General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Post mortem thread. Why did we lose? [View all]Azathoth
(4,603 posts)Last edited Wed Nov 5, 2014, 04:15 AM - Edit history (2)
1) Democratic voters as a rule don't turn out in midterms.
2) Democratic voters are depressed. It's not because of progressive vs. centrist division or voter suppression or anything like that, it's because nothing has gotten done and we have nothing to look forward to except more GOP gridlock and soul-crushing insanity from the teabaggers. Democrats had nothing to run on except recycled issues like the war on women. McConnell's "shut it down" strategy has taken its toll.
3) Instead of pushing through immigration reform right after he got reelected, Obama got derailed with gun control and he never recovered. Since then, it literally has been one fumble after another from the White House, from the Obamacare website fiasco to the Syria red line to Bergdahl, I can't even keep track of them all. Sure, some of those fumbles were more about optics than substance, but politically, that's a distinction without a difference, and the net result is that many, many people have lost faith in Obama and Democratic governance.
4) Bad luck. Sometimes external events just hit at the worst possible time. ISIS, Ebola, etc. Now we know how McCain felt when the economy crashed two months from election day.