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VBNMW_Realist

(38 posts)
Thu Jul 2, 2026, 03:29 PM Thursday

How Democrats Could Win a Landslide

Anything will happen, but one reason I think there is a good chance Democrats will win in a landslide is by replicating the 2018 turnout gains. This is a detail that was lost but 2018 was not as big of a blue wave as it could have been because the electorate according to studies only voted for Clinton by 3-4%, only slightly bluer than the 2016 result. So it came from swing voters as well.

The same story appears to be happening in 2026, but in a completely different path in many ways. In 2026, Democrats are poised to roll back Republicans gains with nonwhite voters because many of these additional Republican votes were not particularly ideological, and also many feel like their identity is under attack, especially nonwhite immigrants, including wealthy Asians. The Republicans are also losing the white working class, which is potentially even more devastating for them because it would roll back their gains in Iowa, Ohio, and more, possibly leading Democrats to win the Governor and Senate seats there.

One of the biggest questions of this electoral cycle is whether or not Democrats will be able to make further inroads in the suburbs. The 2 reasons I think they will is in 2024, suburbs overall barely shifted red (and actually some got bluer in swing states especially Georgia) in the presidential election, and the Virginia and New Jersey elections had suburbs voting Democratic at Biden 2020 levels in New Jersey and even higher in Virginia. NJ's suburbs are more Republican down-ballot so those results were devastating for them to see with a blue Morris County in that year for the first time in decades.

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How Democrats Could Win a Landslide (Original Post) VBNMW_Realist Thursday OP
Forget the "swing" voters - orthoclad Thursday #1
I agree sboatcar Thursday #2
Moving towards the right is a self-defeating strategy orthoclad 14 hrs ago #4
Nothing can stop the Blue Tsunami Fiendish Thingy Thursday #3

orthoclad

(5,299 posts)
1. Forget the "swing" voters -
Thu Jul 2, 2026, 03:46 PM
Thursday

appeal to the 1/3 of USians who didn't vote, and bring them out.

Why try to appeal to rethugs and Reich-wing-adjacent?

sboatcar

(932 posts)
2. I agree
Thu Jul 2, 2026, 04:02 PM
Thursday

we need to stop pandering to the right, that drives down voter turnout from the left. Its been their strategy all this time, to try to get democrats to court voters who'll never vote for them and disillusion progressive voters into not voting at all. Look at what happened with Bernie Sanders. The Party decided that they would rather anoint Clinton, and it cost us the election because a lot of left wing voters turned away, or in the case of a couple members of my family, caused them to vote Trump.
Centrists keep leaning right, and we need to stop that.

orthoclad

(5,299 posts)
4. Moving towards the right is a self-defeating strategy
Sat Jul 4, 2026, 10:51 AM
14 hrs ago

Rather than expand the voting base, rightists will vote for the real thing rather than diluted conservatism.

Which president was it who said that many years ago?

Fiendish Thingy

(24,601 posts)
3. Nothing can stop the Blue Tsunami
Thu Jul 2, 2026, 04:28 PM
Thursday

And if young voter turnout increases by even just 5-10%, it will be an unquestionable landslide

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