tax giveaways for doing nothing and blowing up our deficit isn't very sexy either.
trump continues to succeed in dividing us again. Lets hope he succeeds in dividing Republicans too so that they can finally be conquered in 2018.
2
As long as the DEM party follows the Clinton model..".we won't win until we start doing business with Business"....the people are smart enough to know they've been sold down the river anf either not vote or switch parties.
2
Given the pace of very bad news in the here and now, it seems to me that your dire prediction, Mr. Bruni, is premature.
2
Bernie Bros., Michelle Alexander, Cornel West, Susan Sarandon, Jill Stein, Michael Moore and their ilk will claim that there is no difference between the parties and we might as well have real Republicans instead of faux ones. They will say let it get so bad so that we can have a revolution.
The revolters always forget how ruthless the incumbents are as they give the illusion that the revolters are fighting against God and country. They get poor country folk to fight against their interests with idols like the flag, the Bible, guns, and lower taxes.
Shoot for the moon as hard as you can, folks. But if all that is on my ballot is GOP Lite, you'll be missing my vote. Never. Again.
2
From the outside looking in, the main imperative right now seems obvious: focusing like a laser on purging from social media the fascistic brainwashing coming out of Russia through Facebook and Twitter, and other far-right outlets, aided by Cambridge Analytica and all those connected to it. If FOX is involved, so be it - prosecute them. - Though there are several investigative committees going at it, the entire party should be openly involved, writing legislation and formulating strategies with this truth in mind.
Then, clean up the gerrymandering, going through the supreme court, if necessary!
How can Democratic candidates win in a significant way in this twisted era of blanket cheating? Impossible. There's no doubt in my mind that Clinton lost because it was a close election, and it was dirty. It's clear that Trump and many in the GOP are loathe to stop the cheating, because it's all to their exclusive benefit.
If the Democratic Party ever get around to worrying about a message, my vote would be: "It's the health care, stupid."
2
As long as Democrats and Hillary continue to whine and complain about the past, Democrats will continue to lose. Every time the media lies about what Trump said, the left loses even more credibility and votes. The left is in the middle of a total melt down slandering and slimming not just Trump but anyone who dared vote for someone other than the criminal Clinton. This pathetic behavior just turns people off from the left.
3
Identity politics, pushed by "progressives" of Democrat party, are poison. Americans have had enough.
3
By simply NOT being hypocritical, lying Republicans out to destroy healthcare, the environment, education, unions, good wage jobs, critical infrastructure, or fair taxation, I actually think Democrats can win in 2018 and 2020. Democrats are by definition the anti-Trump party and the antidote to the poison Washington's bloodstream, all the wealthy Trump crony vampires and their racist sidekicks. If younger people, Hispanics, blacks, and a majority of women and thinking men will turn out to vote, we can take these charlatans down in 2018 and 2020.
1
Those who say a moderate governor or senator can't beat Trump are right. He's too domineering. He won't lose to a regular candidate.
He'll campaign like he did in 2016. He'll lie, bully & run over opposition.
Who could hold a stage with him?
Oprah.
Oprah recently interviewed voters on "60 Minutes." She was outstanding. Wise, nimble, dignified, empathetic.
She's comfortable w/ people - including people who don't agree with her.
She's brilliant, confident, knowledgeable. Unlike Trump, she's a decent human being. Unlike Trump, she earned her billions. She can attract smart advisors.
If elected, she'd likely be a fine president. And historic. That's on her side.
She'd be a game changer. That's on her side too.
Importantly - she's a masterful, charismatic communicator - like Trump. She's completely natural & comfortable. Trump can't intimidate her. Oprah may be the one person who matches him in wealth, fame & media expertise. She's as world famous as Trump. She's his peer (& better!) & Trump may be scared to disrespect her. She can handle him.
Oprah can raise huge $$.
She has great political instincts. She was instrumental helping Obama win.
Put a less confident, less media savvy candidate against Trump & they'll lose.
I want her to run. I want to be rid of Trump more than anything else. Oprah could run a smart, dignified campaign & beat him. And I don't see anyone else who can.
She'll have to be convinced. But she may be our only hope.
6
A black woman celebrity. The embodiment of the three groups who most supported Hillary Clinton and the identity politics most identified with the Democratic Party in recent years. Yeah, that'll work.
As for convincing Oprah that she's our only hope, the egomaniac has already indicated that she's ready to be begged. In the narcissism realm, she is the Democratic Domand Trump.
There is probably a chart somewhere listing the Democrat Nominees. When Mr. Otter sent me a message in the local news that 'One of Your Leaders' got caught in placing a mustache on the poster of a Republican contender, he was discrete enough not to mention a name.
This is not the time to play 'pin a tail on the donkey'. If the NYT could show in bold letters, and as another bold endeavor, the names of All Democrats, this stolid citizen will notch with approval each and every one, regardless of gender, professional occupation, birthday, and feel good about it too. Elephants matter too, preferably in a quiet sanctuary far, far away.
1
Update - Thanking the New York Times for its article on 'Who Can Beat Trump in 2020', it is a good beginning for some of us who care and let us begin now.
2
Nytimes should be writing much more capably about financialisation and the failure of globalisation and what that means in an era of uncontainable, uncontrollable debt. Americans are completely unprepared for what's heading down the slipway partly because you aren't telling them. We get endless identity politics, pointless anti-Trump screeds, or irrelevant entertainment rubbish. Writing a few columns about the parlous economic condition of the majority of Americans might make wake you up to why Trump won. The banks have suborned politics with devastating consequences. Americans know this, because they live it - but you don't, so you don't care, with the result your columns are increasingly irrelevant. Everything has changed in the past 10-15 years, absolutely everything, but you'd never know that from reading the New York Times. You are encouraging everybody to assume that everything is still the same, when it's not. It's over. The United States of America of the past 50 years is finished. Your readers know it, but you either can't get to grips with this new, very difficult reality, or you're unaware. In all your anti-Trump rants, you never mention Bernie Sanders or the fact that he would be President rather than Trump had Clinton and Wasserman Schulz not stood in his way. Much easier to whine about Trump, again and again, talk about "spreads," rather than confront the uncomfortable reality that the game has changed, and you no longer know how to play.
No. Old Bernie didn't stand a chance. Blaming "Clinton and Wasserman Schultz" is fatuous. His fans can't face the facts about him. He was finished before he started. He and his flock gave us Trump.
1
Democrats, do the county a favor and stay on your social justice talking points. Continue pandering to the wealthy elites that reinforce your echo chamber. Continue race baiting, class warfare, and gender bias talk. Americans love all of this. You are on the right track! Good luck!
3
This is the sort of silliness that causes people not to take the Democratic Party seriously:
"And, now [Trump] wants to wipe Puerto Rico off the map."
2
"...tuition-free college and single-payer health care — make some G.O.P. leaders’ hearts go pitter-patter, because they’re convinced that a majority of Americans, including many independents, aren’t ready for either, not when the cost is bluntly explained."
When is the Times going to get honest about the funding of single payer? Yes, taxes will go up - but you and your employer will no longer have to pay premiums to the lecherous health insurers, and single payer will make the system more efficient and less costly.
Forget about Russian interference, with both Fox News and the NY Times spewing fake news about single payer, our democracy is in real danger
Wait until the very mean primaries in dnc and see how your party unity is then
1
I was reading this article with an open mind until Bruni mentioned " lavish spending of some in the Trump administration." I had just finished reading the Holder flew to the Belmont Stakes with his two daughters, their boyfriends and others. Once again amazing hypocrisy by libs . Add to that the no MSM coverage of crooked Sen Menendez and it's no wonder most of the country dismiss the libs as hypocrites and sore losers.
4
Too clever by half.
1
Nope. absolutely the wrong advice. The NYT pushed this moderation (as opposed to what it labelled "unicorns" - Medicare for all -) last year, and look how that went over - like a lead balloon.
2
Thanks for the navel gazing but no thanks! While democrats should show they will help the disaffected middle and working classes, republicans should be toast! Here are six well supported reasons why any truly patriotic american should never vote republican again: republicans are a minority party that must continue to undermine our democracy by gerrymandering districts and suppressing voters to win; 2) senate republicans stole an open Supreme Court seat from the last presdient; 3) the man now in the White House, and those he surrounds himself with are suspected of conspiring with Vladimir Putin to undermine our last election and our country; 4) congressional republicans won't lift a finger against a treasonous white house as long as they can hold onto power; 5) despite controlling all branches of government, the republican party is unable to govern; 6) the Republican party has proven it only responds to the needs of millionaires and billionaires. What more do you want america?!
2
Trump is holding his base .... believe will continue. The Dems are all over the place ... not where the electorate is residing.
Bernie sound great until you ask .... who will pay !
Describing Nancy Pelosi as a liberal was hilarious. Thank you for the laugh, I think I got milk up my nose!
The stupidity of Republican voters cannot be overestimated. They will vote for the most vile candidate as they like to see themselves reflected in the head of state and Congress. They voted in Don the Con and will vote for him again so I still believe there will be a war between good and evil within America.
