Too Much Focus on 2016

Charlie Cook
is tired of speculation about the 2016 presidential race.

“Far more immediately important (and less
hypothetical) is what will happen in next year’s midterm elections. Even
though those elections are just over 16 months away, we still don’t
know whether Republicans will be playing defense as they were last year,
when they had profound problems with minority, young, women, and
self-described moderate voters. And, conversely, we don’t know if
Democrats, as the party in the White House, will be on defense, as is
usually the case during second terms and in so-called six-year-itch
elections, halfway through a party’s second term in office. The
potential for the Affordable Care Act to become radioactive again, as it
was in 2009 and 2010, makes this scenario sound less theoretical and
more plausible.”