They’re claiming that their group “exceeded expectations” by holding the RGA to a ‘mere’ +6 GOP gain overall, with five Democratic pickups and one Independent one. To begin with, that number is still up in the air: the Minnesota results have not yet come in… but even if you spot the Democrats that one, this is, well, a silly thing for the DGA to say. Let’s look at the battlefield, shall we?
- Democratic pickups. CA, CT, HI, MN, RI*, VT. First off, gaining California? Worth crowing over, sure. CT likewise. We fought for both of those pretty hard. Minnesota likewise, although the state legislature flipping to GOP rules out the primary reason that the Democrats wanted the state (ie, gerrymandering Michele Bachmann’s seat out of existence). Nonetheless, the DGA’s pickups were all in safely Blue states (Minnesota is the purplest), which means that they gained effectively nothing when it comes to the Presidential election in 2012. And as for redistricting: aside from Minnesota, the only fertile ground there would have been California… which has just taken redistricting out of the hands of the legislature. Oops. Continue reading The DGA spins a bad night.