The only way a democrat can win the White House is by using uplifting and inspiring rhetoric. Fear-mongering and smears work well for the reactionaries because they suck the enthusiasm out of more moderate voters. If the conservatives do their job well, discouraged liberals stay home on election day.
Unfortunately, democratic, divided government inherently requires compromise. When our president compromises, his disappointed former supporters decide their president is a hapless failure, and anything else would be better than he. They stay home on election day.
The president's former supporters forget that, as PJ O'Roarke so eloquently stated, "the Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then get elected and prove it."
The only way the democrats can win back the White House is with inspiring rhetoric that creates lofty expectations.