Democrats - indeed most incumbent parties in the past few years - labored under the gulf between the actual facts and what the narrative was in people's minds. "Everyone knew" the economy was bad, and in fact it was bad for about 16 months, with inflation really punching people in the guts. One of the usual targets of post-defeat circular firing squads is to focus on "message" which I think is sort of besides the point, as message won't counter the priors that people hold. "Republicans are good for business and therefore the economy" is one of the most pernicious falsehoods that people cling to. Trying to argue against that is tough.
Still, Democrats need a "message" and it sure seems like attacking the new broligarchy is a great start. The first Progressive Era targeted the "malefactors of great wealth", as middle class Americans made common cause with more radical actors to reshape American governance. With space travel becoming the provenance of two multi-billionaires and the Billionaires Boy Club increasingly sucking up to Trump, a populist anti-billionaire message would work. People already associate the Republicans with business elites, the point is to make the business elites the problem. The fact that Obama had to bail out the banks muddied those waters.
Time to make them clear.
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