What Must Democrats Do to Secure Control Over The Government After The Next Presidential Election?
Today the Democratic Party is locked out of power in D. C. after it lost the Presidential election and failed to win back Congress and it is no doubt that today`s position of Democrats on the political map of the USA does not seem to be beneficial. Moreover, according to a majority of political scientists of the USA, the political landscape ahead may be even more challenging.
Therefore, the Party needs to prepare not only for 2018 using a complex of approved political technology methods and minimal changes of economic program. It must revise all the problems which appeared during the last year and caused failing of attempts to take power back. After this “examining in details” the Party can make some steps which can turn power back.
The first step is connected generally with political component of election process. According to the Washington Post (2016), Republicans gained control of 20 state legislative chambers that year. Before the midterms, Democrats controlled 52 chambers to 33 chambers of Republicans. The secret of the Republican Party`s success is not only in Obama`s failures but is also caused by their winning state election scheme under comfortable circumstances. Republicans netted 6 governorships in the midterms, including in populous states like Michigan. Republican victories in congressional races, state legislative elections and governors' contests gave them lots of opportunities to redraw state legislative and U.S. House districts following the 2010 Census (Washington Post, 2016). Therefore, Democrats should pay more attention to gaining control of state legislative chambers in next 2-4 years.
The second challenge and a step for recovering are related with the coalition of voters that made Obama`s presidency in 2008 and 2012. On the one hand, it is a beneficial and even vital homework for Democrats to hold together so called Obama`s voters. On the other hand, there are lots of steps to be done making inroads with the white working-class voters who became a basis of Trump`s victory. It means that the Party must deliver an actual, compelling and promising message for all the voters.
The next but not less important challenge for Democrats is connected with changes in their political program. Firstly, the Party has to offer reforms which are more attractive for voters and more visible in short time than programs like Obamacare. The agenda of this reform must be discussed with scientists and representatives of civil society. Secondly, the packet of legal, medical and other infrastructure reforms must be directed to the mentioned above deep coalition of voters.
All the mentioned steps which show a way for Democrats` victory in the future cannot be realized without political technologies. In other words, if Clinton had received a total of about 100,000 more votes than she did, for instance, in Pennsylvania, we would all be talking about the Republicans` problems, not the Democrats' (Washington Post, 2016). It means that …
