Democrat National Strategy

Democrats recently lost two close races in very red districts - one in Kansas, one in Georgia.  The Dem who came close in Kansas came close despite near-total neglect from the Democratic National Committee.

Now an eminently electable Democrat, Rob Quist, is running for a Congressional seat in Montana.

Montana routinely votes Red in Presidential contests, but frequently votes Blue for Congress or Governor.   Montana is not an unconquerable Republican bastion.  In fact, by many metrics, Rob Quist should easily be able to best his Republican opponent, the vulnerable Greg Gianforte (originally from New Jersey).  And yet the national Democratic party leadership is putting little into Mr. Quist's race, on the grounds that Montana is a red state and therefore isn't worth contesting.

Let's imagine you're an Oakland A's fan (as many of my best friends are.  Go A's, unless you're playing the Mets, in which case, get crushed.).  Your team hasn't been very good for a long while (WHOOPS, MY BAD! See "Update" below.  I should say: your team hasn't been very good for two years now.).

Let's say the A's hire a new manager who takes this approach: when the A's are playing the Cubs, the Indians, the Dodgers, and other very good teams, his players are to stand down.  To not bother swinging the bat.  Why injure their arms?  They can try to bunt, but no serious attempts to hit the ball should be made.  Similarly defensive plays.  Wouldn't want to sprain anything.  Best to concede those games and prevent injury for the games the A's can win, like the Angels and Padres maybe.

As an A's fan, would you not be completely up in arms until this loser manager was shown the door?  Any team can win.  Didn't the Cubs just win a World Series?!? The Cubs!!!

And yet, when Democrat opinion leaders assert that races such as Quist's in Montana are unwinnable and, hence, a waste of resources, a wide swath of Democrat voters tend to agree.  Why waste money there?  We'll never win in Montana of all places.  Let alone Kansas!  Better to be more "strategic".

Time to wake up and smell the ballgame, folks.  Democrats must contend every single seat.  If you are a party leader, THAT IS YOUR JOB.  Republicans seem to understandable this principle.  We still have Republicans upstate and out on Long Island in dyed-deep-blue New York.

The premise that these races are unwinnable is hot rubbish.

Go A's, and go Rob Quist.

This guy is unelectable in Montana??! His opponent is originally from NEW JERSEY!

 

UPDATE: Sloppy writing on my part! I've been told that the A's have actually been an above-par team for a long time running.  Certain close friends of mine who are A's fans had sold me on the premise that this team is always bad, but I should have done my research.  A reader writes: "To correct the analogy, the A's have actually been a +.500 team more of the last 20 years than anyone except the Cardinals and the Yanks. They had two back-to-back losing seasons for the first time in a while (2015-2016), but that followed three trips to the post-season (2012-2014). Also, tanking is something they probably should have done a few years, but of all the slimy things Billy Beane is, he's not a tanker, and thus we are perpetually tortured with the prospect that the current batch of misfit toys might be the winning one.  Your team for this example would be the Marlins or the Twins." I'm personally not updating this to reflect the Marlins, because as a Mets fan, I wish the Marlins and their fanbase nothing but the absolute worst, forever.