Obama has decimated the Democratic Party

[All Along The Watchtower]

Democrats in general have decimated their party by neglecting local and state races for so long. Those elections are the building blocks of congressional majorities. But few on the Democratic side seem to care about what happens locally, or if they do, they fail to connect it to political action that translates into more Democrats being elected into office at all levels of government.

The GOP has been at this for decades now. Democrats would do well to focus less on the presidential race - or even national politics in general, for that matter - and more on what is happening in their own communities. No progressive social change ever originated in the White House.

[All Along The Watchtower]

I'll note that the Republican Party/American Right in general has become more anxious about "voter fraud" in the wake of Obama's election (and reelection, for that matter). Republicans lost the presidential election both times even as they won a solid majority of the white vote - especially in the South.

My point is that Democrats have proven that they can win the Presidency without the help of a majority of white voters (including the vast majority of Southern white voters). Republicans are very aware of this, but they also understand who much of their voter base is these days, geographically and ideologically. They also know that many of the demographics they do poorly with are the least likely to turn out in midterm elections.

If you're a Republican strategist these days, it makes a lot of sense (in a deeply cynical way, granted -but still...) to milk the support of Southern whites, hard-core conservatives, white evangelicals, Tea Partiers, etc.  as much as possible. These are not only the voters who most strongly back the GOP these days, they are among the most reliable voters in general. That means midterm elections. That means local and state races. And for candidates and elected officials, that means proposing hard-right policies,  making "outlandish" public statements that endear those political figures to that same hard-right voter base (other demographics be damned...they don't vote as much anyway, and when they do vote, they vote Democratic)...you get the picture by now.

The other side of this, of course, is doing as much as possible (once in power) to depress turnout among those aforementioned Democratic-voting groups. Why? Because of the presidential election, in the short term. Which brings us full circle. Honestly, right-wing Republicans have a lot of political power at the present moment. They control the bulk of state legislatures, they have a lot of Governors, they have a strong majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and a less-strong (but still worrisome for Democrats) majority in the Senate, they control the U.S. Supreme Court....

The Presidency may still be out of reach for them in 2016. Or, it may not be. It's way, way too early to tell (Captain Obvious to the rescue! ).

tl; dr the GOP knows their voter base and who is outside that base, and so they have a pretty rational (for them, in their position...) strategy for winning elections and cementing their political power that proceeds from that understanding.