Southeast and Southwest democrats strategy

[Shadows]

The idea of going heavy into the Sun Belt & giving up on the WC in the Mid-west is a sure-shot losing strategy - It has another major problem, a Senate Bloodbath with GOP piling up 55-60 seats consistently. Let us not forget, MN is the next big Mid-west state which could fall (& NH/ME in the North-East).

GA, FL, AZ - All 3 would be needed with all of HRC 2016 states to win the WH (if we are considering the rust belt is lost). Texas is not reachable in 10-15 years (with a guy like Kasich or Rubio on the GOP ticket) & in the long run we are all dead.  

Trump was an unlikely nominee who did poorly among minorities & suburban whites. A Kasich or a Rubio would do significantly better among these 2 groups than Trump. And I don't think they will lose much of Trump's white vote - They are just much better GE candidates in the Sun-Belt. Most Senators did better than Trump. Rubio won by 8% & McCain by 14% which tells us how hard it will be to win FL & AZ consistently.

There are other big advantages with Mid-west. Dems have 2 Senators from MN, 2 from MI, 1 from WI, 1 from OH, 1 PA which is 7. Dems have only 1 Senator from FL so the best case scenario (unlikely) could give 2 Senators in GA & AZ each & 1 more in FL. So, it is a very bad strategy for the battle of the Senate - Lose 7 & get 5.

While more young people coming into the voting age is an advantage, there will be some loss of voters to the GOP as they grow older & with the less tax party taking more from educated affluent people. In the end, the net gain is positive but not huge. So, in really you are dependent on hispanic vote increase for consistent wins.

The way forward IMO is to rebuild the party @ the rust belt with focus on young people, activism at the ground level, building an organization to rival Koch/Walker & focusing on key economic issues which will help them - Re-negotiating NAFTA/TPP. 15$ Min Wage, Infrastructure push, Healthcare, protecting welfare programs like SS/Medicare etc. They are natural allies with the Dems - The party of the working class & I feel to win the Electoral College & the Senate for the next 15-20 years, they are critical.