Are the Democrats failing or doing well as an opposition?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

No. The only reason they look like a strong opposition is because Trump and the current GOP congressional leadership are incompetent.

I'd have to agree, at least in part. Republicans are a mess, and it's stalling out their agenda bigly. And as for opposition on the left, that's just the thing. Activist energy is helping to fuel the opposition, which is separate from Congressional Democrats. The party itself is still making bumbling mistakes, such as that thing about Ellison supporters.

But this doesn't mean I think Democrats won't still do well next year. I think Republicans were probably destined to make huge gains in 2010 too, simply due to Democratic missteps in power and a slow economic recovery. Same thing seems to be happening now. An incompetent Congressional GOP and Trump intent on burning his party at the stake is helping to fuel a large backlash against the Republican Party.

In the end, I could see Democrats making substantial gains next year and at that point you'll probably see a shift in opinion of how the party is doing. It's easy to dump on them year after year when they keep losing. Not so easy if they actually start winning.

I think there is one plausible overarching message that Democrats can take to voters next year:

If you are looking for someone to keep Trump accountable and in check, vote Democrat.  If you're not, vote Republican.  

That should be enough.  It's simple and easy to understand.  

Democrats have to stand for something other than "We're against Trump except when we vote with him for military increases or the like".

Sure in 2020 but midterms have always been about "f**k the party in power"

That's really not a good enough reason to vote for Dianne Feinstein.

[fluffypanther19]

Democrats need to offer more than "we're against everything Trump does" if they want to win.

That's funny, because that strategy worked perfectly for the Republicans in 2010 if you just replace "Trump" with "Obama." And Obama had a much stronger mandate than Trump to begin with, soooo...

But according to by-election results it's not working for Democrats.

So then why do Americans have a double standard is the real question.

It's almost as if Democrats and Republicans have different bases of support with different needs and ideals and just coping their strategy will never work.

But No, keep getting mad at voters for not voting for your do-nothing group of whores.

Will do! Americans deserve to be berated. Half the country doesn't even vote, and of the half that does plenty are extremely ignorant and fall for propaganda/fake news that they think must be true because they saw it on Facebook.

This country is a howling, debt-ridden, drug-addicted, dying snake-pit that puts every citizen through a long march to hell until they mercifully die, and both parties got us here. It's a miracle any of us are able to leave the house without succumbing to despair and killing ourselves, so 50% still holding hope that their vote matters and can maybe make things better is pretty good.

y'all alright bro? :/

[publicunofficial]

No. The only reason they look like a strong opposition is because Trump and the current GOP congressional leadership are incompetent.

I'd have to agree, at least in part. Republicans are a mess, and it's stalling out their agenda bigly. And as for opposition on the left, that's just the thing. Activist energy is helping to fuel the opposition, which is separate from Congressional Democrats. The party itself is still making bumbling mistakes, such as that thing about Ellison supporters.

But this doesn't mean I think Democrats won't still do well next year. I think Republicans were probably destined to make huge gains in 2010 too, simply due to Democratic missteps in power and a slow economic recovery. Same thing seems to be happening now. An incompetent Congressional GOP and Trump intent on burning his party at the stake is helping to fuel a large backlash against the Republican Party.

In the end, I could see Democrats making substantial gains next year and at that point you'll probably see a shift in opinion of how the party is doing. It's easy to dump on them year after year when they keep losing. Not so easy if they actually start winning.

I think there is one plausible overarching message that Democrats can take to voters next year:

If you are looking for someone to keep Trump accountable and in check, vote Democrat.  If you're not, vote Republican.  

That should be enough.  It's simple and easy to understand.  

Dems would be wise not to overestimate the amount of people who give a crap about reigning Trump in and more concerned about stuff like "I cannot afford to pay the rent without taking two jobs"

[Nyvin]

No. The only reason they look like a strong opposition is because Trump and the current GOP congressional leadership are incompetent.

I'd have to agree, at least in part. Republicans are a mess, and it's stalling out their agenda bigly. And as for opposition on the left, that's just the thing. Activist energy is helping to fuel the opposition, which is separate from Congressional Democrats. The party itself is still making bumbling mistakes, such as that thing about Ellison supporters.

But this doesn't mean I think Democrats won't still do well next year. I think Republicans were probably destined to make huge gains in 2010 too, simply due to Democratic missteps in power and a slow economic recovery. Same thing seems to be happening now. An incompetent Congressional GOP and Trump intent on burning his party at the stake is helping to fuel a large backlash against the Republican Party.

In the end, I could see Democrats making substantial gains next year and at that point you'll probably see a shift in opinion of how the party is doing. It's easy to dump on them year after year when they keep losing. Not so easy if they actually start winning.

I think there is one plausible overarching message that Democrats can take to voters next year:

If you are looking for someone to keep Trump accountable and in check, vote Democrat.  If you're not, vote Republican.  

That should be enough.  It's simple and easy to understand.  

Democrats have to stand for something other than "We're against Trump except when we vote with him for military increases or the like".

Sure in 2020 but midterms have always been about "f**k the party in power"

That's really not a good enough reason to vote for Dianne Feinstein.

I don't think any dems are worried about Dianne Feinstein.

[Beet]

I don't think they are doing well. They seem to be consumed by infighting, and the DNC is wreck. It may be in even worse shape than it was post-election.