Yes, the Democratic Party is at nearly its weakest point in a century

[thucythucy]

17. To me it looks like the most significant drops came in the early 1970s--

the McGovern catastrophe, which in part was due to the GOP "Southern strategy", the post 9-11 "You're either with us or against us and Max Cleland is a bin Laden supporter" hysteria, and now the drop in 2016, in large part due to gerrymandering, voter suppression, and yes, Russian interference.

There's no doubt that Democrats gave less attention than was needed to down ballot races, everything from state attorneys general to school committee. But we see a big peak under Howard Dean's 50 state strategy, which recruited conservative Dems to run in conservative districts.

The thread that ties all this together is white discomfort with the fact that we're becoming a more multi-racial and multi-lingual culture. Also, Roe v. Wade and abortion rights (in the '70s) drove lots of anti-choice former Democrats out of the party. Social issues like LGTB rights also played a factor.

Many of these trends are now reversing. For instance, Gay rights is no longer the anathema it used to be to so many people, especially among younger voters. And I'm hoping that the racial dog whistles used so long and with such success by Republicans have begun to lose their potency.

That's my hope, anyway.