There Are No More Red States

James Thompson

      Republicans are experiencing Colony Collapse Disorder.  For reasons too numerous to iterate, Trump's numbers are plummeting, as is interest in special elections (even more so that usual) among right-leaners.  In the Kansas 4th--Koch's home ground--James Thompson polled within 1% shortly before the election and lost by only 6.8%.  What is more, he did so with almost no help from the DNC or the liberal media (most notably MSNBC, who have focused exclusively on Jon Ossoff).  Not bad for a Kansan without his own Wikipedia page! 

     To put this in perspective, the last Democrat to win this seat was segregationist Jon James Flynt Jr. in 1965.

Rob Quist, Montana.

      Was the Kansas 4th an anomaly? 

      Hardly. 

      True, Governor Sam Brownback is almost universally detested but that was the case on November 8th, 2016, when the district went for Trump by 20.5% while Mike Pompeo (now CIA Director) beat Democrat Daniel Giroux by 31.1%. 

     That was then.  Flash forward 5 months and the GOP is free-falling in the polls, as is enthusiasm among the remaining supporters.

    James Thompson ran an excellent campaign but he was more the result than the cause.  Simply put, the Thompson Effect is:  There are no more red districts.  By extension, his outcome underscored the obsolescence of the concept of red states. 

     Every seat should be contested.  Vigorously.  We agree that our discretionary resources should go into the tightest races.  However, the Overton Window has shifted left so far and so fast that these previously unattainable seats are the new battleground.  To wit, we should regard Jon Ossoff (Georgia 6th),  Rob Quist (Montana), Larry Barnett (Virginia 27th), and others like them as the front line.  This isn't merely a "healthy conceit" aimed at rallying supporters;  it is the status quo.

Larry Barnett, Virginia.

     We're talking about a 50-state strategy on steroids.  No more "Keep our powder dry!" nonsense.  Every challenged candidate should be supported equally, without regard to whether the nominee is centrist or progressive.  Think "Big Mo"[mentum] here:  Democratic success in one previously difficult region will translate into enthusiasm and support--including funding--in subsequent tilts.

      Everyone loves a winner!