In 2008 Democrats were able to regain the House, Senate and the presidency, only to lose House and Senate majorities again in 2010 — leaving President Obama unable to advance his Democratic agenda except through generous use of reversible Executive Orders which Donald Trump was anxious and able to reverse immediately upon taking office. Now, in 2018, the Trump Factor, has given birth to the notion of a 2018 Democratic "Blue Wave" to which many Democratic candidates have hitched their hopes, oblivious to the reality that waves are by nature short-lived.
According to the pollsters, in 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by over 3 million but lost the election because a relatively small number of Americans in a few key districts, some of whom had previously voted for Barack Obama, voted for Donald Trump.
While it's true that Trump had made countless outrageous promises and demagogic statements during his campaign, these voters, along with many disgruntled Independents and Republicans, voted for him because:
- like all Republican politicians before him, Trump promised what they most desired: LOWER TAXES and JOBS
- Republican and Independent voters fear Democratic views on some issues important to them, e.g., gun control, immigration, abortion
- Republican and Independent voters fear totally unjustified Democratic fiscally-irresponsible tax-and-spend policies
- Democratic candidates lack a cohesive plan to address and overcome these obstacles to their own election
Before we are able to effect any meaningful change to secure our Democracy, protect its institutions, the poor and the middle class,
Democrats must first win elections! With this in mind, to win . . .
- Democratic candidates cannot ignore those who voted for Trump because not all of them were Republicans.
- To become a majority party again, Democrats must offer credible and concrete plans to provide ALL VOTERS with the means to attain what is most important to them — financial security and stability — without which nothing else is possible!
- Democratic candidates must concentrate on those "global issues" which are important to ALL VOTERS, e.g., taxes, national security, infrastructure, the environment, fiscal responsibility, etc., without abandoning the Democratic agenda, which could be addressed once Democrats are in control of Congress.
The aforesaid makes it quite clear: Since 1919,
Democrats have been more fiscally-responsible than Republicans,
Americans have always fared better under Democratic administrations and
Democrats should win many more elections than they do! Still, Democrats keep losing elections — often to incompetent, unqualified demagogues. The question is "Why?"