1
With 15 and 29 percent approval ratings, it's no surprise that BOTH Republicans and Democrats are way out of touch with the American people. Nearly half of all voting age Americans consider themselves Independent, while only one quarter consider themselves Democrats and the same number for Republican. (NYT fails to report this.) Both establishment parties promote globalization and this has economically failed most Americans - and its pollution is destroying the environment of much of the planet (that we don't see). Pollution has killed more people in the developing world than all diseases combined! ( http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/06/in-developing-world-pollution-kills-more-... ) This is simply perverse...... And guess who buys most of the cheap consumer goods that create much of this pollution. Whether it's promoted by neo-liberal policies of the Clintons or Bushian neo-conservativism, global, corporate capitalism is a horrible development for both working-class Americans (and Europeans) as well as the developing world (where economic gains are culturally destructive and short-term).
1
What Frank Bruni forgets in his lengthy analysis is that G.O.P. is not Trump's Party.
1
Sly suggestions from unnamed Republican strategists notwithstanding, the Democrats ought to start now to promote Medicare for All and free tuition at public institutions of higher learning--both very popular ideas that target the elderly, young voters, and the sandwich people who often pay expenses for both groups. They need to promote government-funded infrastructure projects--NOT private-equity, get-even-richer schemes for profiteers--and government-funded training for the jobs that will result. These policies fall under the "economy, stupid" umbrella. How to pay for them? Raise taxes on the uber-wealthy to '50s levels. Also popular.
Then there's the candidate. For the midterms, many energetic, well-qualified candidates of various stripes are emerging all over the country, including seven running against Science Moron Lamar Smith. Local and state elections promise to give the GOP a run for their gerrymandered money with Hispanics, women, and blacks as well as Anglos challenging them. But please, no identity candidate for President in 2020. Don't give the other team anything to hook their racist, misogynist, lying claws into. The point is to get elected! A Midwestern, white, male, religiously mainstream progressive with a middle-class background, years of experience, and no skeletons would be immensely reassuring to all but the Alt-Wrong.
And don't be discouraged, Dems: it's a marathon, not a sprint.
1
" including Tom Price’s resignation and Alabama Republicans’ nomination of a Senate candidate who’s a fossil from the 1950s "
Why the 1950s? Note thatnationwide abortion was illegal in 1972. And it was in 2008 that the blue state of Califronia voted against gay marriage in a referendum.
But thanks for not mentioning the Neanderthals who, as we all know, were the "last group to oppose gay marriage!" (smile).,
1
Democrats are incompetent campaigners. Give them an election that's theirs to lose and they will lose it. Kerry against Bush, Clinton against Trump, house and senate seats. It's the one consistency they have.
1
Bruni, as I watch the nightmare unfold with Puerto Rico...I feel the Republicans are playing deviant politics while the Democrats play dirty politics. Ordinary people, especially the poor and people of color, have become footballs that the two parties kick around.
These two parties should have been dissolved years ago, especially the Republican party. What we are seeing is a horrific third world conditions of tyranny, oligarchy, plutocracy, incompetency, nonchalance, no rules for the rulers while more rules for the poor and the middle class and flagrant corruption (Tom Prize, Zinki, Mnuchin..)...emerging right in front of our eyes.
If the GOP rams this tax cut for corporations and the wealthy down the throat of Americans by rigging the system to exercise single-party rule, then their woes multiply. Forget Trump, he's up in flames. Now, the GOP is starting to catch some heat, as people realize the GOP is as incompetent and corrupt as Trump and his Putineers.
The avaricious, hypocritical, xenophobic, misogynist, racist, malignly homophobic religious zealotry of the Republican Party now represents mainstream majority America, going by the fact that voters have handed the GOP control of all three branches of US governance as well as the majority of state legislatures and governorships, AND command of the US Military.
Far from worrying whether Democrats gain a seat or two, here or there in 2020, I'd start looking at why America as a whole, now no longer practises what its putative Christian ideology preaches.
Let's look at those values for a second: love others as you love yourself, heal the sick, feed the poor, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, be faithful to your spouse for life, don't steal, be honest, be truthful, do not judge others lest you yourself be judged, don't be greedy, and don't be a hypocrite.
Now take a long, hard look at today's Republican Party, headed up by none other than the the serial bankrupt, certifiably mendacious and adulterous Donald J Trump, who bragged about sexually assaulting women, whose regime takes assets away from the poor to hand to the rich, denying them healthcare and turns away refugees and their children to drown at sea, while repatriating undocumented migrants brought into the USA as children.
These are the facts, on the public record. America is deeply sick, and I am starting to wonder whether the nation's addiction to television isn't at the heart of it.
2
Democrats, take a lesson from the Liar in Chief's playbook. You need some catchy slogans!!
I truly believe Trump's dumbed-down simple 2-, 3- and 4-word chants were part and parcel for his win. Crooked Hillary; Lyin' Ted; Little Marco; Build the wall; Lock her up; Fake News; Make America Great Again...the list goes on and on. That was all part of the con, catch phrases to heat up his supporters to mask the fact he didn't (and still doesn't) have a clue how to govern.
So Ms. Rosen can forget about the Democratic party's "tone" and finding a "sunny, aspirational outlook." Time better spent coming up with some derogatory and hateful phrases instead.
Democrats, listen up. No more identity politics. We know where you stand. Universal health care is a winner, but the advantages to the national bottom line need to be emphasized, and not just in coastal liberal press. Infrastructure improvement. Jobs for all Americanization school for immigrants. Being literate gets a place at the front of the line for green cards. Free internet in 50 states. Free pre-school at 3 y.o. France does a very good job with this.If children get to like school there is a better chance they will want to go beyond the secondary level. There are so many ways we could advance our society and get off this gerbil wheel we've been on.
7
Emotion, not intellect, drives voting behavior, in my 41 years of campaign experience. Complex issues like health care, tax policy, and foreign policy are condensed in the minds of average voters into relatively simple "like / dislike" equations. For example, "I support Medicare for all because healt care is a right!" Or "I despise the idea of big government controlling my health care decisions!" All of the extraneous detail is discarded at that point.
Democrats like Hilary Clinton relished talking about the policy details and failed to engage on an emotional level, thereby losing long-time supporters in the Rustbelt and Florida as a result. Thousands of voters here in Michigan who voted for Obama TWICE and for female Gov. Jennifer Granholm TWICE, switched to Trump in 2016 because he connected with them, and their visceral fears / anger, on a powerful emotional level.
Yet, so far, Dem leaders seem amazingly incompetent at drumming up emotional support. "A Better Deal"? How pathetic! "I'm with Her" and "Stronger Together" were just as tepid. Will Kamala Harris run on a similar platform of milquetoast nonsense in 2020 in a desperate attempt to hide the fact that she is a limousine liberal from San Francisco dependent on Wall Street / Martha's Vineyard money? Probably.
Democrats forget that every time Antifa burns a cop car, they get blamed for it. Ditto college anti-free speech violence and BLM highway shutdowns. Middle class Americans want security, not radicalism.
6
Hilary Rosen is the smartest person in politics, regardless of party. Why the Democratic party doesn't listen to every word she utters is beyond belief. Hilary is always right about everything. EVERYTHING! She is an amazing intellect.
No. Make the GOP own Trump. Each and every one. Does any sane person, excluding hacks, actually think that HE is capable of improvement?
That exalted pivot, that never happened, never will. Trump is unable to improve because he is unable to learn, or even listen. The twitter tirades are a symptom of his ungovernable ( pun intended ) temper and tiny attention span. He in a downward spiral. We need to ensure the collaborators spiral with him. They are too cowardly and spineless to stand up or speak out. They cower, hoping the venom lands elsewhere.
Trump IS the GOP. They bought him. NO refunds, NO returns. BIGLY.
3
From the current rhetoric of their forlorned leader's bitterness, divisive, and sense of entitlement haven't changed one bit since she lost the election last year & immediately told her followers to "RESIST & FIGHT"...& resist & fight they do, all to the detriment of what used to be a Democratic party filled with the common sense & old school wisdom of the elderly. But after having their party hijacked by young liberal activism in 2008, the Party represents very little of what mainstream America wants, so they continue to lose seats.
What the current Democratic Leadership does not understand but is exceedingly clear to the majority of our population is that the Neo-Democratic Party does not share many of the Party members views. moral character & those voters can't relate to minority & big government issues like Hillary and Obama wish they would, so they keep losing representation.
The country voted against more of the liberal activism the Neo Democrats supported over eight years of machiavellian leadership tactics that didn't provide much toward their expectations. Our aging population was cast aside because they thought the youth of America's needs were more important than the Seniors who were stunned to see our country change so rapidly and the uprisings of violent protest and hateful rhetoric that ensued.
IF that is what the left wants to focus on as their core values, they have every right to do so, but if they want to listen to the people - they want to be heard.
1
Nancy Pelosi is a solid leader who has expertly guided and held her shell shocked party together over these past months and, what's more, she may be all that's keeping Trump and Schumer from tying the knot and then bomb bomb bombing Iran. Frank Bruni may not even know what political outcome he'd prefer, but any close reader of his columns knows only too well that he's never had the Dems best interests at heart.
