Discussion for article #229819
We needed Obama to build the bridge to the younger and the less frequent voter, we need Hillary to rebuild the bridge to white working class and the older white voters.
If successful that is an unbeatable coalition - the Hillary coalition automatically turns out for mid terms to defend seats and the Obama coalition turns out for presidential years to build margins
6 Likes
If the Democrats had any guts they could have stopped the Republicans. They abandoned their Presidents who has been hammered from the very start by a ruthless conservative plutocracy. The R’s have lost good jobs for the country and forestalled a decent recovery just to bring this good man down. On the other hand the Dems need to be leaner and not pushed around by self serving interest groups. Main issues? Economy. Infrastructure. War. Privacy.It’s time we look inward again and rebuild this country.
57 Likes
So despite talk of millennial “disappointment” with Obama, the best evidence is that their enthusiasm for him as manifested in 2008 and 2012 is not transferable to other Democrats
…Which is why a Clinton’s candidacy makes me a little nervous. Hillary has many positive qualities, and would make a great POTUS. However, “inspiring” is not one of those qualities, and I fear that she may not drive younger votes to the polls as Obama did. Well, maybe the VP pick will help…
13 Likes
My fear, however, is that Obama is pretty much going to pack his bags in and say, “Hey, its been great” to the national party campaigning.
Let’s face it; he has really only had an effect when he is running, both his midterms have been electoral disasters. And even when running, his coattails haven’t been overly large.
So I think looking to Obama as the bridge to younger voters going forward is a pipe dream. If he ain’t running, it ain’t happening.
14 Likes
…“under-30 voters dropped from 19 percent of the electorate in 2012 to 13 percent in 2014”
Smart - let the old farts make all the decisions. You apathetic fucks deserve what’s coming.
33 Likes
Democrats need to figure out how to turn out their voters in all elections. Maybe there should be a poll tax for not voting. LOL.
3 Likes
His coattails haven’t been overly large? Seriously? Many of those Democrats who lost last night were only elected because of Obama’s coattails in 2008.
The coalition President Obama formed was unique and likely will not be able to be duplicated in off-year elections. Young people simply do not fully grasp the importance of those elections.
13 Likes
At my voting location (Maryland), I was one of the few people there under 70. Mid-morning on a weekday, when most people are at work.
Sunday elections now!
14 Likes
“…the big question is whether Barack Obama’s successor can recapture his extraordinarily high vote percentages among young and minority voters, and/or make inroads among the older and whiter voters who have now consistently rebuffed him and his party in three straight cycles.”
Sounds like a job for a Hillary/young Hispanic VP nominee ticket.
2 Likes
Dems didn’t give their fickle voters anything to vote for. You want your voters to fight for you then you need to fight for them also. Minimum wage, Voting Rights Act, Immigration, Student Loan Reform - all of these issues Dems could have fought tooth and nails for in Congress, and in the campaign trail. Instead they rolled over.
35 Likes
There are some very well paid political consultants in both parties that are supposed to energize their respective voters. Republicans appear to be getting their money’s worth. Democrats, not so much. Blaming young voters for not voting lets these folks off the hook. Tell me, what issues were Democrats pushing that would appeal to younger voters? What were they doing to get the youth of this country energized and out to the polls. Vote for us or you deserve what you get doesn’t really cut it.
18 Likes
Landrieu was elected in 96. I am pretty sure Obama didn’t bring her into office back then. Pryor was elected in 2002. Same comment. Yes, Hagan, Begich and Udall were all elected in 2008 for the first time, but its about a 50/50 split.
The rumor has been for some time, that OfA didn’t play nice with local and state campaigns, and the results from 2010 and 2014 seem to bear that out to some level. The big GOTV effort the DSCC was funding certainly didn’t seem to have the impact that Obama’s campaign’s micro targeting had, which implies they aren’t sharing something in the mix, be that process, databases and/or analysis tools, or just savvy people.
4 Likes
Pretty simple. Progressives bashed Democrats moreso than Republicans, and the moderate voters didn’t show up as a result. Can’t win any election without moderate voters, and the sooner progressives accept that fact and reality, the better. Increasing turnout is key, and progressives didn’t do shit to increase turnout.
12 Likes
Burke, Schauer, and Brown all had Obama campaign for them. All of them lost, so your point has no weight.
1 Like
Democrats, inexplicably, didn’t understand the dynamics of the midterm. It’s well known that turnout is lower in off years and especially lower among people who lack strong identification with either party.
The R’s get this and focus on turning out their base. For some reason the D’s decided to take their base for granted - not just their “progressive” base but their larger, real base - and put all their energy into capturing swing voters by being milquetoast and not taking stands on issues like war, immigration, or the environment.
That might work in a Presidential year but there are a lot less swing votes to be had in off years. It should be obvious.
12 Likes
That’s the way it’s going to be until we can get the GOP out of power. the 34 year neocon dominance of the GOP should be enough reason to quit allowing them to win and show up to the polls and vote. If you didn’t push Democrats at all this cycle and actually support them against the WORST GOP in history (even worse than Reagan’s GOP, which was pretty bad), then you don’t deserve any room to complain. Myself, Plucky, Milt Shook at pleasecutthecrap.com, and a few others actually worked and supported Democrats, what the hell were these other loud progressives in the blogosphere doing besides pissing and moaning about Democrats being weak/spinless?
1 Like
It’s a shame that 2010 didn’t make a big enough impression on them, especially as far as state races are concerned. That’s where the real damage is going to be done.
7 Likes
Hire the marketing people from Apple or Samsung, or some other company that does successful lifestyle marketing. Run a national ad campaign that is purely marketing about the Democratic party and highlight the policies they have enacted over time to make people’s lives better.
They need to sell the party as a whole, and the individual politicians will reap the rewards.
11 Likes
I have lost all patience with those guys. Don’t want to listen to a freaking thing they say anymore. They can’t be reasoned with. Waste of time.
1 Like