Ok, so what's the path to taking back the Senate?

[Bleacher Creature]

Right now the only thing that stands in the way of total chaos is a few Republican Senators choosing to put country over party, so excuse me if I don't hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

Assuming that we can limp along to 2026, what next? Winning Maine (Collins) and NC (Tilis) are must haves, but then what? If Trump's approval is at rock bottom does that put Ohio (which will be a special election) in play? What about Iowa (Ernst) or Alaska (Sullivan)?

At some point we're going to have to pull some upsets to make it work as there just aren't enough solid blue states to compete.

[Tribetime]

1. Im still hoping Casey pulls it out 26,500 difference with 82,000

Remaing in democratic strongholds mostly

[Drum]

2. It might start with Lisa Murkowski changing her affiliation to Independent....

[hootman]

3. Dont put money on keeping GA either. I'm betting Kemp will run

He'll be tough to beat like it or not
Most of the GOP seats will be tough to turn too.
It just blows but thats the hand we've got

[AkFemDem]

5. I think Kemp wants to run but...

Not sure he wants to run during Trump's tenure, and fall under his thumb.

[Buckeyeblue]

33. Don't you think Kemp wants to run for president?

[hootman]

52. Possibly; but being in the Senate would get him name recognition.

And we all know how important that is even though it shouldn't matter

[Fiendish Thingy]

4. Tillis, Tuberville, Graham.

Worth a shot.

[Polybius]

7. Lol

Only way to lose in Alabama for them is to date a 13 year old.

[AZJonnie]

13. Might have be 12 ... there's still the word 'teen' in 13

I think in Alabama that still gives 'em some wiggle room (if they're an R of course)

[TheKentuckian]

41. It could be a whole nursery and it would still just take it to too close to call, at best.

[moonscape]

17. Graham, as in SC Graham? Not flippable.

[Janbdwl72]

18. Certainly Tillis in North Carolina

Is not the strongest candidate.

Tuberville is such a joke, but Alabama is so Republican. I wish a strong candidate could be discovered in that state to oppose him.

I thought about Georgia immediately. It would be great if Kemp did not run--Ossoff should win easily, but if Kemp runs, look out!

I guess there's not much hope for an Ohio Democrat taking Vance's seat? Brown will probably retire now.

[EdmondDantes_]

6. Long term we need to do a better job selling the Democratic agenda

In votes on abortion, on minimum wage, on marijuana, the Democratic positions largely win.

I think it's a matter of investing in state parties and winning lower level offices. Writing off virtually all the states south of Virginia isn't viable like you said. But unfortunately recently we've thrown money at high profile Senate longshots. On the positive side, we seem to be doing that in North Carolina and to a lesser extent in Georgia.

But too often it seems like people who could do that, Mayor/Secretary Pete, Julian Castro seem to want to jump from a state level job straight to President (and I absolutely think Pete B would make a great President) that doesn't contribute to building the party in their states.

[Sundance1220]

25. Those are not issues that moved this election

We HAVE to take immigration seriously. While NY and CA are still solid blue, we lost ground on that issue alone. Having the taxpayers paying for migrants to stay in hotels rather than have the money for our own use was very damaging. Put shoplifting back into felony territory because the videos of criminals packing up bags and walking out with stolen merchandise without being stopped also hurt us. While violent crime is way down, other types are up - we need to address those issues. People just want to be able to afford to live and feel safe living there.

[EdmondDantes_]

34. That is also all true

But I would say it's probably easier to get people to associate us with the policies we already support than it is to just undo support for shoplifting not being a felony and being seen as weak on immigration.

Emphasize our strengths and areas where the party has things in common with the larger public. But yes, we will have to adjust some of our positions in keeping with our larger moral values on things like immigration and crime.

[TheKentuckian]

42. In my eyes Pete is out until he shows he can win a state wide office.

I'm thinking he can but I need to see proof of concept.