So the republicans, who have been systematically trashing this country since reagan, who have control of both houses of congress, most of the governorships, the majority of the state legislatures, who lie about the decisions they were elected to make for the benefit of everyone, who have repeatedly run us into debt, who continuously have funneled the nation's wealth to the top 1%, who are bought and paid for by dark money, who, despite their total control of our federal government and our scotus, who have burdened us with the worst president and the worst cabinet in history--are going to keep on getting re-elected with no consequences or accountability? we're running out of time for voters to wise up. The US is most likely, doomed.
3
Pelosi Pelosi Pelosi. Republicans will just need to repeat that word in 2018 & they'll keep the House. Unbelievable that Democrats don't see that, and terrible for the country.
3
Bruni's right about this:
"...the long game is the White House..."
And that election doesn't happen until 2020, when Bernie Sanders will be 79 years old, and Hillary Clinton -- I take her at her word -- will not be running.
Is there someone else for the Democrats? Shouldn't there be?
Joe Kennedy III.
1
The worse part about Democrats losing; all the whining the country will have to put up with. The best part? All the whining the country will have to put up with.
1
Get ready to lose? They are lost. The insanity never ends..they are done.
2
As are the Republicans.
The only one that may make a good President is John Kasich. I like him.
If only Democrats could learn the lessons of the Republicans and the Tea Party. Fight hard for your candidate in the primaries and then unite unequivocally around the winner. Vote in every election, even when the democratic candidate is not your preferred candidate. Put your country ahead of your self-centered egotism that you know best and whichever candidate does not agree with you 100% is a corporate sellout. Think long term and recognize that goals are long term and you can only get there in incremental steps. Recognize that the courts and local legislatures have much more impact on peoples lives than the presidency. Never ever vote for the Green Party again. Learn these lessons and Democrats will never lose again. And yes, I know that I am dreaming.
1
Not mentioned here is that the Democratic party needs to forge some discipline and left center and progressives have got to settle the cage match early and then bury their differences. Differences that the Russian internet troll factories will be working overtime on social media to drive a fatal wedge in the opposition to repugnantklan party fascism and the Trumpolini cult of personality.
The "republican lite" wing of the Democratic party must move toward a more progressive agenda, and Progressives need to compromise instead of holding their breath until they turn blue and not voting unless they get every last bit of their agenda supported. Otherwise, enjoy more of the same we've seen since Obama left office.
1
The most dangerous thing the Trump administration can do---
and they know it---is to make us lose hope, to make us doubt that there are any capable, honest people left in America. To make us feel that it's all a game and it doesn't matter which party is in control. That it's all just fake news.
Tell that to the people of Puerto Rico, who don't even get a vote, and are dying under the callous indifference of an unbalanced narcissist.
Tell that to the birds of the air who sometimes drop en mass from a polluted sky, the trees out west engulfed in flame, and the fish of the sea choking in an acidic, plastic-filled tub. They don't get a vote either, but are dying in unprecedented numbers while this administration stokes the fires of climate change as never before.
My children and yours don't get a vote either, yet they need the same hope we had as kids, that we'd slow the arms race, bring the bald eagles back, fix the ozone hole, pass sound civil rights laws. And we have, to some degree.
We're facing existential problems as never before. We rallied before. We must do it again. Losing hope, losing faith in the common good is worth supporting, is to reflect the emptiness of Donald Trump.
You DO have a vote.
Do everything you can to make it count.
1
Democrats need to stand for something. Here is some news, the Republican base actually won the 2016 election. Not since JFK has the Democratic party point to a New Frontier!
It also time to shed the party of the Clintons.
1
From the left It would be helpful if the New York Times had any coverage of labour issues but then that would be fair to the citizens. As the paper of record not having a labour section exemplifies the period we live in. As Bossman Mnuchin said, “protest on your own time”. That quote should be the cry from the Democrats!
Unfortunately democrats since Clinton are really moderate republicans. So it comes down to whose cheaper to buy with the largest returns?
So grateful for a parliamentary system.
"(Rosen) added “The change that Donald Trump was selling was blowing up the system,” she observed. “What’s our change? Is our change to patch up the system? Not very sexy.”
But we had a candidate who matched Trump vigorous, aggressive tone and he was ratforked by Democratic Party operatives like Rosen.
If any of your readers/commenters or the Democratic Party believe that I will be supporting another middle-right Clinton-clone doing business as usual, wearing a blue shirt instead of a red shirt, you are profoundly mistaken. Rather, it is time to double-down. New Democrats understand that the systemic poisons of gerrymandering, the electoral college, Russian cyber-tampering and the endless coffer-draining 7 wars now being waged by big business, are what is killing our party. And timidity and inclusiveness.
We need a screechy loud-mouthed Democrat with a compelling democratic-socialist message, someone willing to stand up and scream no, someone intellectual but inspirational with leadership skills. Let's start thinking outside the box (beltway).
If the line between entertainers and politicians has been truly erased, then let's start there. Let Winfrey, Kimmel and others run. And make room for Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom and other younger Progressives. Let the Republican Party fracture into it's extremist factions. Encourage the Tea Party to run a candidate and pull votes from the Republicans.
The old Democratic Party is dead. Let it die. All hail the new Progressive Party.
1
Sixty three million voters chose Trump as so-called president, Trump who disgraces our nation daily. Many chose him simply because he was backed by the Republican Party, many because he is an overt racist, many because they are religious fundamentalists who care more about the abortion issue than the survival of our democracy.
After seeing Trump in action anyone who continues to support him a a racist or a traitor or both.
4
After having read hundreds of NYT comments submitted by fierce Bernie Bros and angry Hillary supporters before November 2016, I think the warnings outlined by a Mr. Bruni are right on target. Democrats might well gather in circles and shoot at each others' feet and then stumble out of 2018 bleeding.
But the focus on Nancy Pelosi made me cough and laugh.
Why is Pelosi so vilified? Why the vitriol? Oh come on. She wouldn't have attained and held her position as a leader for years unless she were a competent negotiator and smart cookie. Could this powerful distaste for "Nancy" be in any way connected to the fact that her name isn't Frank or Paul or Mitch or Don or Tom or Ross or David or Bill or Mike or Richie or Jim or Andy or Daniel or Pierre or Scott or ... ?
2
i am SO very tired of the pompous, self-righteous, Frank Bruni, lecturing genuine progressives about what not to do while slavishly advocating for charter schools and education privatization, defending far-right, extremist, openly racist provocateurs while condemning college students protesting against them as "censors" and "totalitarians" and now telling Democrats how to win elections.
His prescriptions are almost always wrong and his priggish pontifications only make his drivel that much more infuriating.
No personal antipathy intended, Frank, but I liked you so much more when you were focused on marriage equality and food.
2
"Democrats know what the bedrock issues are for the middle class: jobs, healthcare, education and immigration."
NO.
They USED to know...BUT that is NO MORE!
They poisoned themselves with identity politics and surrendered the ghost to the ELITES (that Party is ran by billionaires from CA, Chicago and NY).
They are NOT for the working Men and Women: Sadly (?) TRUMP IS!
Democrats keep losing to republican candidates and the far left's argument is that grab those right leaning voters is for leftist candidates to move even farther to the left...?
The far left folks really aren't very politically savvy or savvy in general, are they?
If Democrats can't come up with a vision for our country that will help us compete and thrive in this new global economy they deserve to lose. I'm not Trump or look at how bad the Republicans are doing won't cut it anymore. What is their plan to address inequality and rebuild our infrastructure. FDR won because he promised a new deal that improved the lives of the average Americans. Go big or go home.
Ethical questions? There's no question, but that the Trumpist regime is nothing but unethical, A to Z.
Some of their abuses are apparent, much is hidden.
We're heading towards utter catastrophe.
1
I am not sure that "Democrats losing" would be as bad as "Trump winning".............either condition sure makes me glad I am very old and uncaring.
1
Democrats need to be willing to use the republican tactics against them.... Instead of a welfare queen how about a welfare conglomerate? Or an unrepentant draft dodger in the White House , or perhaps find some dirt on Mitch and Paul that may be refutable but is true to a certain extent? Be willing to accept that they may lose but can make it even more difficult for the republicans to govern than they already have proved all by themselves
1
Blah, Blah, Blah...more thoughts based on political theory and the past.
Any gains the Democrats can make in 2018 or 2010 depend on these two points:
1. The Democrats and Progressives have to come up with a united platform that appeals to people who vote rather than offending those who do vote and appearing as too idealistic and unrealistic.
2. The large block of African Americans must be encouraged to register and vote for the candidates their own leaders support and recommend.
Without these in place, the greedy, anti everything but blue eyed, heterosexual rich will continue to prevail.
1
Great column Mr. Bruni, great points. I am forced to conclude that there really is no hope for America. The Republicans will hang onto Congress despite their failures, and will keep on failing. The Democrats will attack each other and keep on failing. Trump will stay in power, incompetent, ignorant, and divisive as he is.
