Failing Democrats need to do their own autopsy

Roughly 80% of us now live in states partially or totally controlled by Republicans. Twothirds of our nation’s governors are now GOP, and an all- time high 69 of 99 state legislatures now have Republican majorities. In half of our 50 states, both the state legislature and the governorship are controlled by Republicans. Republicans also control Congress and the White House and have appointed a majority of justices on the Supreme Court.

After four straight losses in recent special elections for congressional seats, on top of more than 1,030 seats lost nationally by Democrats in state legislatures, governorships and Congress since 2009, the Democratic National Committee needs to figure out the cause of what can only be called the party’s slow death.

It’s time for the DNC to perform an autopsy.

The Republicans did one in 2012 and published it as the Growth and Opportunity Project. While not everyone agreed with its recommendations, the authors were well- respected GOP leaders who called for changes to the party’s messaging, demographic outreach, use of new technology and data, number of debates and primary schedule. The guy who ordered the autopsy is now White House chief of staff.

Say what you want about Donald Trump — who was not a fan of the report’s recommendations and disagrees with many traditional Republican policies — but he brought millions of new voters to the GOP. He knew how to connect with the people he called “forgotten” Americans, many of whom had never voted Republican. Republican turnout in the primaries set a record.

The massive loss of Democratic seats across the nation has meant the left is now without a pipeline of quality candidates. Exhibit A: Jon Ossoff, who lost last week’s Georgia special election, didn’t even live in the district in which he was running. Exhibit B: Rob Quist, who lost May’s special election in Montana, was a banjo- playing songwriter who has performed at a nudist camp. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

The Democrats also have a policy problem. In an era of vicious attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, staggering national debt and menacing actions by North Korea, they only seem to want to talk about abortion rights, transgender bathrooms and gun control.

Here’s another disconnect: The average age of the Democratic leadership in the House is 76; for Republicans, it’s 49. A recent headline from the liberal Huffington Post: “Democratic leadership looks like old Soviet Politburo.” The average age of the Politburo before its collapse was only 70.

But I have a feeling there won’t be any autopsy from the DNC. Why have a serious examination of what’s gone wrong when you can keep tweeting # Resist, marching in pink hats, and cheering on Alec Baldwin?

The longer it takes for Democrats to call the coroner, the better for Republicans.

Mary Kate Cary, a former White House speechwriter for President George H. W. Bush, is a senior fellow for presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.