I always say, the day after an election where you just got your ass kicked and you're feeling disgusted and bitter is the best time to write a diary you'll probably regret later.
There is no doubt Democrats have a real problem with winning elections. When you ask them, people overwhelmingly agree with us on issues and yet when they walk into the voting booth, they vote for the people who disagree with them on the issues. So it's obvious they're not voting on issues.
It seems we Democrats have 2 big obstacles to overcome before we can start winning elections as if the vast majority of people agreed with us, which they do.
1) About 10% of Democratic supporters, simply won't show up for midterm elections.
2) About 10% of the people who do show up for an election, are irrational due to stupidity or ignorance.
The Bannock Street Project was a very noble effort by the Democrats to try and reach that 10% of Democratic supporters and get them to vote this year. We'll need to analyze exit polls and turnout numbers before we know for sure, but here's a clue.
The turnout in Colorado was about 9.9% higher than in 2010. Colorado had a new law that mailed ballots to all active voters. How much easier can you make it for people to vote?! The increase in total voter registration from 2010 was about 9.8% with about an equal number of Republicans, Democrats, and Unaffiliateds registering.
So if mailing a supporter a ballot, then knocking on their door several times, and calling them on the phone multiple times won't get them to vote, what in the world will? My feeling is, nothing will.
I think we really need to deemphasize these people. We need to do a post election analysis of who these people are that only vote in presidential elections. Are they seniors, or youth, or middle income, or low income... Whoever they are, we shouldn't spend a single penny of political capital during the legislative process in an effort to get them to vote. They are simply going to show up in Presidential elections and not midterms, so don't risk losing other voters at their expense.
Then we have the issues. If there was any election that proved issues don't matter, it was this one. What "issues" did Republicans run on? In my state of Colorado, Mark Udall ran mostly on women's health issues, but there were plenty of outside groups that provided the environmental and other issue Ad's. Even though the majority of people agreed with Mark, they voted against him.
Last week on Bill Maher, he had Independent Senator King on his show. During one of the heated debates, where Bill Maher was criticizing Democrats for not running on unemployment, or deficit reduction, or GDP growth... Senator King made an off hand remark that caught my attention, but got lost in the back and forth. He said "what makes you think issues matter?".
Mark Udall and reelected Governor Hickenlooper are almost identical on the major issues, yet one lost by 4 points, while one barely keeps his office. Why? Mark Udall in his commercials in interviews and in the debates, came across as stiff and not friendly, while nutcase Corey Gardner must have had plastic surgery to keep that smile constantly on his face. That's right, about 5% of the 10% of irrational voters, probably voted on nothing more than, who would I like to have a beer with? The other 5% probably voted on nothing more than a gut feeling.
If we Dems want to start winning midterm elections, and stop risking losing Presidential elections, and forget all that BS about changing demographics, the irrational 10% puts presidential elections at risk as well, we need to start thinking about how we reach the irrational 10% on an emotional level, and stop trying to reach them on an intellectual level.
How many times do we have to ask ourselves, why are they making the irrational decision of voting against their own interests? You really have to be living on an Island not to hear that unemployment is falling, GDP is rising, housing is recovering... They know this intellectually, but the Republicans have been able to reach them at a gut level and make them feel bad.
Florida, Wisconsin, Kansas... The economies of each of these states has gone down hill, and everyone knows it. None of these governors ran on "issues", they couldn't! They found a way to make the majority of that 10% feel bad about their opponents.
For the next 2 years, the McConnell senate will do nothing but pass legislation that forces Democrats to vote against the interests of that 10%, and in 2016, they'll use those Democratic votes to make that 10% feel bad about Democrats.
It's time for Democrats to really step back and reevaluate how we run campaigns. It's not about the supporters who have never showed up for midterms in the past and who won't show up in the future, and it's not about issues to the irrational 10% who actually decide elections, it's about reaching out and making that 10% feel worse about the Republicans than they do about the Democrats.