And probably Trump will get re-elected in 2020, or the election will be cancelled and he will name himself president for life. Americans are obviously highly unintelligent and fascist, so this is a very likely outcome.
So I will do myself a favor, give up on this nosediving land now, and prepare to leave forever at about the end of 2020. I will make whatever profits I can, liquidate all my assets, and abandon this place, because clearly enough, there is no hope for America and I'd rather not be here for the bitter end.
1
" Nothing about Trump’s first term makes a second seem survivable"
Ouch!
The number of Trump acolytes falling off the boat. The insults. The compulsive picking up fights. The clear signs of mental issues. Toying the red button; nothing will diminish Trump support. On the contrary. The support will get wider and wilder, because finally, racism, hate, anger and bigotry have found a vent wide open.
If democrats have nothing better in the offer than Pelosi or any other fosilized heroes of the past who didn't see it coming, a second term Trump/Bennon is inevitable.
1
During the sobering aftermath of the 2010 midterms, one conservative wag crowed that young people and African Americans couldn't be bothered to turn out when their personal idol wasn't on the ticket. "What a reductive and simplistic generalization," I thought at the time. Seven years later the truth in that cold statement has been borne out. I have to say that the realization is a real buzz kill.
the DCCC learned absolutely NOTHING from the last election. they are still sticking with establishment candidates/representatives (read: PELOSI) and the same old tropes : gun control and expanded immigration (neither of which large parts of the electorate support). until they ask Pelosi to step down and stop the incessant assualt on the 2nd ammendment, they will continue to be the minority party.... sad, considering that america does better under democratic leadership... but you can't change crazy... just look at Trump. they will have to wait out pelosi while the rest of the country waits out trump. sad.
1
Here is the difference between Democrats and Republicans:
Democrats are the party OF Me/Myself
Republicans are the party FOR Me/Mine
1
It is astonishing that a party run to benefit only the elite thanks to citizens united is in power because the bigots were swayed by a demagogue who promised to take America back for the marginalized working class for whom Trump has done absolutely nothing except spread hate and appealed to racial bigotry. He is a radically incompetent man whose bravado is transparent and whose lying never ends not to mention his impeachable collusion with the Russians through Paul Manafort. Why is he not a disgrace for his party?
1
The Democrats seem always to be ready to lose. (And I say that as an Independent who has voted for only one Republican since I first voted in 1964; and that was for Bill Weld against a loser from Texas who for some reason the Dems put up for Governor of Massachusetts.)
1
Mr Bruni identifies the proverbial nail: "..standing up to an erratic, egomaniacal president in desperate need of containment". That nail awaits its fate to be hit on the head, in a non-literal sense.
The dog-whistler and his minions that constantly forage the countryside for white resentment / nationalism / supremacy must be sent packing. However, Mr Bruni cautions us: despite the dismal failures of leadership and governance, Trump and the Republicans are far from certain of losing their majorities.
To recede the coming pain of this incessant red tide, please confront Trump's base about HIS economic growth mousetrap expected to pay for these "increasing the deficit" tax cuts.
"Massive Tax Cuts" were Trump's words when he gave HIS speech. And just before that speech, Trump proclaimed that he does not benefit from HIS proposed Tax Plan. Since Trump certainly will benefit from HIS proposed elimination of the Estate Tax, Trump was lying!
Now ask these proud Everyday-Joe-Republicans and record their answers: WHO is getting the "Massive Tax Cuts" of which Trump spoke?
The deck is stacked against Democrats. Putin is enjoying his puppet's bizarre divisive antics so much that he is sure to continue undermining Democrats and supporting Republicans. The Republican Supreme Court is not likely to rule against its party's gerrymandered hold on offices. Too many Americans lack the education and/or critical thinking skills to know when they are being sold the Brooklyn Bridge or a coal mine on the grounds of Mar-a-Lago.
The majority of the country is frustrated and angry as the minority party of Trump lies to the electorate, is aided by both domestic and foreign propaganda, and gerrymanders itself to power. Trump and Republicans are making a farce of our government and the majority wants them out of office.
But Republicans won't go away because the gerrymandered districts protect these miscreants; they know they can sell sole ownership of the Brooklyn Bridge to tens of millions of their True Believers who are already lining up to buy shares in the Mar-a-Lago Coal Mine, AND they have Putin watching their backs.
If the majority of Americans want to save the country from Trump and the Greedy Oligarchy Party, the people will need to face the fact that election rigging is the GOP religion; the people must take to the streets and show such outrage that the GOP cowards will understand that we will not take it anymore. If the majority is not willing to act, the Democrats may as well fold, leave on the next bus out and let the people stew in their juices.
148
what's funny is how many people say they want a "leader." what a joke most us only want someone to reflect our own thoughts and illusions. A true "leader" makes people uncomfortable because they taking them out of their comfort zone. Can you find one Democratic person who is a "leader?" People were begging for chance an they got all those Republican stooges and HRC....Trump may not be telling you nice comforting bedtime stories but he is acting like a leader.
Whoa....it was Barack Obama that told Putin's emissary that after the election he would have more flexibility, and it was Hillary Clinton that gave the Russian representative a red RESET button. So we know who was in bed with the Russians.....and it wasn't anyone from the Trump organization. You need to quit listening to the liberal left's talking points, and start looking at the facts.
1
You're still on Putin? That says it all.
1
Republicans are good at propaganda. Democrats are not. Until the Democratic party learns how to win that battle, they stand a good chance of losing again.
179
JEB's comment is correct. For decades, here is what the conservatives have been pummeling the airwaves with, especially in rural areas (which have little on the FM dial):
-Rush Limbaugh
-Michael Savage
-Sean Hannity
-Glenn Beck
-Alex Jones
The competition between the above has driven each to greater extremes of anti-progressivism, pulling their listeners with them.
And this has been the counterpunch by the left:
NPR. Followed by drive time Vivaldi. Even the Vivaldi is enough to drive away independents...
Progressivism's champions in recent years? A pair of cable tv comedians, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. The question for the Democrats is how they can outshout conservatism without sinking into the stinking muck that is conservative talk radio.
2
The Democrats are NOT?? Have you ever read a newspaper, watched a late night talk show, listened to any mainstream media broadcast, attended a college class, or watched an NFL game lately? Our entire society is drenched with liberal democrat propaganda. Every commercial features a properly sanctioned mixed racially diverse family, every TV series is mandated to have a gay character (extra bonus points for making it a white male). History is rewritten, Western civilization reviled and attacked, and racial division is stoked hotter every day. Looks to me like Democrat propaganda is alive and well!
And... Republicans are better at propaganda because they have trainloads of money they can aim at frustrated, out-of-work young nerds just graduated from biz school where they learned how to put ads and money together. Citizens United and Koch and Mercer and a few thousand multi-millionaires below them know this.
Here are some additional reasons dems do not win the House in 2018: waters, schiff, richmond, wassermanS, jackson lee, cummings, franken, fake indian, sanders, gutierrez, ellison, perez
1
Moderate Democrat is an oxymoron because centrist Democrats are as extinct as the DoDo bird. Radical, alt-Left, anti-American, socialist, Progressive Democrats pretending to be "moderate" do so because they know that if they come right out and espouse their radical, extremist, wacko philosophy, policies, and practices, they will lose big time.
2
Pelosi is a real problem but more noteworthy are Maxine Waters and Keith Ellison. Waters is a nutcase who believes the CIA brought crack to the black community and makes similar outrageous statements. She's also corrupt. Ellison, unbelievably, was made vice-chair of the democrat party. He's a former avid supporter of Louis Farrakhan but has lied about it. These two get more press than anyone. They don't play well in Sheboygan. If I were the Republicans I would just run Waters speeches as campaign ads.
1
I'm pretty sure that just as Trump won in spite of all reason and sanity, the Republicans will win in 2018 and 2020. It doesn't matter that they are in total disarray, that they haven't accomplished anything, and that their leader is an imbecile and a racist. None of that matters. They are the party of guns and religion, and that is what is driving America today. This is the trump suit (no pun intended) of the deal, and they hold all the cards. Result? Grand slam.
2
The Dems have bet their whole game plan on class warfare/racial divide. They have sold their soul to Political Correctness and have paid the price. Stuck in the 1950's race hatred dialog just doesn't fly any longer as people are tired of this PC business, quotas, set-asides, special privileges, etc. If we cull racial divide out of the Dems playbook, they have nothing else.
"Democrats'...need to remember it's their job to convince people to vote for them, not demand it."
Good advice. I don't think most Democrats understand this. Even people you might consider "stupid" get to vote, and they do.
1
"There are additional reasons for Republicans not to tremble in the face of the pendulum’s potential swing. Thanks to gerrymandering and intense polarization in the electorate, fewer districts are truly competitive than in the past."
That is the real and only issue, everything else, peripheral. Democrats will not take the House. Not in 2018. I can't be the only person who read Ratf*cked and thought "right, we barely have a democracy now." The scale of the post-2010 gerrymandering is undemocratic.
