2016?! Why do we keep over looking 2018?! What lessons can we learn from the mid-terms?

[Yavin4]

Most Democrats have 2016 seared into our memories. It's the Red Wedding for Liberals. I get it. The North Remembers.

But we keep overlooking 2018 as if it was nothing. But it was something. A very big something. In the mid-terms, turnout was at 53.4%, the highest midterm turnout since 1978.

From https://www.brookings.edu/research/2018-voter-turnout-rose-dramatically-for-groups-favoring-democrats-census-confirms/

All major racial/ethnic groups turned up at the polls in higher numbers, but the biggest gains accrued to Democratic-leaning Hispanics and Asian Americans—up 13 percent since 2014. And while white citizens, overall, exhibited higher turnout rates than other groups, both the turnout level and recent rise were highest for white college graduates—a group that, nationally, supported Democratic House of Representatives candidates

Focusing further on young adults, the CPS turnout data reveal that 18 to 29-year-olds of each major racial group showed substantially higher turnout in 2018 than four years prior—more than doubling for young Hispanics and Asian Americans and nearly doubling for young white citizens. The latter is especially noteworthy because, unlike in the 2016 presidential race, the younger white population voted Democratic in last November’s House race, joining their counterparts of other racial groups.

Lessons we should take to heart:

1. Turnout was up for the mid-terms which was after the first two years of Trump which comparably were his best years in office. COMPARABLY.

2. Since the mid-terms, we've gone from Trump being an awful president to being THE worst president in the history of the Republic by far. If folks were motivated to vote in 2018, they should be super motivated in 2020.

In 2018, nonwhite voters made up 27.2 percent of the voter population. This is a rise from 23.7 percent in the 2014 midterms, and higher than the 26.7 percent in the 2016 presidential election. The latter is notable because, normally, white voters make up larger shares of midterm voters than presidential year voters due to lower midterm minority turnout. This was not the case in the 2018 midterms, suggesting even greater minority clout in the 2020 election.

3. Again, given what we've gone through these past two years since 2018, we should expect the same or even higher turnout.

There's more at the link. We should stop letting 2016 be our ONLY election memory given what 2018 showed us.

[ihas2stinkyfeet]

1. work the bottom of the ticket.

that is where the real momentum came from. doors win elections, and when actual candidates are at the door, that brings more door knockers. etc.

[Hoyt]

2. Agree completely. But it's hard to forget what it felt like when early election

results came in from Kentucky in 2016. Clinton wasn’t going to win there, but she was way behind. 2018 saved us. We turned out when it counted.

If we vote we win.

[Thekaspervote]

3. Very salient points that we should all remember. GOTV like '18 and it will be a rout!!

[brooklynite]

4. Yes 2018 is an indicator; but Trump and Biden weren't candidates in 2018

In aggregate we swamped the Republicans...in the House. We had mixed results in the Senate. And each race was a specific Democrat vs a specific Republican in a specific State or District.

[ancianita]

5. Thank you. This is important to keep reminding ourselves about.

I'm hoping Biden/Harris campaign pays attention to these audiences more, because I've yet to see it. They need to publicly speak to these demographics early and often.

[DownriverDem]

6. BFD in Michigan

The Dems gained in the legislature & we now have a Dem Governor, Lt Governor, Attorney General & Secretary of State. We here are so glad the November election is under Dem control here.

[klook]

7. Negative partisanship is a great motivator.

Let’s hope it’s strong enough to carry us to victory in a few weeks — and that this energy can be transformed into a positive force in 2022.

In the meantime, it’s all hands on deck to get us successfully through November 2020.

[relayerbob]

8. Not sure who you define as "we"

Clearly that is a major factor in the strategy in 2020, at every level. You can tell by who is running in the down-ticket races, you can tell by how Biden is building his team. The major concern of parallels to 2016 is the level of cheating and voter suppression that is going to be pushed on us by the GOP. If that wasn't a factor, this would be a blowout of epic proportions ... and may still be. GOTV!!!