2018

[SHRED]

Democrats are at a distinct disadvantage in the 2018 Congressional race.

Open Democratically held seats in the Senate far outnumber Republican open seats and Republican gerrymandering (redistricting) in the House has that body sewn up fairly tight to favor the GOP.

Will the current waves of protests translate at the polls in 2018 and be enough to overcome these hurdles?

That's the question I have.

[mitch96]

1. As Tip O'Neil said

"All politics is local" Get out there and do something to effect a change however small. I think joining an Indivisible group would be a good start, strength in numbers and all that.. Tell the truth and keep repeating it. Keep the pressure on your congressman and senators.
m

[Squinch]

2. I wish we were a presence in all those districts and we were telling people IN REAL TIME how

the Republicans were taking away programs that they depend on. We're really missing an opportunity here. If we are in place when the shit hits the fan on Trump, we can use that to focus attention on the Republicans.

[KittyWampus]

6. It's absurd that the DNC still hasn't voted on their leadership yet.

[Squinch]

9. Really. Everyone needs to grow up and get to work.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Forget 2018. Do 2017 first.

Start taking our states back!

There are elections nationwide for all sorts of things. For example, VA & NJ have gubernatorial and state legislative elections this year. Whoever is elected in these 2 states will have a say in the 2020 census and redistricting. THAT is critical.

There are also mayoral elections (some of which have Rs in that can be replaced like Miami and Albuquerque). Here in PA, we have a whole slate of state judicial elections (retention and new) including the state Supreme Court.

We gotta focus on what is the now and that may help with what will be possible in 2018.

[KittyWampus]

7. That's a really good point. Even if it's dog catcher.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. The Kochs at one point, got involved in school board elections

in North Carolina - http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/08/koch-brothers-school-segregation-americans-prosperity

and their PAC continues to target all sorts of local election issues - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/14/koch-brothers-local-elections_n_5675842.html

<...>

Almost no issue appears to be too small for the Kochs’ activists. Americans for Prosperity jumped into an Iron County board of supervisors election in northern Wisconsin to attack candidates opposed to an iron ore mine. The group also flexed its organizing muscle over a 1.75 percent food and beverage tax in Fremont, Nebraska, to fund emergency capital improvement projects and a 1 percent tax increase in Gahanna, Ohio, to prevent cuts to the local police force.

“What does David Koch know about the city of Gahanna?” Strickland asked.

The Kochs, he argued, “are willing to spend vast sums of unreported money to interfere with the decisions that should rightfully be made by local communities. If you look across the country, they are using their wealth to try to control what happens at the local level, to the detriment of schools, teachers, firefighters and infrastructure development. If they are successful, if they achieve their goals, it will be detrimental to the country because the decision-making is coming from the top down.”

Local education issues are another area arousing Koch interest. The network has worked to roll back efforts aimed at integrating schools in North Carolina and promoted school board candidates in Douglas County, Colorado, who supported abolishing teacher tenure, benching teachers’ unions, implementing voucher programs and paying teachers based on the subject and grade they instruct.

<...>

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/14/koch-brothers-local-elections_n_5675842.html

[Tommy_Carcetti]

4. Depends if we have President Pence or Emperor Trump. nt

[Lurks Often]

5. If people here and elsewhere don't stop attacking Manchin and the other Democratic Senators

located in red states, the Republicans are going to INCREASE their Senate majority in 2018.

You can either have Manchin and the other Democratic Senators located in red states who vote Democrat the majority of the time or you can have a Republican who votes Democrat MAYBE 1% of the time.

[Blue_true]

10. Look, if all of us vote progressive and the far left cut out the "no difference"

bullshit, we win the House and hold steady in the Senate. We can take the Senate and build on the House majority in 2020, as well as win back the White House.

The people who sicken me are the far left. If they want liberal candidates, now is the time to start getting involved with their local Democratic Committees and taking them over so that local and state legislature candidates reflect their values, those people may one day serve as President if they start young enough at the local level. The far left should focus on getting a robust pipeline of young, principled, idealistic yet practical people onto local and state ballots as Democrats, over time they will own the Party because I believe the Democrats and nation in general is becoming more progressive in political bent.