And yet we continue to dance around the issue like it's a minor quirk in a Democracy. The very foundations of our democracy are up in the air, and yet we spend more time, bandwidth, attention talking about peripherals: Democrat messaging, Nancy Pelosi, etc.
If the democrats push free college tuition, they lose my moderate liberal vote.
College is not for everyone, i am not paying for frat parties, weekend blow outs and a C average, to get a degree in European History.
Rather, how about creating and funding a large number of trade schools. Teach young people how to be a plumber, a carpenter, an auto mechanic. How about just a handy man. Can you get any of these folks to your home easily.
That makes sense, not the feel good, Free college tuition. It is a typical liberal idea, sounds good and kind, and will absolutely do nothing to change the social situations of the beneficiairies, while costing a fortune.
1
Do you have any idea just how old Bernie will be in 2020?
"Bernie will be attacked as ... too old..."
He'll be 79 years old. Think about it.
Trump is currently 71.
1
Our American Democratic Party has not a clue.
1
I don't care, I'm leaving the country.
2
Keep putting bitter & poor loser Hillary in the news, & keep up with the identity politics, and keep up with the far leftist resistance, antifa, etc, and definitely the democrats will lose again.
Find a moderate face for the democratic party and develop a moderate message, and focus on middle class Americans of all races and just maybe the democrats will gain.
3
The "prominent Republican strategist" who said Democrats are moving "too far left" can stuff it.
When has "the left" in the last 25 years had power approaching that of the fascism-ridden GOP? A GOP that has done everything in its power to squash, prevent, or obstruct policies that actually benefit the vast majority of the American people.
1
Gee, and I thought it was hanging chads, voter machine hacking by the Russians, gerrymandering and voter suppression.
United States of America, Please Get Ready to Lose.
We'll see.
2
A majority of Americans do not agree with Democrats on immigration, that's why Trump won. And as long as Democrats continue to chose to help illegal aliens over their own countrymen, they will never get back into power. The Democrats have learned absolutely nothing in the last 8 years.
Democrats controlled everything when Obama was elected. And after eight years of a Democrat President that always sided with illegal aliens over American citizens, he has Destroyed the Democrat Party. The American people have had enough, and if Trumps election, and now Judge Moores election, doesn't convince them that their support for illegals over American Citizens is suicide, then they have no business controlling anything.
1
The real losers are independent, moderate voters who expect government to function similarly. Since all the op-ed writers to the Times seem to be inextricably affiliated to either the left or right or to one party or the other, we lose again. Why can't the NYT hire some writers who are unaffiliated whom one might think could voice ideas on issues without using the words Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal, left or right. Just ideas please. How hard could that be?
Get rid of Pelosi or forget it.
1
There is only one way tRump can redeem himself and frankly, it looks as if he is on course: His obvious lack of experience coupled with his hyper-inflated snowflake ego (backed by his BigBox-Store sized mouth) may well cause the Republicans to lose power in the House and Senate. I think I might secretly thank the big Orange fella if he can pull this off. But then impeach ASAP.
The problem is not the Democrats infighting. They will win the most votes, The problem is a Constitution and a system that disenfranchises the voters. America is not the shinning city on the hill, it's a slum of sleaze and ignorance and corruption led by a political mafia spewing lies and hatred.
1
Bruni, why don't you try to help them win instead. I am tired of you always complaining about how others on your side are failing - sometimes you sound like Trump. Come up with some good ideas.
Until they begin to understand why Trump won Dems have no chance. And no the answer is not that everyone is a racist.
Expect Republican ads like this: "Democratic candidate ___ supports Berkeley values (cue clips of Antifa violence). Do we want that in our district?"
1
All you people got is hate. You hate Trump and you hate the people who voted for him... You have no chance.
Trump voters are pretty happy so far. I have yet to hear regrets from any of the people I know who voted for him - myself included. In fact, we're beginning to see him as winning on a number of fronts. He is "The Great Distractor" and you take the bait... Every. Single. Time. We could care less that he doesn't play by your rules. You continue to underestimate him. He's smarter and braver than the lot of you and he's utterly relentless. He just kicked the NFL to the curb and he's winning on North Korea. If he is able to keep some of his promises on trade, he's going to put millions of Americans back to work and then you'll have a real problem.
The democrats have nothing to offer. And that's that.
1
Dems lost the midterms when the first book with the question and answer on the same cover was released.
What Happened: Hillary Rodham Clinton
And that is all you need to read for the midterms
We Democrats need candidates that are young and exciting. Joe Kennedy III.
No more angry geezers like Old Bernie. No more red faces and jabby fingers. No more misogyny.
2
The Republicans in Congress are a disappointment. The Democrats are worse. The media really IS the enemy of the people, and the NY Times is one of the worst of them all.
That is all.
No thanx 4 the hopeless, changelessness.
Time to root for better angels, activism, freedom,
and justice,\. I believe the author needs a long
vacation, no quality added
1
Bruni is right. For some reason, the American voter has decided that Republicans should be elected to office even though they know they crashed the economy while increasing wealth disparity, started an unnecessary, tragic and expensive war and are involved in all kinds of scandals and hypocrisies. Voters even now know Obama did right by them but somehow, they think they must vote for Republicans. Makes no sense.
Is this a Times article that doesn't mention racism as the sole cause of Republican success? Maybe the Democratic party isn't doomed!
I am sad to learn that Frank Bruni evidently thinks that the Democratic Party ought to sell its soul and sell out its voters to win more elections. I guess you forgot; they tried that. It didn't even work while fundamentally corrupting the Party in ways that still resonate today.
I don't care what angry white racists think about Nancy Pelosi or Keith Ellison. We have lost their support permanently, and good riddance. If we can't win without their votes, then America deserves to dies anyway.
1
Sadly, I foresee the Republicans holding down the House and Senate in 2018. Democrats don't have any "star power," and that's bad enough, but worse, they lack a demonstrated policy agenda.
Hillary Clinton failed last year because, even with the backing of the DNC (and the New York Times) she failed to outline specific policies that would benefit what's left of a ragged middle class. And Republicans, grenade throwers that they're expert at, lobbed fusillade after fusillade at her barricades: Benghazi and email servers ad infinitum. The Madame Secretary didn't run a campaign in 2016 as much as she ran a rearguard action against Donald Trump's guerrillas, his "base," while the GOP establishment looked on in, at first, amusement and then, after he won, in gleeful, shocked surprise.
Gerrymandering remains the most formidable obstacle to Democrats' inroads into the House and, to a lesser degree, the Senate. Recall that a year ago, Democrats were salivating at the prospect of a Senate takeover and Mitch McConnell had all but conceded the game was lost..
But race and voter suppression drive the gerrymandering dynamic. There are too many states where tribalism and division animate white voters. These folks are not interested in policy, only division and disaffection. That Trump is a terrible president matters less to them than the fact that they see him as their bleeding wound, one that refuses to heal.
My bet is that nothing will change. Our national stagnation will continue.
My prediction: In 2018 gerrymandering will insure that nothing changes in The House. Democrats will probably lose seats in the senate. So, things will get worse. People like Roy Moore will get elected and Washington will become even more of a joke. Democracy in this country is in danger for two reasons: the first is the corruption of the electoral system and the second is an electorate so ignorant ane ill-informed that it would be better if they didn't vote at all. Thought has been replaced by opinion. Civic responsibility has been replaced by tribalism.
2
I might change your last couple sentences a tad:
"Trump is an expert at affixing a “kick me” sign to himself and all Republicans. Democrats need practice patience as he courts disaster at every turn and takes himself and his party out of contention for decades."
Its inevitable. He is out of control. Russia, Puerto Rico, North Korea, American Nazis, White Supremacist Billionaires, not paying taxes... these and dozens more are fuses that he has already lit.
1
Joe Biden would been elected in the last election in a landslide. Hillary is competent and honest, but was old news. We are in a race to the bottom with trump.
Democrats are allowing the far left to control the agenda, such as it is, and as a result it is unlikely they will get control of congress. Their focus has been on the presidency with little or no attention to State or congressional races. They will never win as long as Bernie and his supporters drive the party. Purity test politics is a losers game. It's the economy stupid.
Why is it that so many "liberal" columnists are so liberal on race, gender and sexual orientation, but oh so "moderate" on economic justice issues? Could it be their tax brackets?
What are the Democrats chances in 2018? If the focus group tested current party slogan is any indication, it is "let's hope the Republicans make so many people angyr they will vote for us Dems - even if we stand for nothing."
Some advice for those who want Democrats to win elections:
Don't call voters "stupid."
1
I agree with Bruni that Pelosi will never win back the house. She has repeatedly failed to get a majority and the Republicans have successfully painted her as a west coast crazy liberal. Due to her past failures, she should step aside NOW.
It will be a very, very long time before America wants more of Obama's Legacy: aka BLM sponsored murders of police and Antifa destroying property and viscously attacking folks who hold different political views.
Democrats need to stop thinking all they need is a Kamala Harris or Corey Booker to wheel them back into the victory circle.
1
The Dimms will lose.
Can we look past 'democrat' and 'republican' finally and find a statesman (or woman) instead?