[Initech]

8. Start taking down some talk show hosts.

The GOP are nothing without those damn talk shows and Fox News pulling their strings. They created this nightmare. The only reason so many dipshits like Ted Cruz and Marjorie Greene keep their jobs is because they have talk show hosts pulling their strings. It's time they get taken down several notches.

[Seeking Serenity]

10. Which talk show hosts? (Honest question -- is AM radio still a thing?)

[Initech]

20. AM radio is still very much a thing.

Most of it is controlled by Fox and Clear Channel, and some are controlled by megachurches. I think it's worth knowing what Congress people are in what districts and where most of their voters get their information from.

[Seeking Serenity]

37. Well, I had no idea. I figured it would have died with the death of ol' Deaf-aids

Shows how much I listen to AM/FM radio.

[kelly1mm]

9. 2028 is the soonest we can realistically take back the Senate, barring a near collapse by 2026. nt

[Ace Rothstein]

11. If the Democrats hold the Senate seats for all blue and swing states, I think that puts us at 52.

Going to be a tough feat for the next decade unless there is a major economic collapse. I just don't see what red state we put in play anytime soon.

[GreenWave]

12. 2026 bad guys must defend 20 seats vs. 13 for us.

We gotta start clobbering soon though.

[JustAnotherGen]

26. The party needs to identify

The candidate of choice and start NOW.


I lived through the NJ Senate primary this year as a Democratic Committee Member in NJ.

This is not the time for whining about Party Bosses. We need to play the game the same way the Magat Party does.

[TheKentuckian]

43. Most of the 20 are gimmies.

There are far less realistic opportunities and I don't mean half and am not even sure it is a quarter.

[SoCalDavidS]

14. I Hate This Fucking Country

PLEASE get me out of this shithole.

[MineralMan]

21. Got a passport? Then just go.

Last edited Thu Nov 14, 2024, 01:27 PM - Edit history (1)

What's the point of this? If you want to get out, go. You can get a flight somewhere within the next 24 hours. Use your credit card.

[Seeking Serenity]

38. Tourist visas are easy to get. Resident visas, unless you're loaded, not as easy.

And if one wants to emigrate to work, you better have that job before leaving.

[MineralMan]

40. I'm not going anywhere.

[Zeitghost]

15. Current plans

Seem to revolve around telling working class independents and swing voters that they are vile piles of racist garbage.

I'm not convinced, but many here seem to think it's a winning strategy.

[JustAnotherGen]

27. I'm

Thinking - how do we emotionally suppress their votes.

Disenfranchising them as a plan would not be acceptable at DU.

[TheKentuckian]

44. Whatever is clever in my book.

[Blue_Tires]

45. Well once they stop doing vile racist things

We'll quit calling them that, but not before 🙄

[Zeitghost]

46. And you think that's a winning strategy

For winning back the Senate?

[Blue_Tires]

48. How many people of color will you throw under the bus

To get a Senate majority back?

Which Dem principles should we discard to lure back working class white folks? DEI? CRT? Black History month? Anything else they consider "woke"? What?

[Zeitghost]

49. It's about messaging and priorities

Not discarding core beliefs.

When the message consists primarily of you're a horrible person, I don't want your vote, you're gonna get what you ask for.

[Blue_Tires]

51. Instead of chasing Trumper votes we'll never get

Last edited Fri Nov 15, 2024, 08:39 AM - Edit history (1)

I'd much rather concentrate on WHY we didn't get our own people to turn out in sufficient numbers.

Because if enough Dem voters showed up we aren't even having this conversation.

