Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Democrat Blues: Seeing Red Everywhere......

Republicans have single-party control in 23 states:
And More to Come

Mother Jones
There's never been a worse time to be a Democrat in a red state. Republicans now hold all the reins of power—the governorship and both houses of the state legislature—in 23 states. That's up from just nine before the 2010 elections. There are now more states under single-party control than at any time since 1944. And without even token Democratic opposition, Republicans have busted unions in Michigan and Wisconsin, passed draconian tax cuts in Kansas, and enacted sweeping new abortion restrictions across the nation.
"We are on offense this year," says Jill Bader, communications director for the Republican State Leadership Conference (RSLC), which works to elect Republican state legislators. "We're building these new majorities in some states that have been traditionally Democratic."
Midterm elections present problems for Democrats. The party's most loyal voting blocs—young voters and minorities, in particular—tend to vote at lower rates than in presidential years. This year, President Barack Obama's falling approval rating could drag down Democratic candidates for state legislative seats. And thanks to the GOP's widespread success in 2010, Republicans were able to redraw many states' legislative maps after that year's census, gerrymandering themselves into solid and consistent majorities.