We are tired of identity politics and name calling. We are tired of bible-thumpers and charlatans who claim to speak for God. We have had it up to here with the self-righteous. If you are female but choose to identify as a male, be my guest--but please use the bathrooms that are already there. The issues of the day are clear and we need to find ways to solve them as a nation, not as a party or as a sub-set of the whole..
Everyone (and every corporation) should pay their fair share of taxes. We need to find a way to provide quality medical care to all. We need to be strong enough to protect ourselves from every credible threat so that we don't need to start a war. You should have to pass a reasonable American civics test before you are allowed to vote.
Whatever it is within us that created a Trump presidency needs to be extirpated along with the flim-flammers and sycophants that swept in on his foul tide.
The people know that this country is under threat from within and not without.
2
I disagree with the idea that the Democrats, with Medicare for all and tuition free public college, are moving too far to the left. Polling demonstrates that the public supports these options, especially over tax cuts for the wealthy (over a trillion dollars proposed by Trump) or more military spending (over 800 billion just approved).
I do agree that Pelosi has become an easy target. That's not her fault, but like HRC if you're in the crosshairs of their slime machine for years and years stuff just sticks. They don't need a centrist or a white male to replace her, just someone *new*. People are sick of the same faces.
Don't be so cynical!
"The only way ANY political party (or human being) succeeds is by working with the other side. American politics is forever trapped in this idea that if only enough people join MY side, then MY values and opinions will triumph..."
A political party is ALWAYS willing to work with the other side when that political party is in the minority. When it has a majority, however -- well, not so much.
I think the left underestimates the backlash against the liberal lunacy.
The Democratic candidate field will be a mixed bag. And every eligible real American must vigorously vote for every single one of them. Show up in droves, and pull every blue lever in sight. I like single payer; I like free college; and I'm also fine with both Pelosi and Schumer sticking around. I'm fine with all of it. I also disagree with those who say that being anti-Trump won't suffice as a party platform. I think there could be no better platform than that. So show up, don't make the perfect the enemy of the good, and let's cure this awful disease. Enough is enough.
1
Democrats have lost over a 1000 local, state and federal positions since Obama was elected in 2008, but they are just about to win EVERYTHING!! How does that song go? Dreeeam....dream, dream dream....dreeeeeam....
"Despite Donald Trump’s wackiness and the G.O.P.’s woes, Democrats could easily lose ground here."
The GOP isn't having woes. The GOP is having a heyday. Republican voters will enthusiastically vote for any candidate with an "R" next to their name, no matter how crazy. (If there are two "R"s, they'll vote for the crazier one.) Everything bad that's happening is the fault of the Democrats; everything good that's happening is happening in spite of the evil Democrats' attempts to sabotage it. Trump appeals to the worst in people; people are responding with exuberance, and will continue to do so. Democrats are at a loss for how to respond to a constituency that has turned into an unreasoning mob of enraged villagers. This is just how the GOP wants things: they don't need to govern the country, they can focus their energies on amassing more wealth. Look for Democrats to lose most of their contested seats in 2018.
(P.S. I would love to be wrong about this. Really I would.)
1
SOMEBODY, somebody please tell me why 30 or 40 top Democrats can't get into a conference room together on a three-day retreat somewhere (including everyone from Sanders and Hillary Clinton to Biden, Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren, Bill Clinton, and others further left and further right), along with a pack of 10 or 12 communications specialists, PR whizzes and political consultants, and NOT COME OUT until they have consensus on a program, policy platform, slogan and campaign action plan that are actually bold and inspiring, that offer an uplifting vision of America, that can win elections in 2018 and 2020?!
I do not believe it's rocket science. The milque-toast blueprint that Schumer and Pelosi came out with a few months ago was so lame, lukewarm, a boring laundry list of minor, rehashed, worn-out policy modifucations and little reform proposals that we've already heard before and found uninspiring -- collective sigh -- with nothing new or uplifting to get excited about.
Where's the outreach to the people typically thought of by liberal elites as white trash and rednecks? Where's the accounting for Bernie Sanders' shockingly huge popularity? Where's the Millenial-targeting strategy, the student-voter-registration drive. COME ON.
Otherwise ....... indeed, prepare to lose Democrats. (I feel like I can already hear the clueless, hand-wringing post-mortem attempts to come, in late Novembers 2018 and 2020.)
You lost me at Howard Wolfson. Why do we need to ever hear again from anyone associated with Hillary's campaign team?
Stick with the Race /civil unrest agenda: DNC will get all they deserve.
1
Funny how things went so well for Barack Obama politically at the same time they weent south for his own party.
The press should turn their backs toward Trump in the next press conference as a sign of protest.
As long as the Democrat party embraces leftist-fascist groups such as Antifas,strident "social justice warriors" and almost totalitaian demands that we all walk on eggs to avoid violating "political-correcctness," Republicans are likely to win and hold seats. We commoners out here in the real world look upon these pets-of-the-ruling-leftist elites with immense distaste.
Trump is playing identity politics as Bannon suggested there are more whites than brown folks currently and the whites have most of the money. Trump is able to attack brown people at will and the GOP just shrugs oh well that's Trump being Trump ,isn't that just adorable. We got a racist president who is inept and a liar and the GOP is just fine with that, now let's get some nice fat tax cuts for the donor class. The GOP set the stage for the monster Trump trashing democracy and decent behavior with his authoritarian vile and disgusting behavior.
1
rofl, democrats are going to pick up appx 10 house seats and lose 5 senate seats. Trump will win re-election in 2020. If you play your cards right, you might get the house back in 2022
The main reason we have mentally-challenged insult comedian instead of a president is that it's more profitable for the media & for politicians to stage a breathless horse race, focusing on strategies & personalities, rather than serve the public interest by discussing issues & governing. The way things are going, I put my money a bigger Republican majority. And a second term for Mr. Trump, unless, of course, they can come up with someone even more ridiculous.
It's the economy stupid. Still holds true today. Add in a media that shows zero interest in being any way objective when covering Trump, and thus by proxy the working class, and you guarantee no change in Congress outside of a real scandal that brings resignations.
I find it appalling that over a third of responders view Trump in positive terms. Even 5% would be too many. But then, I consider the numbers of evangelicals and NRA supporters. We really are a stupid racist country in a death spiral. Where are our current Jefferson’s and Tom Paines? We desperately need a new Age of Enlightenment.
1
As long as Democrats continue to call people who don't want their teenage daughters sharing a high school locker room with a boy bigots, call the people who want the borders secured racist xenophobes and tell the rest of us what to eat and what to drive, they'll keep losing.
Trump will be a two-term president: Never underestimate the stupidity of the average American.
1
Wow. Whoever the dude who wrote this is, holy cow.. Has he EVER stepped foot outside of New York?
WAY out of touch brah...
We're lovin President Trump here in the rest of America.
Democrats win easily if they do one thing. Adopt FDR's Economic Bill of Rights as the core of their economic platform. The American people know the system is rigged for the wealthy and they will vote in droves for candidates that seek to re-balance the economic scale. Yes its still the economy, stupid.
1
Frank
It will be a Republican landslide
You boys keep bashing the 70,000,000
Deplorables
First, regardless of how insane the press makes Trump look or sound or party infighting I don't care what is ever said by any politician. I care what they do and how they vote...Why? Because all of them lie. So if you close your ears and watch with your eyes you will see that the economy is roaring and 401K's are going up,Sharia law is getting the boot, Jobs are increasing. So many Democrats and centrist Rebublicans that stand in the way will be looking for new jobs. It's always the Economy Stupid!
It's about the ECONOMY stupid.
It is the Russians trolls, bots and hackers stupid! I am sure by the 2018 elections Facebook and Twitter will have had thousands of stories about all Democratic candidates are satanic, mass murderers,who are going to make blacks/browns the kings of the deep state. The Republicans will still be pretending what Russian hacking? Remember Republicans see no evil, hear no evil and of course can benefit greatly by evil. Trump taught them that lesson.
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Thanks, Frank. But I think we already got the memo.
This is just filling column space with speculation on political power games and media hype. Nothing about the issues Dems should push for and how they should explain them. Nothing on what We the People need to get representation for our taxation, to make our democracy work again.
Princeton’s Martin Gilens researched congress over years and showed that most lawmaking responds to what the elite donors favor, ignoring the citizen majority.
Jimmy Carter stated we veer toward oligarchy because it costs millions now to run for any office, which wasn’t true when he and Reagan ran.
So both parties will rustle up big money from the rich who will invest in politics for good returns. Where do we the people come in? We can’t compete. What limits set by big donors will candidates go along with, while marketing themselves to voters? Any chance of health care access and affordability attained by other capitalist democracies in the last century?
Do these issues interest any NY Times columnists? Never mind single payer or free tuition. Those make great targets for Gop. How about health care costs and tuition that is MORE affordable, due to regulations by democratically elected govt for the benefit of citizens of a demcoracy?
Or is even that too radical? How about some pros & cons on that, Mr. Bruni?
