If you’ll excuse the mixed metaphors: the US isn’t out of the woods, but Democrats’ big electoral win means pro-democracy Americans can see a light at the end of the tunnel
Looking at the political map after yesterday, for me the biggest change is the new shape of the Democratic Party's constituency. The GOP was MAGA going in and it is MAGA coming out. But the Democrats now have more energetic and intelligent elected leaders as senators, governors, or both in politically traditional states like Iowa and Kansas in the midwest; Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas in the South.
I think Democrats have been in the last few cycles something like a regional party, overwhelmingly representing the electorates in the Northeast, Rust Belt (their weakest buckle), and West Coast. Now the Party has a strong stake in electorates in the Breadbasket Midwest and Deep South (even Florida just of reach and . . . Mississippi(?!) perhaps within reach). It has promise to become a national party as it was under for a decade after New Deal and during the Civil Rights era. This means a major change in the center of gravity within the Party itself, with major implications for policy priorities and configurations sharing broadly common aspirational goals.
I'm hopeful that what we'll see as a result is a party where multiple viewpoints are in a perpetual state of common negotiation, rather than congealing as ideologically pure party factions, contesting with a "my way or the highway" battle for "the soul of the Party."
The one thing I’d add on regions is the southwest. New Mexico has been solidly Democratic for years, while both Arizona and Nevada have Democratic governors and two Democratic Senators.
Looking at the political map after yesterday, for me the biggest change is the new shape of the Democratic Party's constituency. The GOP was MAGA going in and it is MAGA coming out. But the Democrats now have more energetic and intelligent elected leaders as senators, governors, or both in politically traditional states like Iowa and Kansas in the midwest; Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas in the South.
I think Democrats have been in the last few cycles something like a regional party, overwhelmingly representing the electorates in the Northeast, Rust Belt (their weakest buckle), and West Coast. Now the Party has a strong stake in electorates in the Breadbasket Midwest and Deep South (even Florida just of reach and . . . Mississippi(?!) perhaps within reach). It has promise to become a national party as it was under for a decade after New Deal and during the Civil Rights era. This means a major change in the center of gravity within the Party itself, with major implications for policy priorities and configurations sharing broadly common aspirational goals.
I'm hopeful that what we'll see as a result is a party where multiple viewpoints are in a perpetual state of common negotiation, rather than congealing as ideologically pure party factions, contesting with a "my way or the highway" battle for "the soul of the Party."
The one thing I’d add on regions is the southwest. New Mexico has been solidly Democratic for years, while both Arizona and Nevada have Democratic governors and two Democratic Senators.