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> The reason is that the Democrats don't have a good "bench." Obama led the Democrats to political disaster; I wonder if any party since WWII has been in as b

> The reason is that the Democrats don't have a good "bench." Obama led the Democrats to political disaster; I wonder if any party since WWII has been in as bad a political position. Why would they want his continued leadership after he leaves office?

deleted 10y ago
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frio 10y ago
They have; most notably the Republicans when LBJ crushed them in a landslide (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1964 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_ele...). Or even -- again, the Republicans -- as recently as 2008 when Obama won (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_ele...), and the Democrats has a supermajority across all three houses and beat McCain by a larger margin than Trump beat Clinton. I won't wade into the debate about Obama's future, and will point out that I think the USA's effective two-party system is pretty busted, but yeah -- the USA has a pretty polar political past.
- hackuser 10y ago
  > the Democrats has a supermajority across all three houses In 2008 they did not have a 'supermajority', usually interpreted to mean a veto-proof or filibuster-proof majority, in any house of Congress. Also, today Republicans control both houses and the Governer's seat in approx. 33% of states. Finally, the Dems can't win in some states due to gerrymandering and voting laws that prevent even a majority of Democratic votes from winning the election.
  - frio 10y ago
    Sorry -- I'm not an American, I misunderstood what "supermajority" meant (I took it to mean a majority in each of the houses). My bad :). I'm not saying the Democrats weren't roundly drubbed in the last election, just refuting the belief that this might be the worst position a political party has been in since WW2. I hadn't thought of the state legislature, however! That's a good point.
astronautjones 10y ago
No, the DNC led the Democrats to political disaster by discouraging anyone other than HRC from running, and running an atrociously hubris-filled campaign
- hackuser 10y ago
  > No, the DNC led the Democrats ... The President is the head of the party; the DNC traditionally is run by his people AFAIK.
  - astronautjones 10y ago
    That is incorrect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_National_Committee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_National_Committee

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frio 10y ago

They have; most notably the Republicans when LBJ crushed them in a landslide (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1964 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_ele...). Or even -- again, the Republicans -- as recently as 2008 when Obama won (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_ele...), and the Democrats has a supermajority across all three houses and beat McCain by a larger margin than Trump beat Clinton. I won't wade into the debate about Obama's future, and will point out that I think the USA's effective two-party system is pretty busted, but yeah -- the USA has a pretty polar political past.

hackuser 10y ago
> the Democrats has a supermajority across all three houses In 2008 they did not have a 'supermajority', usually interpreted to mean a veto-proof or filibuster-proof majority, in any house of Congress. Also, today Republicans control both houses and the Governer's seat in approx. 33% of states. Finally, the Dems can't win in some states due to gerrymandering and voting laws that prevent even a majority of Democratic votes from winning the election.
- frio 10y ago
  Sorry -- I'm not an American, I misunderstood what "supermajority" meant (I took it to mean a majority in each of the houses). My bad :). I'm not saying the Democrats weren't roundly drubbed in the last election, just refuting the belief that this might be the worst position a political party has been in since WW2. I hadn't thought of the state legislature, however! That's a good point.

astronautjones 10y ago

No, the DNC led the Democrats to political disaster by discouraging anyone other than HRC from running, and running an atrociously hubris-filled campaign

hackuser 10y ago
> No, the DNC led the Democrats ... The President is the head of the party; the DNC traditionally is run by his people AFAIK.
- astronautjones 10y ago
  That is incorrect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_National_Committee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_National_Committee