For starters, there will be literally hundreds of state legislature elections, the only elections where Democrats made real gains in 2004. This map shows the current balance of power in state legislatures:
2004 was encouraging, but we are still not over the hump. In addition to defending our gains in many states from 2004, there are a large number of legislative branches where we are within five seats or less of control. When it comes to State Senates, we are within five seats of less of control in Alaska, Arizona, Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Virginia. When it comes to Houses, we are within five in the Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Oregon.
When it comes to Governorships, our rather dramatic gains from 2001-2002 have slowly eroded in the 2003 and 2004 elections. With Rossi still slightly ahead in Washington, the new Governor's map is a little depressing:
However, in 2006, there will be gubernatorial elections in most states, and there are many excellent pickup opportunities for Democrats. Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio and Vermont are just some of the states where we have a good chance to take over party control.
None of this even mentions the House of Representatives, where I fully expect Democrats to launch our most wide-ranging assault on Republican control since our 1994 defeat. Personally, I want to seriously challenge at least seventy Republican seats, and run a Democrat in 434 (we can leave Bernie Sanders alone). In the Senate, I think we need to mount serious challenges against at least eleven sitting Republicans.
Considering the wide-ranging focus and the absence of swing states, 2005-2006 will actually be a more national election than 2004. In order to make broad gains, the party needs to be built up in every available locality. For the first time since its inception, Democratic Party Meetups are now the most important type of Meet for us to attend. This is also why we need a national chair, someone like Simon Rosenberg or Howard Dean, rather than someone who seems primarily interested in defending the local and parochial, such as Tom Vilsack. This is also why we need to maintain organizations like America Votes more than ever, but they need to be expanded to a national level, rather than just focusing on seventeen key states.
It is time for a real fifty-state strategy.
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