The number one, first truly practical thing that we can to STOP this mess is

[annabanana]

TAKE BACK THE HOUSE...

Send that traitorous snake Ryan down.

THEN we can keep the orange disaster from dismantling the government AND get those much needed impeachment proceeding underway.

[madokie]

1. turtleman is in the senate

dick ryan is the house

[annabanana]

3. lol . . fixed

sometime I get so exercised I can't SEE straight..

(I think we can send the turtle down too..)

[Buckeye_Democrat]

2. Yep! By the way, I have been derelict in voting in past non-Presidential elections.

I know... I was bad.

The good news is... NO MORE!

[VOX]

4. Taking the Senate would be a more attainable goal...

Just a few seats here and there, gaining a D majority in the Senate is highly do-able.

But right now, R's have a political power the strength of which hasn't been matched since 1928. And due to gerrymandering and a majority of states being ruled by R's, Congress is going to remain R for a long, long time. It's just not a realistic target at this time. Sure, win what can be won, but it will be uphill all the way-- Democrats have lost more than 60 House seats since 2010.
http://m.dailykos.com/story/2016/11/14/1598918/-Republicans-now-dominate-state-government-with-32-legislatures-and-33-governors
...Republicans control both chambers in 32 states, including 17 with veto-proof majorities. Those 32 states cover 61 percent of the U.S. population. Democrats, meanwhile, control the legislature in just 13 states, amounting to 28 percent of the country’s population; only five of those chambers have veto-proof majorities...

Where R's have state control, they can then gerrymander away to their heart's content. And that means an R lock on Congress. If you missed it, try to catch HBO's 4/09/17 edition of "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver." It has an excellent analysis of gerrymandering.

[MiniMe]

5. In 2018, the House is more achievable

There aren't enough vulnerable Repub seats up in the Senate. All of thre House is up for election in 2018.

[VOX]

6. Can Democrats win at least 24 seats, many of which are in R-controlled districts?

Yes, there is Trump outrage to spare, but again, the toxic effects of gerrymandering come into play.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/upshot/democrats-best-bet-for-house-control-is-following-the-sun.html
"...There is no guarantee that the Democrats can put the House in play, even if Mr. Trump’s approval ratings remain as low as they are now or slip further. The Republicans have so many safe seats that they could even survive a so-called wave election like the ones that swept Democrats to power in 2006 and out of power in 2010. The Democrats need 24 seats to retake the House..."

[MiniMe]

7. Agree with the gerrymandering, it all depends on what happens between now and next November

We are close to picking up a seat in Georgia, we'll see what happens on Tuesday. And we came close enough in Kansas to make the repubs nervous.

[yellowdogintexas]

8. Already 4 declared in the Dem primary for both TX-12 and TX- 6

Four ! Filing deadline is end of December!

Smokey Joe Barton is going to have a solid opponent no matter who ends up with the nomination in TX 6. Two women, a drop dead gorgeous young man plus another guy. One of the women ran in 2016 and did very well against him; she has been haunting his townhalls this year!

My Democratic Woman's Club met last Saturday and we always introduce candidates if they are in the house. We had maybe 12 altogether; some were running in the local elections coming up in May, but the rest are all running in 2018 for Congress, State House of Representatives and State Senate. Four Science Teachers in the group.

In Texas. In the last red metropolitan county in Texas.

[JudyM]

10. Thanks for this ray of light, yellowdog, sounds great!

[oberliner]

9. Literally zero chance of that happening

The Senate maybe.