I heard pundits say the electorate is seething with barely contained rage. Mostly a response to the assault on the middle class and the fact that it has not improved. Republicans benefitted this time, but Republicans wont change that. … so I think you are right, it is tee’d up for an economic populist campaign. Warren embodies it. I’ve been looking for it ever since John Edwards used his “two America’s” stuff in 2004. Still don’t understand why that hasn’t gained more traction.
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Young folks are going to find out the hard way.
There are as many different reasons for Democratic losses as there are races, but one remarkable fact stands out here in Michigan.
Take a look at these numbers:
First, the aggregate number of votes cast in the gubernatorial election was approximately 3.13 million; for the Senate race, it was slightly less at 3.094 million.
Peters: 1,689,846 votes
Schauer: 1,465,961 — 223,885 fewer votes than Peters
Since we know that more votes were cast in the gubernatorial election than for Senate, it’s not as though those 223,885 Peters voters simply didn’t cast a ballot for governor.
No, this means that approximately 223,885 voters cast a ballot for a good, mainstream Democrat in Gary Peters, and on the same goddamn ballot, turned right around and cast a vote for Rick Snyder, the guy who signed right-to-work legislation passed by the ALEC-dominated Michigan legislature.
What’s got to be really galling for the Schauer campaign is that if every Peters voter had voted for Schauer, he’d be governor today, because Snyder’s vote total was 1,594,247, some 95,000 less than Peters.
There really is no class of people on this planet who are more gullible than a sizeable proportion of erstwhile “Democrats.”
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I find myself increasingly disheartened over the past few years. The constant obstructionist tactics by the Right, and the inability (cowardice?) of the Left to support what has been accomplished during President Obama’s tenure. Even President Obama, a man of excellent oratory skills, has somehow not been able to communicate a coherent message to this country. The Right is really, really good at getting folks to vote against their own best interests—but how is it that over the years those same people continue to believe and continue to vote against their needs and the needs of their families? I don’t get it.
I also am alarmed at the increasing belligerence in our society and that seems to be reflected by the politicians getting elected. Governor Christie is nothing but a bully. I fear the Hawks/NeoCons are once again gaining favor and that we will end up in yet another war.
I am no fan of Hillary Clinton as I believe she is very much a Hawk. I also believe a lot of the voters who cast ballots for the Right yesterday could never bring themselves to vote for her. I do like Elizabeth Warren but wonder if she has the toughness to deal with the Pentagon.
My only consolation is that many regressive bills across the country were defeated and a good number of progressive ones passed. I applaud the citizens of Washington State for passing background checks, however I wonder if the vote occurred two months instead of two weeks after our Marysville Pilchuck tragedy if even that would have been successful.
Sometimes it is difficult to vote, but we must continue to do it. Luckily, we vote by absentee out here.
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Quick answers:
Half or less of America didn’t vote yesterday
Dems ran around like chickens with there heads chopped off
Dem self preservation didn’t work
Dems never exploited what was accomplished
Dems let the reapers control the narrative
wonder if the Dems learned anything yet, I hope so because 2016 is coming and it will be here before you know it.
Dems should gang up, group up, get together and decide, were all in this together or just sit back and watch us go into 3rd world status, then revolution can happen.
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Just what does the Democratic Party stand for anyway?
We know Republicans are passionate but elected Democrats don’t seem to care about anything except being re-elected. They won’t even run when they have real accomplishments.
Why weren’t they fighting hard for immigration reform anyway?
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I’m not sure your analysis is correct, but if it is, these angry Americans are the dumbest fucks on the planet if they think for ten seconds that the Republican Party will increase their stagnant wages, restore their pensions, and advocate for expanded health care access.
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“Were the targeting and mobilization techniques wrong,”
Yes. Demonstrably so. I can’t think of a better way to earn yourself a poor turnout than running shitstains like Chokely or failing to appeal to the young progressive base, all because you want to pussyfoot and talk mealy-mouthed and not take positions and pander to conservative leaning voters who will NEVER vote for you no matter what you say. abandoning the POTUS, abandoning accomplishments, failing to control the narrative with strong messaging, acquiescing to the GOP/Teatroll/MSM symbiote’s narratives…all of it…more spineless defensive bullshit from people who clearly wanted more to get re-elected than to stand for something. THAT does not create turnout.
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Unbelievable how hard it is to get young voters to the polls in midterm elections. Twenty-two percent of voters were 65+? It’s a miracle the Republicans didn’t win every single seat!
Here’s my advice, for what little it’s worth:
- Run as DEMOCRATS, not some amorphous, “I’m-not-saying-who-I-voted-for” Republican/centrist hybrid. If people want to vote for a Republican, they’re going to vote for a Republican.
- Defend your record, period. Trying to run from votes you made in office is a sure loser.
- Play offense. Don’t cower because a Republican is going to use your words against you. They’re going to do that anyway.
- Run from your party or party leader at your own peril. Hagan came close to pulling off a win in the south because she didn’t run from Obama. Give us voters some credit. If you’re running as a Democrat, we know you support Democrats. Same thing with Republicans.
- Repeat after me: “Tax cuts for the wealthy, tax cuts for the wealthy, tax cuts for the wealthy.” That’s all the Republicans have.
