@maxdancona,
maxdancona wrote:I think you are deluded. The words "gun control debacle" don't mean a thing to 70% of American voters. This isn't even on the radar for most of us. More importantly, this isn't changing anyones mind... the voters who care about the "gun control debacle" aren't going to vote for the Democratic nominee under any circumstances anyway.
In blunt terms of political strategy, this is a non-issue.
Don't be silly. You know very well that the reason the Democrats are doomed in 2016 is not direct revulsion over the gun control debacle, but rather it will happen because Obama is a do-nothing president.
Voters tend to dislike do-nothing presidents, and they tend to put the other party in the White House when it happens.
Obama's gun control debacle is significant because
that is the reason why Obama is a do-nothing president.
Obama had a huge amount of political capital at the beginning of his second term, and he could have used it to get Congress to pass a major program. Maybe environmental legislation; maybe something else. Having done that, he would have had momentum to get a slightly smaller program passed. Maybe immigration reform. Maybe he could have gotten Congress to balance the budget. And with those victories under his belt, he would have had momentum to push through a few pieces of minor legislation.
But instead, Obama wasted every last bit of his political capital ranting futilely against the might of the NRA. Now he has no political capital with which he can achieve anything and no momentum with which he can achieve anything.
By the time 2016 rolls around, the voters are going to be a bit tired of the fact that Obama hasn't done anything in the previous six years. That's going to be an easy Republican win.
Granted, the Republicans could still blow the election and hand it to the Democrats. But it's theirs to lose.
maxdancona wrote:The 2016 election will be about things that the majority of us think are critical; healthcare, immigration and women. As long as Americans care about these issues the most (and it is clear from that we do care about these issues the most) the Republicans will remain a broken brand.
The Republicans are fine. These things where one party is confident that "the opposing party is facing extinction" are pretty silly.
The Republicans do it too sometimes, and it's just as silly when they do it. Both parties are doing just fine.
There is going to be a Republican elected in 2016 of course. But the Democrats will survive that just like the Republicans are going to survive the fact that Obama was elected.