"Democrats: It’s the states, stupid!"

[applegrove]

Democrats: It’s the states, stupid!

By Herman Schwartz at Reuters

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2013/07/14/democrats-its-the-states-stupid/

"SNIP.................................




Unless the Democrats wake up to the importance of winning state legislative elections, they are likely to remain a largely impotent minority in the House of Representatives and equally feeble in the state legislatures. The momentous Supreme Court decisions on the Voting Rights Act, same-sex marriage and affirmative action make winning these races all the more vital, for all these rulings deal with state action. The huge Republican victory in the 2010 election could turn out to be a gift that keeps giving.


The GOP electoral sweep in 2010 was no accident. Republicans understand the importance of the state legislative races. After the 2008 election the GOP adopted a strategy called the REDistricting MAjority Project (REDMAP). As Karl Rove explained:

“[S]ome of the most important contests this fall will be way down the ballot in . . . state legislative races that will determine who redraws congressional district lines after this year’s census, a process that could determine which party controls upwards of 20 seats and whether many other seats will be competitive.”

Republicans focused on 107 state legislative seats in 16 states where GOP wins in four or five Democratic districts per state would enable the Republicans to re-shape about 190 congressional districts. Leading GOP strategist Ed Gillespie ran this operation. He took over the Republican State Leadership Committee, and the party poured more than $30 million into these contests. It also spent many millions on various gubernatorial contests.


.................................SNIP"

[Vogon_Glory]

1. Texas Is Such An Example

Texas is such an example. After having the state Democratic Party knocked to the floor while Dubya was governor, it looked like we were finally on the road to near-parity in 2009. In 2010, the Teabaggers got busy, too many people who voted in 2008 stayed home, and the Tea-publicans got super-majorities.

Democrats in purple states, DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!

[Scuba]

2. Kick