Now that we are getting the second and third level dissections of Campaign 2014 from thoughtful Democratic analysts, we thought it would be a good time for a review. The starting point for the post-election discussion amounted to efforts to reassure dispirited Democrats that the 2014 election was typically unique and 2016 would be different, but nearly all of the Democratic Party strategists who have weighed in have warned against dismissing the dramatic defeat. And broadly speaking, nearly all have the same recommendations to fix things before the 2016 election. …
Our goal here is to put all of these analyses in the same place seeking out common threads and recommendations—including our own recommendations gained by watching the election from Central Kentucky. It is like our own version of the “Autopsy” conducted by Republican National Chair Reince Priebus after the 2012 election—but compared to that largely ignored document we can hold out hope that more people heed the insights contained below before the 2016 election. CONT.
Sheri Rivlin & Allan Rivlin, The Democratic Strategist