I don't have a lot of confidence that the Dems will win in 2018.

[Atman]

Some will win, of course. But there is so much at stake...the courts, redistricting, a lot of peoples' careers. The Republicans are so utterly, shamelessly corrupt that I have no doubt the vote rigging and outright theft will be of epic proportions. We still have tons of unverifiable e-voting machines out there, and the Republicans still control most of them.

I don't mean this to be discouraging. Just the opposite. I'm hoping it makes Democrats realize how important it is to GOTV. We cannot be complacent and say "I'm staying home, we're gonna win anyway." We need to send a message by handing the GOP a resounding, historic ass-kicking the likes of which even Donald Trump can't lie about.

[underthematrix]

1. I do. I believe people of color are mobilized and know what's at stake

[BannonsLiver]

2. Really? I feel great about it.

[Atman]

20. And that's what's worrisome.

Remember how great we felt about Hillary walking away with the last election? How did that work out for us?

[BannonsLiver]

21. I also felt great in 2006 and 2008.

I choose not to cower in a hole because Republicans and Dem apathy scare me.

[Atman]

24. I'm not cowering in a hole.

I'm working. I worked for Obama's elections (both of them), I worked for Ralph Northam, I'm currently working on another Governor's race which I won't mention here. I'm working it! I'm just saying, there is so much at stake, and the GOP is soooooo fucking corrupt, I don't think it's nearly enough just to feel great.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. We need to stand up straight, take the kick me signs off our asses, and be proud we're anti-Trump.

[spanone]

4. yes! I believe saving our democracy from trump is a noble vision

[stonecutter357]

5. WE JUST WON IN ALABAMA ...........

[NCTraveler]

7. 650,000 Republicans didn't show up.

Huge win for us but not a future predictor at all. Sessions got more votes when her ran unopposed for the same Alabama Senate seat.

[marylandblue]

10. Discouraged Repubs and energized Dems is how we win

[NCTraveler]

15. Yes, it is.

And it's going to be big for us in the near future.

Alabama is still a completely different story. Over half a million Alamaba Republicans who normally vote simply didn't show up. It's not because they were discouraged by Trump. It was directly related to things inside Alabama. Accurate point and the only one I was making.

[stonecutter357]

13. A Democratic senator from Alabama !

[NCTraveler]

16. Has a nice ring to it. nt.

[pnwmom]

49. He got more votes because there were so many straight ticket voters -- so he just tagged along. n/t

[marylandblue]

9. +1 If they couldn't steal Alabama, they are in trouble everywhere

[OliverQ]

11. Jones wouldn't have won if a child molester wasn't his opponent.

Alabama isn't a great example of how future races will go unless Republicans put up equally horrible people.

[marylandblue]

19. By itself, it wouldn't be a big deal

But with local seats flipping in Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Washington State, and Democrats outperforming even in seats they didn't flip, it looks like part of a larger trend.

[Atman]

14. And I did work on Ralph Northam's campaign.

Yeah, you'd think I'd be a lot more optimistic. I'm just saying, we're dealing with ruthless, lying, cheating motherfuckers. Put nothing past them. We have to have good candidates, and we have to have mobilized voters. Otherwise, they'll just flip a switch on their e-voting machines and we lose again.

[BannonsLiver]

23. Fear addicts don't deal in facts.

[old guy]

6. This has been my assessment right along.

Unless and until the voter suppression and gerrymandering problems are resolved, I don't see enough gains to get control. If your district is gerrymandered to have 60% repubs and 40% Dems, even if every single Dem voted, your odds of winning are almost nil. So yes, GOTV is important, but is not by any means a sure way to victory. I live in such a district.

[Atman]

18. THIS is what so many don't understand.

Getting out the vote is important, but the way districts are rigged (sorry to use that Trumpian term) make it an uphill battle. They've (they being Republicans) created voting districts which make it virtually impossible for Democrats to win in many places, even if there was 100% voter turnout.

[crazycatlady]

22. There's ways to change that

Those lines were drawn circa 2011. People have come of age since then, new residents (register at apartment complexes). These were not voters when the districts were drawn.

Also a lot of R voters (and D) could have died or moved.

