Time to forget about Florida and Ohio for now?

[marmar]

For decades, Florida and Ohio reigned supreme over presidential politics. The two states relished their role crowning presidents and spawning political clichés. Industrial Cleveland faced off against white-collar Cincinnati, the Midwestern snowbirds of the Villages against the Puerto Rican diaspora of the Orlando suburbs.

But the Georgia runoff, the final note of the 2022 midterm elections, may have said goodbye to all that. The Marietta moms are in charge now.

Senator Raphael Warnock’s win over Herschel Walker — his fifth victory in just over two years — proved that the Democratic surge in the Peach State two years ago was no Trump-era fluke, no one-off rebuke of an unpopular president. Georgia, with its storied civil rights history, booming Atlanta suburbs like Marietta and exploding ethnic diversity, is now officially contested ground, joining a narrow set of states that will select the next president.

Mr. Warnock’s race was the final marker for a 2024 presidential road map that political strategists, officials and politicians in both parties say will run largely through six states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The shrunken, shifted battlefield reflects a diversifying country remade by the polarizing politics of the Trump era. As white, working-class voters defected from Democrats, persuaded by Donald J. Trump’s populist cultural appeals and anti-elitist rhetoric, demographic changes opened up new presidential battlegrounds in the West and South. ...........(more)

https://dnyuz.com/2022/12/07/warnocks-victory-forges-democrats-path-through-the-new-battlegrounds/

[Demsrule86]

1. No, we need to start building as was done in Georgia. The Democratic Party in both states is

weak right now but where will our Senators come from? Our prospects are grim.

[Biophilic]

4. Yes, but at least in Florida it would be starting from almost nothing.

My experience of the Democratic Party down here is that it is very mild and non-confrontational. This is my first year in Florida, but what I was sent as a registered Democrat was very minimal and I searched online for information and found very little.

[Lovie777]

2. Florida and Ohio ......

I think the citizens have been compromised.

[samplegirl]

13. Ohio and flordia

The two dumbest states on the map!

[In It to Win It]

3. So what about Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio? Do we forget about him?

[yankee87]

7. Senator Brown

We have to keep Senator Brown in Ohio. He’s the last of the Democrats to win statewide elections in Ohio. I’m ashamed of the lack of party leadership in Ohio. My wife volunteered and they were going to send her about a hour from home. I’m disabled so I couldn’t go with her. After thinking about it, she decided against going. No phone banks. And no help for Ryan, which really sucked. I agree with the 50 state strategy.

[Polybius]

12. How's his approval ratings?

Fairly high, no?

[Johnny2X2X]

5. Michigan!

In 2016 we had GOP governor, AG, and SOS. Reps had a 9-6 advantage in our US House reps. They had a super majority in the state senate and state house. And they controlled the MI Supreme Court. And Trump won’t be state.

6 years later and Dems control all executive posts. Flipped both the State House and Senate. Control the MI Supreme Court. Have a 7-6 Ada tangle in US House delegates. And helped elect Joe Biden. We also enshrined abortion rights and ease of voting into our Constitution.

It can happen in Florida and Ohio too.

[Skittles]

6. argh

"....giving about 15 percent of the country’s nearly 332 million people an outsize role in determining the next president"

the Electoral College STINKS

[mcar]

8. They should not be considered swing states WRT presidential elections

My feeling, as a Floridian, is that Democrats' efforts in Florida need to be toward rebuilding. The state party is in a shambles. Local party volunteers in many counties work their tails off but get little support.

Getting people to run in non-partisan races is one strategy that has had some success in my and a few nearby red counties. One young woman ran for a local city council seat and won by 30 votes. How? She, and the local Democrats, knocked on doors all over the city. THe very popular incumbent waved signs.

Grassroots is the key here to rebuilding, but it's going to take a very long time, IMO. The FL Republican machine is well-funded and well-run. We have an R supermajority in the legislature.

[Bleacher Creature]

9. I'd honestly rather put the resources into North Carolina. Maybe even Texas.

[SoCalDavidS]

10. Texas? No Way.

I don't see TX ever going blue in my lifetime. I'm 56.

[Bleacher Creature]

14. No, I agree with you.

Texas is definitely a long shot. I just think that Florida and Ohio are moving so quickly in the wrong direction that anywhere with large populations of people of color would be a better use of resources.

[Baitball Blogger]

11. Yes and No.

Remember, if you ignore the problem completely, the sickness can spread.

Plenty of room in this State to keep the Republicans busy in the courts. They are bat shit crazy and overlook procedure and legalities wherever they can get away with it.