The Democrats got "skunked" in four House races – including this week in Georgia and South Carolina – they thought they could easily win because "everyone they hang with hates" President Donald Trump, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd said Saturday.
And, therefore, the "Democrats are going to have to come up with something for people to be for, rather than just counting on Trump to implode," she said.
"The party still seems flummoxed that there are big swaths of the country where Democrats once roamed that now regard the Democratic brand as garbage and its long-in-the-tooth leadership as overstaying its welcome.
"The vibe is suffocating," Dowd said. "Where’s the fresh talent?"
She talked with Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, who called on the party to stop "microtargeting" voters and obsessing about Trump and Russia.
"The crazy thing is that there’s a great opportunity here, because neither party has figured out how to thrive in the new economy," he told Dowd.
She also noted a report this week in The Atlantic by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Bruce Reed, chief of staff to former Vice President Joe Biden, arguing that Democrats need to make next year's congressional elections "a referendum on Trump's record, not his impeachment."
"Trump may be nuts enough to blow up the world," Dowd concluded. "But the Democrats are nuts if they think his crazy is enough to save them."