..if people are going to be confident again.

white middle class voters. That is BS.

At the very least, they must be perceived as making "big changes". They must be seen as a credible option to the present Republican Party, in my opinion.

so I'm not confident, at all. If they keep following that old DLC plan of spending only in safe districts, once again they'll manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

I think a lot of people would vote for a strong party. They won't vote for a bunch of wimps who won't fight for anything. That's the perception, even here in blue NM, although our own Democrats in both houses are fighters. And in TV land, perception is everything.

The Democrats are going to have to work hard to change that. They don't seem to be doing so as yet.

...and they don't have a lot of room for growth. That alone is room for pessimism. But, I think they have an opportunity to appeal to American values and the patriotism of Americans of all stripes.

After the election & the inauguration, all my friends were fired up. They all went to the women's march & parties to sign postcards to send to Paul Ryan. Now? The only ones fired up are the same ones who were involved in politics before the election. One friend even chastised me for not going to the woman's march. "Things are different now, you'll see," she said. "I'll check back with you in six months," I said. It wasn't even six months & she was already too busy to call Cory Gardner about the no-healthcare bill. So, no, I'm not feeling confident at all.

They have to adapt to the battle environment.

I think that there is something powerful going on at the grass roots' level across the land. Also, I think the party has both established leaders, and a newer generation, at the state and local level. The synergy of these factors should bring about significant wins.

Recommended.

Not so much.

Carville wrote an article earlier in the week saying the Senate would be very difficult, the House less so.

What cheers me up? Well, just today I read a DU member post an anecdotal story about her truck driver son. He voted for Hillary last year but the his fellow drivers were solidly in the tank for The Donald. But the conversations over the radio had changed decisively recently: from good cheer to derision of the Orange One.

Then too, I read the article about the open air clinic this weekend where people drove from all over Appalachia then slept in their cars to receive free medical care in Virginia, a lot of them seeking dental care. This has been going onto for years and is appalling that American citizens have to seek basic care in open air clinics as if they lived in a 3rd world country. Even among those currently insured, the vast majority do not have dental insurance. If the GOP rips away any insurance from these people, as in Medicaid, the results would be disastrous, for the people themselves and for the Republicans seeking reelection. There's no way to spin taking medical insurance away from already economically depressed areas of the country. The argument that poor health is the patient's own fault because of poor life styles isn't going to cut it. If people cannot get better healthcare after all the grand promises, they'll simply not vote or vote in opposition. Healthcare is very personal, particularly for people who can't get it.

If the GOP doesn't pass it's odious healthcare package or proposed 'repeal only,' then the highly touted 'tax reform' is in jeopardy because those numbers rely on yanking a substantial amount of Medicaid funding off the table. Ideologues and donors may love this idea. Everyone else? Not so much.

The Republicans have really painted themselves into a corner. Which makes me cautiously optimistic.