[Freddie]

8. We have to win BIG - 60% or more

To overcome GOP shenanigans and of course gerrymandering. There is no room for vanity (3rd party) votes and no staying home!!! Are we angry enough?

[Demsrule86]

35. Yes...it is hard to cheat with a wave election.

I am angry enough to crawl across broken glass to vote.

[blondebanshee]

12. What makes anyone think that the GOP with Russian help won't hack the 2018 Election?

[marylandblue]

25. Because they didn't hack 2017, at least not successfully

[0rganism]

41. are you confident the Russians didn't just let the 2017 races slide to instill false confidence?

relatively few seats up in 2017, compared to 2018. 2018 is where the sugar's at, yeah baby. control of the house and maybe the senate.

it seems to me Putin likes to play at least 2-3 steps ahead. if his goons messed with 2017 and US counterintel operations caaught them that'd be a huge setback to the process of Putinizing America. so put the apparatus on hold in 2017, let us think they've laid off, let us go back to sleep, then reactivate in 2018.

have you noticed an uptick in anti-DOJ PR lately? i don't think that's an accident.

[marylandblue]

44. We can always come up with scenarios that confirm our worst fears

But Putin seems more the type to press an advantage rather than worry about the consequences of getting caught.

[0rganism]

42. +1000: what has changed to give us such a confidence boost?

now i can't say i'm the most avid news viewer, but i don't recall any actual arrests of Russian operatives for writing facebook and twitter lie-bots. i think facebook put in some kind of warning system to let users know if a post is likely to be a Russiabot post, but i don't know the details and i don't use facebook so i can't comment on its effectiveness.

but from my naive, restricted viewpoint, i can only say i haven't seen the kind of activity i'd expect if our nation was truly determined to confront the threats facing our democracy.

[phylny]

17. I'm in Virginia and I'm pumped.

18- to 60-year-olds (especially the younger folks) and people of color came out and VOTED in an off-year election. We are ready.

[Demsrule86]

37. My family lives in Charlottesville and some in Richmond...one in Northern Virginia...

All my cousins and family are voting Democratic...Charlottesville went blue in 17! It went 84% for Northam.

[Me.]

26. Thank You For Your Concern

[Atman]

27. Then make sure you get a carload of people and get your asses out to vote!

I'm not "concerned." I'm in the game. I'm working for Democratic candidates all over the country. What are you doing?

[lapucelle]

28. Cheer up! Predictions have been wrong before,

and we have this on our side.

[brer cat]

33. +10000

They won't be staying home in 2018!

[doc03]

29. As long as the economy is good I don't either nt

[DemocratSinceBirth]

30. The economy was good when Doug Jones was the first Democrat to win a senate seat in AL this century.

The economy is good and Chump has a 39.3% approval rating:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval-6179.html


and we have a 13 point lead in the generic ballot.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/2018_generic_congressional_vote-6185.html


It's time for us to stand up straight, take the kick me signs off our asses, and be proud to be part of the #resistance.

[Demsrule86]

31. So you think by saying you don't have confidence that we can win motivates voters?

Why would it? If we had no shot, I would just stay home if it was raining or cold...This post is discouraging no matter what you intended. I think we can win with a wave and take states, the House and even the Senate if we work hard enough.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

32. Do you think these threads that dampen enthusiasm are helpful ?

[Demsrule86]

38. Nope if you re-read my post you will see that was my point that this OP dampens

enthusiasm...and does not motivate voters. I know we can beat the pants off of the GOP...I feel we are in wave territory...and getting the states before a census is crucial. We will do it...and if we take the Senate and I think we can, no more judge for Trump unless the name is Merrick Garland.

[bigtree]

34. it's too far out to say

...and speculation should involve more than just feelings and conjecture.

it's possible to actually map it out, if you can find time, and track the potential of candidates in critical races. Stay involved.

[Demsrule86]

40. It is less than a year from now and we can make some judgements based on some very

important elections...Virginia, Jersey and even Georgia are evidence that a wave is coming.

[tavernier]

36. I think the only way will be to follow the advice of Sean Connery

in The Untouchables.

