# Democrats are headed for crushing victory in 2020 if they play their cards right **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 10, 2016, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327 "2016-11-10T05:17:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/21 "2016-11-10T21:14:07Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Forgot to add: The Democrats were done in by low turnout this year. They’ll have massive turnout in 2020. Because in 2020 they’ll be running against Donald Freakin’ Trump, whereas in 2016 they were just … um … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/22 "2016-11-10T21:32:10Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Because in 2020 they’ll be running against Donald Freakin’ Trump, whereas in 2016 they were just … um … > > 😃 But they’ll be running against _actual_ President Trump, not the-guy-who-could-never-_really_-get-elected Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Neo-Calredic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/96bed5/32.png) [@Neo-Calredic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neo-Calredic)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/23 "2016-11-10T21:35:11Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It’s not about winning elections. It’s about living in a decent country. > > I don’t want the Democrats to win because the Republicans wrecked the country. Knowing this country, the most likely outcome is that Trump wrecks the country, blames it all on Obama and the Democrats, and gets re-elected anyway. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/24 "2016-11-11T03:00:52Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Forgot to add: The Democrats were done in by low turnout this year. They’ll have massive turnout in 2020. That depends on the candidate. Democrats have already proven twice that they won’t turn out to defeat a candidate they hate(2004 and 2016). They only turn out to support a candidate they love. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/25 "2016-11-11T03:11:53Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > 1. The Republicans have many more Senate seats to defend in 2020 than the Democrats, due to Republican gains from the 2014 midterms. “We’ll find it much easier to defend our lines after the enemy has pushed us backwards a few hundred miles!” ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/26 "2016-11-11T04:03:59Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > This is how Democrats fall victim to one of the classic blunders, setting sights on 2020 and not 2018. Every four years (the off-Presidential years) Democrats go, “ah shit, we forgot about midterms!” But that’s how you set up for 2020. There will be GOP seats ripe for pickin’ if the Democrats can get organized in time. Not only that but as mentioned before there are also such a thing as\* state elections\*, and many of their legislative chambers or executive offices run on 2-year cycles or on a 4-year cycle offset from the presidential, so many will come up in the next couple of years (NJ and VA governor come up in 2017!) already. This does not only affect the redistricting but more importantly creates the opportunity for showing to the people on the ground you ARE changing the system and your policy proposals do improve their lives, and provides the “farm system” for future office seekers. So THAT part has to start being worked on immediately and it’ll be a big challenge. And yes, counting on a great OMG WHAT HAVE WE DONE groundswell to get rid of President Pumpkinhead is the path to failure. You need to give these voters, the ones who only showed up with motivation for Obama himself but when it came to a downballot candidate or for Hillary, did not care to die on that hill, something/someone to vote _FOR_. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/27 "2016-11-11T06:05:28Z")
Most of these prognostications kind of depend on something we DON’T have…more than half the country not being blind to reality and mired in the idea that “my opinion=fact”. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/28 "2016-11-11T07:29:00Z")
Two-thirds of voters thought Trump was unqualified to be President. The chance he is going to do anything to change their minds while in office is negligible. All the Democrats have to do is nominate someone who most voters don’t hate. Where that candidate is ideologically is really beside the point. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/29 "2016-11-11T07:34:33Z")
That’s where you’re mistaken. It’s actually very easy to change minds about your qualifications for office when you already are in office. All Trump has to do is be mediocre and most voters will consider him qualified to be President. They still might not like him, but anyone who occupies the office and doesn’t fail miserably gets taken seriously as a President by the end of their first year. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/30 "2016-11-11T07:38:46Z")
I agree, I just think the chance he will be capable of achieving mediocrity is…well, not literally negligible, but much, much less than 50%. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/31 "2016-11-11T08:15:08Z")
> [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > All the Democrats have to do is nominate someone who most voters don’t hate. Okay. All we need is a candidate people don’t hate by election day. How do you do that? And please consider that between nomination and election day, there is at least a year. A year for the right-wing media to dig as deep as they want, spend as much time as they want constructing a narrative, and reinforcing any tiny little potato they can dig up. A year for the mainstream media to, at the constant chiding of the right wing about “bias”, spend time on these scandals, acting as though they were real or reasonable issues. Find me the candidate who people don’t hate after that. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/32 "2016-11-11T08:35:44Z")
Barack Obama seemed to do OK. _Some_ people are going to hate whoever Fox News tells them to, but they are a minority. We just need to find someone who _most_ people don’t hate, which describes pretty much every major politician in both parties except for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/33 "2016-11-11T09:21:06Z")
Worrying about how the opposition will smear your guy is only really an issue if you know your candidate gives them plenty of ammunition. Any candidate that enters a race with a clean slate and has no disqualifying skeletons in their closet will make it out okay. It’s all about vetting. Democrats drew the entirely wrong conclusion about Clinton. They assumed she was vetted because she’d been through the wars and come out of it stronger. What they didn’t count on, but should have noticed right away, is that she continued to give her enemies ammunition. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/34 "2016-11-11T16:12:42Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Worrying about how the opposition will smear your guy is only really an issue if you know your candidate gives them plenty of ammunition. Any candidate that enters a race with a clean slate and has no disqualifying skeletons in their closet will make it out okay. It’s all about vetting. Democrats drew the entirely wrong conclusion about Clinton. They assumed she was vetted because she’d been through the wars and come out of it stronger. What they didn’t count on, but should have noticed right away, is that she continued to give her enemies ammunition. You misspelled “she continued to be lied about and having her enemies dig up innocuous events that they then spun mercilessly to look like crimes”. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/35 "2016-11-11T18:21:32Z")
If the Democrats were capable of playing their cards right one would be in office right now. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327/36 "2016-11-12T04:13:39Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > If the Democrats were capable of playing their cards right one would be in office right now. They did okay in 2006, 2008. and 2012. Although the Republican wins have been bigger, they aren’t more numerous. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/democrats-are-headed-for-crushing-victory-in-2020-if-they-play-their-cards-right/771327.md?page=1)