Democrats must learn that although Trump is horrible as a messenger, his policy goals convey a message that many Americans agree with, even if not publicly. But just because we don't like the messenger doesn't mean we want to disagree with the message and vote for Democrats instead.
I'm not interested in a Democratic party that is anti-Trump. I want to hear about specific policy goals and contrasts.
Calling half the nation racist for wanting a debate on immigration---legal and illegal---is not smart politics. Don't talk about amnesty if you're not serious about sealing the border first.
Promising an endless supply of free tuition money to students and their colleges at taxpayer expense is precisely why tuition rates have skyrocketed since we already tried that experiment with student loans (cheap and limitless).
Caring more about reelection campaigns for DNC dinosaurs (i.e. Schumer, Pelosi) than injecting new ideas is putting party over the nation.
Trump is a master marketer and the DNC will be branded as unpatriotic between now and 2018 and 2020. Don't fall for it. Offer up solutions to problems that don't raid my wallet and maybe Democrats can stand a chance.
Mainstream democrats still haven't won over Bernie-crats much less engage in the kind far-thinking strategy that entails taking back over government. Not only have they not won us back but they have jammed salt in the wound with the DNC lawsuit outright declaring the primaries are a sham ("And what of it they say"). Then this week they have the gall to rehabilitate the GWB legacy declaring all the anti-war efforts of the Bush years a joke. Like it never meant anything.
Well pal, the anti-war efforts of the Bush years DID mean something to some of us and that means its not OK to be a war monger just because its your strategy of the week.
The mainstream democratic party is staring down the permanent loss of its anti-war base and probably its anti-corp base as well. Meanwhile these clueless bubble-world apparatchiks talk about impeachment (when they don't own any branch of Gov) and takeover when they don't have their base.
Democrats are betting on the "trash Trump" strategy to put them in a winning position. My take is take that the most likely outcome is that Trump supporters will vote out many current Republicans with more "outsider conservatives". Frankly, you won't oust a moderate Republican and vote in a liberal Democrat. Meanwhile, the Democrat party still moves left while maintaining their elderly leadership of Pelosi/Reid/Warren/Biden et. al. While the mainstream media carries water for them, I believe that the old strategy is played out and they are cruising for a bruising in '18.
In 2016 Russian troll armies, Twitter bots, and micro-targeted Facebook ads convinced progressives that Hillary Clinton was a monster. Russian propaganda surrogates claimed to be "Bernie or bust" but then switched to Trump. Jill Stein is bought and paid for by the Kremlin and she siphoned off enough votes to hurt Clinton in key battleground states. So the real question is will Democrats stick with their nominee? Or will they continue to let the perfect be the enemy of the good enough? Because make no mistake a vote for fringe candidates is a vote for the Republican candidate. That's just how the system is set up.
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Trumps favorable and unfavorable numbers still best both the Dems and the Reps, read the article if you dont beleive me. So this reliance on "Not Trump" will fail.
As usual, the blather and speculation is all tied up in numbers and political individuals. And same as last year, no one is taking the temperature of the electorate. They're still running a fever, and it's getting worse. All these analysts still talk as though one party or the other is in some degree of control. They are not. The electorate is driving this bus and they are just about to throw a lot of people off.
Let's just be absolutely crystal clear here. The Democrats have absolutely NO shot at winning either chamber. None. Zero.
Yes, the Republicans are in disarray, and there is much discontent with how the Trump administration is handling things to date. The Republicans could lose a smidge of ground in the House, and might not make it to 60 senators in the next election. But that's it.
The Democrats have literally NO message. There is NO ONE that matters whom they are going to attract on the margin. NO ONE.
When a super weak combatant takes on a moderately impaired champion, what happens is obvious -- the weakling absorbs a slightly different horrible beating. So as Bruni told you -- get ready to lose.
Lot of words here, but not one about the elephant in the room. A few months ago, the NYT ran an article that showed that more registered Democrats than Republicans -- by a wide margin -- failed to identify North Korea on the map. That tells you something right there about who the Democrats are chasing, in their voter registration drives, in their campaigns, in their policy messaging, in their get out the vote efforts. The voters Hillary Clinton put all her chips on, who let her down in the end because she didnt look like Barack Obama. The leadership of the party may still be the highly educated academic elites, but as long as the base and the focus continues to narrow, the party's identity and appeal will become similarly marginalized.
1
The Democrats have moved to the liberal and far left and it will be the cause of their defeat. The majority of Americans are not liberal or far left.
Frank Bruni: "Republicans are expert at affixing a 'kick me' sign to frustrated Democrats. Democrats need practice at not wearing it."
Democrats need practice at pinning a well-deserved "kick me" sign on the entire Republican party.
This country does not lean left, or even center left, at this time. I am a Democrat but running on a platform of single payer health care is a loser. People care about jobs, the economy, and having a functional government. I think they do care about the ability of our leaders to work together toward a more centrist government. So their theme needs to focus on those issues. And for goodness sakes, please stop dwelling on politically correct nits that only make us seem out of touch with average people's concerns. And lastly, and I hate to say this, Nancy Pelosi should go. I think she's done a great job but she is a millstone that the Republicans will use against us and is widely unpopular with otherwise persuadable voters.
It honestly scares me that Trump even has a fairly sizeable 36%. The fault truly lies on the voters themselves. Bernie bros, you still proud of your non vote?
1
If Democrats don't win the House, they have an easy scapegoat that they should blame instead of each other: the red-striped gerrymander. Its range includes most of the continental US. We should eliminate protections for this species and drive it into the desert.
'Only 36 percent of respondents viewed his performance positively, and only 42 percent characterized him as “fit to serve as president,” '
I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the notion that after 10 months of the kind of incessant and overt lying, incompetence, and insanity we have witnessed there are this many people who still view Trump performance positively or fit to serve as president. How can there be eve one person thinking that way? What does it say about our nation that there are tens of millions that think that way?
1
Russia is a kleptocratic theocracy and the United States of America is almost there. The World's liberal democracies are seemingly seen as almost futile in their struggle against Trump and his fundamentalist Protestants and Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church. The Washington Examiner shows pictures of Putin and the Kiril of Moscow discussing locking up Atheists as more and more Senators embrace the views of Senator Moore.
While in Germany the 13% who unconditional support blind nationalism seem too powerful for the many messages of the 87% still believing in liberal democracy.
We have lost the argument because we don't know how to listen. The world belongs to those that communicate in grunts and groans. Evolution is over we are devolving into a more primal ape.
Trump is our guy, The Guardian properly depicts our leader as the head primate in its political cartoons.
2
Our insane President is going down in orange flames, with all the grace of a burning Zeppelin. When this "Tax Reform" scam blows up in his face and the Republicans turn on each other, as they are sure to do, Trump is going to go crazier and the Republicans get viler.
I'm 70 years old: I go back to George Wallace vile and Dick Nixon crazy and this is the craziest and vilest it has ever been and we all know it's going to get worse. It's way too early to talk about the midterms, I just hope we make it to 2018.
9
You mean "punative," not "putative."
At this point, neither of the two major parties stand for anything beyond sucking up to the big money that can keep their candidates elected. We're a non-functional oligarchy run by a military-industrial-security-surveillance complex whose only mission is to keep us fighting a perpetual war, at present in Afghanistan.
Liberals are too busy demonstrating to actually organize and win elections, and the typical Republican will support anything Trump says or does as long as it annoys liberals.
The United States of America at this point is simply a bad joke. We should fly the flag upside down.
5
The Democratic Party is the enemy of the American people. It needs to be squashed and neutered by any means necessary.
1
Now there's a thought!
"One thing Democrats must do is avoid blaming voters. ... That means not telling them they are racists, sexists, misogynists, xenophobes, etc."
You mean telling someone he or she is "deplorable" may make them not want to vote for you? Who'd have guessed that, eh?
Maybe there's a difference between saying "You're really stupid, but I forgive you, so please vote for me next time" and "You're really stupid," but I don't think most voters appreciate that difference.
It seems so obvious as to not require saying, but Democrats seem not to get it so I'll say it: "If you want someone to vote for you, don't tell him he's stupid."
5
Naw your seriously deluded. Wont EVER vote for a democrat again.
Democrats swing with the only aim to bruise GOP's shins, but never their jugular. And notwithstanding acceptance of gays as full participants in life and within the party; the leadership fights to avoid drawing blood with an overwhelming effeminacy.
1
Donald Trump's "wackiness"? You're kidding right? The democRat party has become the party of aggrieved minorities, illegal aliens (who actually do vote), cop-killers and their supporters, radical Islam, burning the flag, kneeling for the "racist" national anthem, free stuff, and hating Trump—which, incidentally is not a policy platform. They have nothing, just whiny children still having a temper tantrum almost 10 months later. What a joke! Total losers showing the country who they've always been. Keep it up.
With nut jobs like Maxine, Nancy and Hillary running around, the Democrats will have an up hill battle.
1
Yep.
In July Chuck Schumer took the lead in laying out concretely how the Democrats will achieve the results this country wants and needs. Last year Hillary Clinton did the same thing but was thwarted from outside by the far right's pent-up antipathy to President Obama and her and from inside by a faction that set itself up as her antipole and opposed her all the way to Nov 8.