And just out of curiosity, what exactly was Trump's "winning message"? Because after the same repetitive, incoherent slurred mumbling stories that went nowhere about Haitians, Venezuelans, Hannibal Lecter, "the weave" and Arnold Palmer's peener, I can only recall a few things that were even in the neighborhood of political messages:

1. Biggest mass deportation ever, on the scale of millions

2. Total immunity for police being charged with crime

3. TARIFFS TARIFFS AND MORE TARIFFS!

4. I'M THE GREATEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED!

5. Dems stole 2020 with 30 million migrants voting for us somehow...

6. America is a shithole third world country

7. Military tribunals and firing squads for all his "political enemies" and anybody else he wanted revenge against.

8. Shutting down CNN, NBC, CBS or whatever network he was angry at that day.

9. Kamala Harris is dumb

I'd love to hear any explanation for why these political messages resonated so much with independents and working class white folks... 🤔

[Skittles]

16. it will only happen if people WAKE THE FUCK UP

and THAT is a crap shoot

[Iggo]

23. Yup.

[Iggo]

22. Make Democratic voters care about winning as much as Republican voters do.

[Emile]

24. Better messaging. Don't be afraid to call

something Predatory Capitalism.

[RhapsodyFav]

28. Call out every crime.

I think the Democratic Party should start calling out all the crimes and running campaign ads and events for Democratic ideas and policies the next four years. An all state all races strategy.

[Zeitghost]

31. I think calling out every single issue

In part contributed to Trump's success.

People have cried foul at every single thing he has said for going on a decade. Most real, some exaggerated, some imagined. And Trump has leaned in, saying one crazy thing after another and one scandal bigger than the next.

I am not saying that the vast majority were not genuine causes for concern. But it should not take us more than ten years to figure out that the public and the media were not going to "finally hear our cries and really get it this time". We should have quickly pivoted and stayed on a concise message that resonated with swing voters instead of lashing out at every crazy statement.

[bucolic_frolic]

29. Anyone charting Dem's Senate Wins over the last 40 years?

When did we win - pickup - more than 2 or 3? Senators are elected by big money - big business. We're short on that strategy.

[Seeking Serenity]

39. We are the party of big money now. Didn't you read?

The Democratic Party won the majority of millionaire voters and those with incomes of >$150k.

Sen. Schumer said years ago that was the winning way for us to go.

[republianmushroom]

30. Getting the democrat registered voters to vote.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

32. Barring a total collapse in gop support, it could be a while

2026 we could have a shot of picking up a seat in Maine and North Carolina. I don't think Alaska is doable, my understanding is Sullivan is fairly well liked in Alaska.
We have to defend Georgia and Michigan. If Kemp runs in Georgia, he has a good chance of winning. In Michigan, Peters probably has a good shot of holding his seat, but we should remember Slotkin just barely won. in 2020, Peters only won by just under 2pts. So if there is a strong gop candidate it will basically be up to whoever can turnout more voters.

2028- We could potentially pick up Wisconsin and North Carolina. We have to defend Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. The rest of the states are probably solid blue or red. NV and AZ could be an issue if the gop continues to gain support among Latino voters.

[dsc]

35. We have a serious Senate problem and I am not sure what can be done

Last edited Thu Nov 14, 2024, 04:29 PM - Edit history (1)

If you look at the states where Hillary won you have Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Maine, NH, VT, NY, MA, CT, RI, NJ, IL DE, MD, MN, and VA that gets you to 40. Add in the 6 swing states that gets you to 52. We have either 47 or 48 of those after this election. We don't have one of the two Maine seats, we also don't have one of the WI seats, and we don't have either NC seat. One PA seat is facing recount. To get bare control of the Senate we have to win 96% of the seats we have good or decent shots of winning or win seats in very hard to win states. That is unsustainable. BTW of the seats we don't have in those states, only NC, and ME are up this time.

[leftstreet]

36. That's bleak

Thanks for taking the time to spell that out

Maybe new leadership?

[pimpbot]

50. We need to run on economics

Simple messages. Put more money into working class pockets. Generate revenue by taxing ultra-wealthy. Show how foreigners are influencing and buying these rich old guys. Show that the price of eggs is controlled by some fat cat in a mega corp office. We need to create our own boogey men and scare people.

Unfortunately the inclusive, DEI, and gender identity platform doesn't click with the general population. Call it what you want, but focusing on that isn't going to win us elections.

[Blue_Tires]

53. Why? People don't even know how "the economy" works

You see how many of these asshats are cheering for TARIFFS...

[tritsofme]

47. It's possible Beshear could run in Kentucky.