We lost because we lacked a time machine to take voters back to November 2008.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

Back when we were hemorrhaging jobs by the hundreds of thousands each month, the stock market was in a free-fall, our budget deficit was rising, we'd all but given up on finding Bin Laden, people were getting their health insurance cancelled for reasons completely out of their control, and we were still in full ground combat mode in Iraq.

Take those voters back to November 2008, then immediately send them back to the present day, and you'll see how unpopular they'd think President Obama is.

[mainstreetonce]

1. Great post

If only everyone remembered.

[Proud Public Servant]

2. No, we lost because WE keep taking that time machine

The governing assumption of the last 6 years has been that 2008 Obama voters are now reliable Democrats. They're not. They're not even reliable Obama supporters. But it feels like we keep taking a single, world-historic, highly aberrant election and treating it like the new normal. Until we understand that Dem registration is not much higher than the GOP's, that the popularity of our party is not much higher than the GOP's, and that our focus on national elections has allowed the GOP to build a much better state and local network than we have, we'll keep having nights like last night.

[JVS]

3. +1

[Tommy_Carcetti]

4. Well, he was re-elected in 2012, even after losing the House.

So while I agree with you that those who voted for him in 2008 weren't necessarily reliable Democratic voters, on the other hand, it's not like he was elected in 2008 simply because the nation thought it would be cool to have a black president for a change.

[Proud Public Servant]

5. The point is, we're coming at this from the wrong direction

We keep starting with the Obama win at the top, then hoping that it can somehow sprout roots and extend down-ballot. The GOP, on the other hand, builds UP -- they were already taking over school boards back in the 1970s as part of a national conservative strategy -- and it serves them well. How well? Consider, as of last night:

- The GOP holds the governorship in 11 states that Obama carried in 2012; we hold the governorship in only 5 states Romney carried.
- The GOP has complete or partial control of state houses in 11 states that Obama carried in 2012; we have such control in only 2 states Romney carried.
- The GOP holds 10 Senate seats in states that Obama carried in 2012; we hold 4 seats in states Romney carried.

To me that's a clear indicator that the GOP, for all its unpopularity, has productively focused at the state-wide level while we've been basking in our ability to win the White House. And that does not bode well for the overall health of the party.

[Puzzledtraveller]

6. agreed