Democrats Revive 2006 Playbook

Politico: “An unpopular president, the scent of corruption in Washington, a riled-up liberal base — to House Democrats, 2018 is already looking like 2006 on overdrive. Now Democrats see the same ugly storm forming for Republicans that delivered them the majority 11 years ago, and they’re digging out the blueprint. The party is vastly expanding the number of districts it plans to contest, recruiting veterans and business owners to compete in conservative terrain as it did back then.”

“Three senior House Democrats are soon heading to Chicago to seek advice from Rahm Emanuel, the party’s 2006 master strategist.”

Playbook: “While some of the political dynamics are similar to 2006, that election was more than a decade ago. Since then, redistricting has tilted the scale toward Republicans. Probably more importantly, the internal fissures between the Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren wing of the party and the Hillary Clinton wing of the party are far from being resolved, which could lead to brutal primary battles instead of a unified assault on Republicans.”