Anyway, whatever. I’m so tired of voting for a party that is scared of its own shadow. Can we, at some point, nominate and run a Democrat who thinks his/her party affiliation is a positive and not something to hide?
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Unlike most of the progressive yappers here, he worked HIS butt off supporting Democrats and attempting to make progress. Milt Shook has a WINNING attitude, wheres the losers here bitching and moaning about Democrats have a LOSING and cynical attitude. He warned about this shit for months, and no one listened. Progs ignored him, and ran the SAME playbook from 2010 of dissing Democrats, as opposed to standing by them and supporting them. The freaking TEABAGGERS stood by their candidates, even the “RINOS” like McConnell, why can’t we have THAT attitude on our side of the aisle!!!
Wow. Now that’s disappointing. Schauer is a good man. I hope he ends up doing something somewhere for Michigan.
Running the same bitch about Democrats playbook from 2010. How about actively SUPPORTING Democrats and increasing turnout in midterm years??? How come progressives haven’t tried that out???
What happened is that Democrats disavowed all of their accomplishment, despite a GOP that was hellbent on bringing the country down. They refused to say that they voted for Obama; they failed to take credit for the ACA- they basically acted like they were embarrassed to be Democrats. That’s a great way to demoralize your base, and not make any new friends either. No one wants to be associated with a spineless person.
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Neither does bitching about Democrats. All progressives did in BOTH midterms was bitch about Democrats, did any of these progressives even try to put a winning message together and support Democrats? Or did they fold like the Broncos did in the SB?
This is pathetic: The Republicans are the Seahawks, and we’re the Broncos in the last SB, and we didn’t even put up half a fight, we allowed the Republicans to beat us to a bloody pulp, and that HAS to end. And it won’t end until we accept that we have to support ALL Democrats and work our butts off EVERY election, even midterms!
Hey, don’t let the next-day hangover cloud your long-term vision. This mid-term, like all mid-terms for the last 5 decades, went against the sitting president. But here, the victorious party cannot do anything with its victory. They face a certain veto of any broad policy moves, and they know that the pendulum will swing badly against them in two years.
Keep faith. Young voters are building a lifetime habit of voting Democratic. Ultimately, the political “philosophy” of shrinking government, eliminating taxes, and impoverishing citizens cannot build a winning coalition. The GOP, whether in ten years or twenty, is doomed.
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You vote because it’s your democratic responsibility and privilege. To say “why vote, because the media says D’s will lose” is NOT an excuse to not vote. That’s like saying you depend on the media to tell you what to do! The problem seems to be, people won’t think for themselves. They can’t open their eyes to see through the BS that is republican “policy”. Jeebus Crispies, how bad can the R’s possibly torch things before people wake up? Or will the Kochs just get to run things from here on out?
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What happened?
If continuously given the choice between a right-wing Democrat and a right-wing Republican - a Democrat will eventually stay home and not vote for the lesser of two evils ( . . . as in Mr. More Effective Evil Barack Obama)
There are three parts to the Democrat coalition. Social voters (environmental, choice, gay etc), minority voters and white economic voters - with overlaps among the three.
If you push one part more than the others, you lose voters. By pushing social issues too far, you lose the more conservative minority voters and white economic voters. The key is in keeping them in balance.
So far the Dem party has been big on social issues, less big on minority issues and practically AWOL on the issues of white economic voters.
Pushing for a higher minimum wage is seen as more of a minority issue. ACA is also seen as more of something that benefits minorities (with the exception of preexisting conditions). White middle class voters will be the ones paying the ACA penalty for not having insurance.
President Obama and many Dems have promised to end NAFTA, but did nothing about it. In fact he is promoting more trade agreements. Talking about outsourcing and then doing absolutely nothing about it causes you to lose all credibility for the future. Jobs for young people. These are the economic issues that have been hammering the white economic voters. Democrats are not offering anything in this area.
You can’t win without all three legs to the stool. Obama’s charisma has worn off. Shouting about outsourcing and trade agreements and doing nothing has lost its traction - perhaps one reason why Ms. Nunn lost in the Georgia senate race. She surged when she talked about outsourcing, but then sort of pulled back from it. In the end, people did not believe her.
There are not enough votes to just be a social issues party for white collar urbanites.
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Dems gave people like me (under 30, college educated, liberal) no reason to turn out. As a Virginian I was given lousy choices for Senate and House (VA 7th District).
Obama has totally run away from his record. When the leader of the Democratic Party can’t stand up for all he’s done for the country, why should I turn out?
Burke, Schauer, and Brown all supported Obama and they LOST, so Obama wasn’t the issue. The issue was progressives running the SAME failed playbook from 2010 in bitching and moaning about Democrats.
These people call themselves “the base,” yet they didn’t even fight FOR Democrats, they bitched nonstop. How can you be a part of “the base” if you won’t work to support your candidates, through the good and the bad? The Republicans have a loyal base that votes FOR them in every election, whereas the Democrats have a bunch of fairweather liberals who collapse and fold. Liberals lost this midterm, just like the last one, because they bitched and attacked Dems, as opposed to supporting them. Time to SUPPORT every Democrat out there, which myself, PluckyInKY, Milt Shook, and a scant few others actually do. We’re the base, because the Democrats can rely on us to back them in every election.