Democrats had a trifecta but couldn't get DC and Puerto Rico statehood or voter right protections because of Blue Dog members of the party. They lost a critical election that led to some of the worst gerrymandered maps against them while most of their own gerrymandering attempts were overturned. Republicans now control the senate, house, judicial, and executive branch and can cement their power forever.
If you don't believe me just look at Mississippi. A state where demographics alone should've made it between blue and purple. Instead, 15% of all Black adults in that state are not allowed to vote. Similarly, in Florida, 10% of all adults cannot vote. Voters passed an initiative by direct democracy to allow felons to vote, but DeSantis just blocked it anyways and the courts, which he controls, backed him.
Democrats, despite winning the popular vote in all but 2 elections since 1988, are pretty much completely out of power
> Instead, 15% of all Black adults in that state are not allowed to vote. Similarly, in Florida, 10% of all adults cannot vote.
After some research it seems like this is due to felony convictions. I agree voting privileges should be restored upon completion of sentence, but dang I'm more concerned that 10% of all adults in Florida are convicted felons, what's up with that?
Look at the demographics of those convicted felons. I suspect you’ll see certain trends in who tends to be targeted for arrest—given that rates of criminality are broadly equivalent across demographic groups—that align closely with who the people in power don’t want to have any power of their own.
Mississippi is a very obvious case. The white power structure there simply does not want to allow black people to vote so they use all available means to prevent that.
The popular vote back in, like, 2012 is irrelevant. What matters is the popular vote this cycle, which the Republicans won strongly. Excuses around gerrymandering, electoral college, blah blah blah don't work this year. Trump and the Republicans won the Presidency, Senate and House, fair and square.
> Democrats, despite winning the popular vote in all but 2 elections since 1988, are pretty much completely out of power
This shit pisses me off so much. Why can't they play by the same rules? The supreme irony is, if Dems were willing to occasionally fight dirty/play to win as well, at least when they still had some power, it would have likely forced Republicans to try to govern well occasionally rather than simply always playing to win.
NY for example had a map that was gerrymandered to benefit dems. Their SC struck it down and instead we ended up with a map that slightly benefits Republicans.
This is an example of something that happens across the country. Most deep red states are heavily gerrymandered. In contrast, almost every single state that uses an independent redistricting commission is blue. This means Dems are unable to play by the same gerrymandering tactics as Republicans
I think u/mrkeen might have been referring to phony criminal charges against a political opponent, for example. Or I dunno, hundreds of thousands of ballots dropping at 4AM in some central counting location they control with 100% being for their candidate.
> Democrats, despite winning the popular vote in all but 2 elections since 1988, are pretty much completely out of power
It's almost as if they need a different platform that can get them a win instead of complaining that the majority of their voters live in a handful of states.
The election system is what it is.
If you want to win, you need to do something to win - not complain about the system.
If you don't believe me just look at Mississippi. A state where demographics alone should've made it between blue and purple. Instead, 15% of all Black adults in that state are not allowed to vote. Similarly, in Florida, 10% of all adults cannot vote. Voters passed an initiative by direct democracy to allow felons to vote, but DeSantis just blocked it anyways and the courts, which he controls, backed him.
Democrats, despite winning the popular vote in all but 2 elections since 1988, are pretty much completely out of power