Matt Vespa writes at TownHall.com that Barack Obama is not leaving the Democratic Party the type of legacy it would have chosen.
A day after the election, CNN’s Amanda Carpenter aptly noted that while the rest of the Democratic Party’s confidence that their Obama coalition could bring about consistent wins in national elections, Republicans were eating Democrats alive up and down the ballot.
“Who thought Obama’s legacy would be the destruction of the Democratic Party,” she said after President-elect Donald J. Trump’s upset win over Clinton. …
… So, we have a united Republican government heading into January. What about the races that don’t get as much attention as the national races in the news? What happened at the state and local level? Well, let’s just say that Democrats didn’t fair much better. In fact, it was a total and complete disaster. Jason noted how Democrats control the fewest number of state legislatures in history. Ellie Hockenbury of the Republican State Leadership Committee had the full report for the GOP gains in these elections, which included the fall of the last southern bastion of power for Democrats: the Kentucky State House. These elections are important since they form the pool for which the party can pick new national leaders. They also draw the congressional districts that determine control of Congress. …
… GOP control of 66/99 of the state legislatures (Nebraska’s is unicameral) is an all-time high, and after the 2014 midterms, Republicans had the most state-elected lawmakers in office since 1920. With the results of the 2016 elections, the Republican Party is the dominant political force in the country. President-elect Trump will preside over unprecedented levels of Republican power in office.
