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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  2623 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Democrats, it's time to hunker down

The Dem's also lost most of the Governorships, 2/3 the state Legislatures, most of the US county governments. If the DNC and its donors cannot get their shit together in 4-8 months they are going to lose again in 2018 and hand Trump a mandate. THIS is the thought that scares the fuck out of me.



WanderingEng  ·  2623 days ago  ·  link  ·  

2018 is particularly worrisome as of the 33 senators up for reelection, 23 are Democrats. We have to win 70% of the senate races just to stay where we are today. (Note: I'm basing this off the 2012 results and am not sure if anything has changed since then. Also note this is largely a result of the Republicans getting a shellacking in 2006.)

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user-inactivated  ·  2622 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I was a part of Dean's Shellacking in '06. They need Dean back in charge, but the big money people don't like him. The DNC got a Democrat elected Senator in Montana in that year. MONTANA. Can they do it again? They better find a way.

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ButterflyEffect  ·  2623 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Is the DNC even trying to get its shit together?

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bioemerl  ·  2623 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The DNC is what the repubs would have looked like if trump lost. A vague dissolution of differing ideals and goals all trying to fight for the top. Trump, in his victory, has done a lot to cover up the fact that the republicans are just as divided and senseless as the democrats.

The electoral college, the design of the country that says "the small populous regions cannot rule the unpopulous ones" finally kicked in in force rather than as a weak effect. The two groups are going to have to reorient to this new world of politics, and the republicans did so a bit faster. To be fair, they've been cheating a bit as well, with gerrymandering and voter-id laws. Hopefully those will not remain, because those are real, and very deadly, dangers to the system of our democracy in my opinion.

What worries me slightly is that our system will no longer match our public ideals and discourse. A democratic nation leads to republican rule, and it seems like the whole nation hates it. If this is a trend, it will be a strong test of the US government and its systems.

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user-inactivated  ·  2622 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Ellison is the wrong guy to put in charge. He seems like a decent enough guy with all the progressive boxes checked off. But he has never lead a national organization like the DNC. He has never had to raise funds to fight in the various Redneckistans out there. He is a guy who likes to hang out on the coasts and liberal enclaves and not in places like Arkansas, central Ohio, Kentucky, Kansas etc. And the reality is that as a Muslim with ties to the Nation of Islam, that is going to be a distraction and talking point for the next two years. The other thing about Ellison, that I think will hurt the DNC, is that he is an active Congressman. He's going to have two full time jobs at hand; instead of putting someone in charge at the DNC who can focus 300% on the rebuilding job. And also speaking as a realist, Ellison is going to have a lot of Obama baggage that is going to be brought up every time he speaks. And right now, Obama needs to step aside from the limelight and instead work on donors and cash flows while letting the party people step up and fight.

Sanders supports Ellison, so does Warren. I'm a Deaniac at heart and want him in charge again, but I am not going to get that. I just hope that Ellison is the right choice and he kicks ass.

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sirduke  ·  2621 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'm a dean fanboy at heart but am also optimistic about Ellison, who seems to buy the 50 state strategy. FWIW he also recently said he'd resign his seat if chosen to head the DNC.

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