While it's not too late for a political rebirth, the Democratic Party has no answers for Republicans and President Donald Trump because the party is too old, too extreme, and stuck in the soup, Republican political strategist Karl Rove wrote in a guest column for The Wall Street Journal.
Rove said the answer key for a Democrat comeback lies in the history books, adding the "winning message" will not be found in the party's "geriatric generation" or in its "fringe."
"The party out of power needs a better story line — an agenda of vision and values that resets its image," Rove wrote. "That winning message is never found on a party's fringe. Instead, look at the major issues voters care about and confront the party's failure to address them."
He added: "A party adrift after losing the White House needs leaders to transform. Democrats won't find that practical revolutionary general among its geriatric generation. It probably isn't Kamala Harris or House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries either. Perhaps look to governors."
Rove noted that Republican gubernatorial victories in California, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in 1966 were "critical" to Republican Richard Nixon's presidential victory in 1968.
"What was true then may be true next year for Democrats," Rove wrote. "That party has plenty of time for a comeback. But the work is difficult, and new generational leaders are hard to come by. Democrats better raise some up. Until they emerge, that party is in the soup."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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