a moment of clarity.

words. 

"...the 2014 election looks more like part of a pattern than an aberration. Liberals’ grasp on American political culture and on the operation of American politics has been weakening for decades, not least because the rules of play have been set by conservatives. Practices and regulations regarding the raising and spending of money, the nature of political consulting and political advertising, and the press’s coverage of politics have generally been the product of the forces of conservatism. The Democrats’ chief contribution to the machinery of American politics, lately, has been the adoption of digital tools as campaign aids, the importance of which is nearly always wildly overstated. Sure, MoveOn.org helped get Obama elected in 2008. But in the history of American politics, the consequences of the Reagan-era F.C.C.’s abandonment of the Fairness Doctrine, in 1987, will be an entire chapter; MoveOn will be a Page Not Found.

At its best, a political party is a set of principles made manifest in a course of action. In this year’s midterms, neither party neared that standard. But since it is the Democrats who lost, it is the Democrats who’ve got to decide what lessons to learn. And they’ve got plenty of places to start. Democratic Party leaders have acted as if they believe that, between knowing how to use the Internet and espousing views typically considered more appealing to younger voters, the party’s future is assured. This is a dangerous misconception, and it lies behind a laziness of purpose. “Elect me because the G.O.P. is nuts” is no sounder a campaign message than “Elect me because Obama caused Ebola.” One reason that so many Democratic candidates so often fail to say much of anything substantial is that they prefer, instead, to wait for their Republican opponents to say something execrable.

 ...You can earn votes by pointing out that your opponent is even worse than you are, but you can’t run a political party that way. And it’s no way to run a government."

THE NEW YORKER: The Democrats Flunk Their Midterms