democrats, do you like this strategy? (channeling mr phips)

[freepcrusher]

my theory is that what obama should focus on in his second term is getting two warm bodies to replace Ginsburg and Breyer. I also think the democrats should punt on 2016. Even if they lose in 2016, they could easily pick up 4-5 senate seats that year. The democrats have a lot of senate seats in 2018 that need to be protected and I think that by punting in 2016, they could hold those seat as well as winning back a lot of governorships and state legislatures to combat any future gerrymandering.

[muon2]

I can't recall any party punting on the idea of taking the presidency. The short term gains are just too great to pass for the potential gains of better control of a chamber. Externalities in are generally seen as too volatile to make that gamble.

[minionofmidas]

Democrats should sit out 2014 and not run any candidates at all that year. Then people will be so happy to have them back in 2016 that they'll win every race.

[politicallefty]

Democrats should sit out 2014 and not run any candidates at all that year. Then people will be so happy to have them back in 2016 that they'll win every race.

This seems to be an accurate analogy of the idea here.

By that logic, the GOP should have put up Gingrich or Bachmann against the President. In that case, Democrats would have won a landslide in the Electoral Colege, won the House, and gained 5+ seats in the Senate. This would, of course, have led to a 2010-style Republican landslide in 2014.