DEMS/POLITICS: “The Democratic Party recriminations came swiftly following Jon Ossoff’s expensive loss in Tuesday’s [6-20-17] special election in Georgia, which had been seen as the party’s best shot at gaining a House seat ahead of the 2018 midterms elections.
The populist wing of the party blamed Washington consultants and Mr. Ossoff for not backing the type of economic policies favored by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Young House Democrats who have clamored for a change in party leadership bemoaned the effectiveness of GOP attacks that tied Mr. Ossoff to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
And in South Carolina, where Democrat Archie Parnell came far closer than expected to snatching a heavily Republican seat Tuesday, local critics said they could have done better if party officials in Washington had listened to their pleas that the race was competitive and devoted more resources to driving up turnout in African-American neighborhoods.
Democrats need to win at least 24 seats from Republicans in next year’s midterm elections to seize control of the House. They were hoping the Georgia contest would kick-start efforts to close that gap. Instead, the result leaves them struggling to find a winning message to oppose President Donald Trump and split on the best way forward.”
-Reid J. Epstein and Janet Hook, “Democrats Point Fingers, Debate Winning Formula After Georgia Loss,” The Wall Street Journal online, June 21, 2017 03:04pm