IF OBAMA IS THE NOMINEE

IF CLINTON IS THE NOMINEE

 

Here are some maps and charts that tell a part of the political story you're not likely to hear from the conventional media. Some of the news is good, some not so good, but all is important to understand the current political situation.

This map shows purportedly "red states" where the Democrats in 2006 either won a governorship or Senate seat or came within 5 points of doing so. It illustrates the failure of the bi-color metaphor.

On the other hand, there has been a long term decline of those who identify themselves as Democrats. The last Harris survey on this subject is a year old but nothing in the election suggests a major shift.

The charts below tell how much further - despite Tuesday's results - the Democrats have to go. A few points missing from the current political mythology:

• The Democrats peaked in Congress in 1937, with two other high points being under LBJ and Jimmy Carter, both of whom pursued populist agendas and/or rhetoric.
  
• The Clinton administration was a disaster to other Democrats as the charts suggest. There is no evidence that the GOP Lite approach of the Clintonistas and their corporados has been good for the party.
  
• Tuesday's recovery, while a start, is extremely weak in historical terms.
  
• The best part of the recovery has been at the state level where the Democrats have recovered from the Clinton years when they lost 1200 state legislative seats. The comeback in governorships is also impressive. What this suggests is that the answer for the Democrats lies not with the Washington DLC crowd but with what is happening at the state and local level.