Democrats are in Deep Trouble

Matthew Yglesias notes that while Democrats may have the edge in the presidential race, the party is still in deep trouble.

“The presidency is extremely important, of course. But there are also thousands of critically important offices all the way down the ballot. And the vast majority — 70% of state legislatures, more than 60% of governors, 55% of attorneys general and secretaries of state — are in Republicans hands. And, of course, Republicans control both chambers of Congress. Indeed, even the House infighting reflects, in some ways, the health of the GOP coalition. Republicans are confident they won’t lose power in the House and are hungry for a vigorous argument about how best to use the power they have.”

“Not only have Republicans won most elections, but they have a perfectly reasonable plan for trying to recapture the White House. But Democrats have nothing at all in the works to redress their crippling weakness down the ballot. Democrats aren’t even talking about how to improve on their weak points, because by and large they don’t even admit that they exist.”