And if you don’t know the line, then it’s time you watched the movie again.

[mythology]

39. Except there is no evidence that actual votes were rigged or stolen

It gets tiresome seeing the same unsubstantiated things posted about vote changing. If more of us turn out than Republicans, we win.

Yes Republicans throw up roadblocks like gerrymandering and voter ID, but we can still win. Look at Virginia, look at New Jersey, look at how even races we lose, we have so distinctly closed the gap compared to 2016.

[Eliot Rosewater]

43. And I wish your OP title read this way

"I have confidence the GOP will collude with the KGB to try and steal all future elections"

And then go on to explain what you want from there, but your OP title plays into some negatives that we do NOT need right now.

[pnwmom]

45. Your "confidence" is irrelevant. What matters is that you and everyone else do what we can

to ensure a victory.

Expressing doubt about the outcome to a board of Democrats is the OPPOSITE of helpful.

[sammythecat]

48. Maybe a suspension of his account for a period of time

might be in order here. Give him a little while to get his mind right. Expressions of concern or doubt can not and should not be tolerated on a board of Democrats. He needs to know how to think and what to say.

I trust you have notified the right people about what was said here. They'll know how to straighten out his thinking and get him back in line.

[Atman]

51. Expressions of concern should not be tolerated? Seriously?

Did you really just type that?! You’re truly a special kind of “Democrat.”

[old guy]

54. I really hope it was sarcasm because that is how I took it.

[sammythecat]

55. I was just trying to be ridiculous.

Someone thought your expressions of concern and doubt were inappropriate and "unhelpful" on a Democratic board. I think expressions of concern or doubt are entirely appropriate, helpful, and even needed. Hopefully honest discussion results and one or the other party learns something positive and constructive. If my criticism is wrong, I might learn that from others, if my criticism is true, the others might see the flaw and correct it.

I thought your OP was just fine. We do need to be careful this time around. This needs to be a blowout. Anything less will be a disappointment in my view.

[Calista241]

46. I think we could win the house, but i dont think well win the Senate.

Which sucks because he’ll continue to push his court pics and other bs nominations.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

47. I agree with you.

I think there's a lot of misplaced confidence on the part of Democrats. Certainly on the part of those here on DU.

I wish there were a whole lot more emphasis on regaining state legislatures, where the redistricting takes place.

In short, the Democratic party tends to focus far to much on the top races. Sort of like all the third parties out there. They put up candidates for President, but almost never run for mayors or city councils or state houses and senates. If they did, they'd probably start winning, and then we'd be faced with an actual multi-party system within a system that can only accommodate two parties. Lucky for us the Greens and the Libertarians and all the rest haven't figured this out.

[kentuck]

50. I think we may have to settle for one half of the Legislature?

If we can win the House, we will maintain control over legislation. That would be a good start at this time.

[heaven05]

52. why does this sound

like a surreptitiously defeatist post for OUR 2018 election hopes? "I don't mean to be discouraging". Well why are you being discouraging, just hammering away at reason(s) not to even leave the house on election day.......I see you took out your dig against Hillary...interesting.

[Hoyt]

53. I'm hopeful, but if economy is doing well, it's going to take unprecedented Dem voter turnout.

It's a tremendous opportunity -- that will start in just a few months -- to tell Trump and GOPers we are fed up with this.

But, even many of those dissatisfied with Trump are only dissatisfied because he hasn't built the wall, deported millions of good people, locked up Black Lives Matter, repealed ACA, and perhaps worse.

[RealityChik]

56. We won't win until...

We square away our elections and make sure every vote counts. Paper ballots, non-partisan or equally partisan election committees and a ban on gerrymandering are the only ways to get that done.

Otherwise we're gonna see a replay of Georgia's 6th District Special Election race over and over. Alabama was a miracle not so easily repeated. Dems in Congress haven't done anything to restore the Voters Rights Act, and now we have less than a year to prevent Repubs from stealing the next elections. It's not the Russians we should be worrying about. They never would have been so successful without the aiding and abetting by the Repubs. That's why there was so much Repub money spent blocking the recounts. Repubs were covering their tracks as they will continue to do as long as we keep letting them.