This time, externally things are very different. The Republicans, in the spotlight with full control of the executive and legislative branches, have revealed that they lied about having developed any plans and are incapable of governing. Yet they dig their trench deeper, shielding an abysmally incompetent president who’s not only an idea vacuity himself but actually debases our country daily. That’s a Democratic campaign message that writes itself.
So the wild card is internal. Will Mr. Sanders stand on his own soapbox, practical considerations be damned? Will those eyeing a 2020 run resist unity to claim a niche?
Phrases like "sunny, aspirational outlook" in a political context make my skin crawl but I get Ms. Rosen’s gist. A well-thought-out policy array is inherently uplifting. But sans unity it’s a lead balloon. Unity also will forestall the circular firing squad if the Democrats don’t actually “reach the moon” in 2018. And if a GOP strategist publicly opines that the Dems should demote Nancy Pelosi, hmm... The fact is, while Sen. Schumer took the byline on the July op-ed, they're working as a team.
1
What does today’s Democrat party stand for??? —Besides identity politics, hate Trump, socialism, kneeling for the national anthem, hate Trump, illegal immigration, and hate Trump??
Oh my, with articles such as this, STILL LYING to their readers, still fabricating realities ("last weeks was a humiliation" for Republicans!! LOLOLOLOL!!) why would democrats not become humiliated and demoralized again and again, as they were on that glorious November night in 2016?! We can all feel true sympathy for democrats, if only we didn't feel complete contempt and dislike for the likes of their shameful, destructive, scoundrel, leaders, but then there it is!!
Schadenfreude, then. Listen to your betters at nytimes and rest of #fakenewsMSM. Follow and believe every word out of their mouths.
Good night, and good luck
"because the long game is the White House"????????
Pathetic is the new normal.
The long game is the White House. Bruni has no discernible grasp of democracy under a federal constitution that put its money on three branches of government. Here is one hint.
Which of the three powers comes first in the constitution?
2
Democrats throughout the country continue to lose because the significant majority of the electorate are racist, bigoted and/ or flat out stupid and uninformed. Far too manybpoor, working class and middle class people repeatedly vote against their political and economic interests and for the wealthy because of their stupidity, ignorance and bigotry. Absent some cataclysmic event, this mindless idiocy is not going to change. The current Democratic Party leadership isn’t helping matters either. They are far too sheepish and weak and afraid to speak up.
3
Stop calling fellow citizens names, pretending you're so much smarter than half of them.......would be a good start.
2
The American Government just came out saying that it was OK to fire Gays for being Gay. I would suggest that you get to work at changing that. Seriously to work instead of this junk that you've written every since your love affair with GWBush. That's my opinion. I can't stand wishy washy liberal journalists. Get a backbone.
1
It's the Russians, gerrymandering, Fox news, the electoral college, uneducated, priviledged white people, deplorable white people, working class white people, Christians, deniers, the FBI, woman haters, the alt right, Nazi's, fake news, the Supreme Court, Red States, rascism and the Koch brothers.
Or they picked a candidate that ran against the worst possible individual ever ran for president and lost. Who's the blame?
1
"For Trump, the survey had damning news: Only 36 percent of respondents viewed his performance positively..."
If, after the last nine months, a whopping 36% of the country actually view Trump in a positive light, the Democrats are in serious trouble. Shocking that Mr Bruni suggests this huge chunk of people comprises "only" 36%. Democrats, be prepared and take nothing for granted. It's going to take humility, honesty, and swallowing of pride with a joining hands. Lazy assumptions have to go. And tactical cunning is crucial. Blood, sweat, and tears. And may the Force be with us all.
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Are these the same moron that predicted a massive Hillary win? I would wager the democrats lose 3-8 house seats and 3-5 senate seats. Democrats just cannot figure out how AWFUL and un-American Socialism is. It is as abhorrent as running on a NAZI platform to the vast majority of Americans. Just listening to democrats expousing socialism, makes Americans want to vote against them. 1500 democrats have been fired since Obamacare, and probably another 500-700 will need to be fired before the democrats start looking after the working people again, and stop championing the welfare classes.
The only thing the progressive movement has going for it is single payer healthcare and free college and don't forget $15 minimum wage. Trump won because he dared to upset the apple cart. He and tea party/Kock brothers realize that. To win the Democrats have to take a deep breath and challenge establishment politics.
2
the dem recipe for continuing election disasters is that dems cannot even conceive of correcting course to the right, even if it guaranteed a win... they seem to convince themselves that going further and further left will win over the masses. it's gloriously stupifying to conservatives. lefty hatred is so unhinged, irrational and psychopathically full of pure rage against the right that they will continue to scare the hell out of the electorate for many election cycles to come. ironically, it all started when obama dropped the mask to satisfy his own ego!
Democrats, Please Get Ready to Lose....................they have been losing since Obama took office and even still after he left. wake up he gutted the party to achieve what he wanted . reap what you sow. and its not going to be pretty. a continuous loss of seats in the house ....the senate will widen more...and state and local races have all gone the other way through the last 8 yrs. get ready to lose ?...it has been ongoing....the GOP...try as they might to screw up is still winning...though the old guard has been put on notice that they will be primaries to face.
Complicated but interesting. I think there's a simpler reason the Democrats continue to lose. All they have in their agenda is Trump bashing and race baiting. That only works for the short term. The public has a short attention span and unless the Dems offer up something they aren't getting from the Republicans, the slide will continue.
15
2018 is up for grabs and the Democrats can take both houses of congress is they do something really wild and wacky: simply get themselves to the polls in full force.
58% of eligible voters bothered to show up in 2016. Suppose 75% of eligible Democratic voters showed up in 2018? It is all up to us - no excuses.
13
Remember your own columnist earlier this week who pointed out that half the people in the country live in only 10 states, giving 80 percent of senate control to the other half. Trump,was correct that the system is rigged but it’s rigged so that smaller, whiter, more conservative states get way more power than the ethnically diverse larger states. The only encouraging sign is that states such as California are starting to ignore the federal government whenever possible.
7
Democrats will only come out to vote for a recognizably progressive agenda. The Schumers & Pelosis will keep many of us away from the polls. Remember, It's the Republicans who are telling Democrats to be more 'centrist'.
There is an 800 lb gorilla in the room you're not talking about, his name is Robert Mueller. The investigation will bear fruit before the end of the year leaving the GOP the unenviable task of impeaching their President before May. That would give them 6 months to calm the waters and to campaign. Deviation from that schedule will be their end. Trump's tenure is unthinkable in the long term and how the GOP addresses the findings will determine their survivability. I don't like their chances.
3
Mr. Bruni's olumn is depressing, but pretty accurate, I fear, and he does call them like he sees 'em. The complete polarization of the country combined with the outrageous gerrymandering and slavery-era electoral college structure will ensure that the Republicans remain in power for many, many years to come. While interesting that the Supreme Court has picked up a case about partisan gerrymandering, do we really think the Republican-led Court (with the illegitimately installed Gorsuch) is going to make any changes?
And note the ironic timing of a companion piece in today's Times featuring an interview with Pelosi where she asserts that "Democrats are winning"! They are truly out of touch with the gruesome political reality on the ground in most of the country and are probably going to lose ground in 2018.
2
What should be taking everyone’s breath away is what is happening world wide. The disenchanted are turning from moderation to the fringe in either direction. After watching Germany’s election and the non sanctioned election independence attempts of Kurds and Catalonias it is clear there is the angst caused by fear and anger of the unknown and rapid change. What will this mean on the long run is anyone’s guess; it is clear it will not be pretty.
1
It doesn't really make sense - some Democrats lost their jobs for supporting the ACA which now apparently cannot be jettisoned by the Republicans. So the ACA remains and the party that tried and so far cannot kill it remains in power?
That Republican Strategist is right about one thing - why is Pelosi still branding the the Democrats? Political suicide with eyes wide open.
1
This is better from Mr. Bruni, but offers little in the way of reasons for why Dems can't seem to beat a deeply unpopular President, and an obviously corrupt and cynical GOP Congress. My own view is that Dems don't stand for anything, but simply try to get elected by painting the other folks as evil. That's fine for a subset of the base, but independents and possible swing Republican voters are waiting to hear a reason to vote for Democrats. I can't think of one sensible policy - 15 dollar minimum wage? Employers cut hours as they did with the ACA, forcing full-time workers into part-time work. A large part of the reason why the Dems have so few good people and so few good ideas is that Mr. Bruni and the loyal NYT readers devote infinitely more energy and time in whining about Trump and the GOP than they do working to build policies and platforms that work. I can name half a dozen NYT columnists who made Trump the subject of practically every single column since the election. The only folks interested in reading this bile are folks already committed to voting Dem. The entire exercise is guaranteed to leave the Dems devoid of constructive alternatives and attractive candidates, because most people, contrary to popular opinion these parts, have better things to do with their time, energy, money and votes than hand the steering wheel to folks who haven't given much thought to the practical problems of getting from A to B.
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