Would a Berniecrat Have Won Ossoff's Georgia Race?

144,313 residents are foreign-born.

Ossoff did not emphasize immigrants' rights or equality and social justice for ethnic and religious minorities. He did not speak out forcefully against Trump's attempted Muslim ban or his demonization of Hispanics.

46,214 voting-age residents are disabled.

Trump, together with his Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill, is trying to slash Social Security disability. Trumpcare would have a devastating impact on disabled Americans.

63,123 residents work in educational services, health care, and social assistance.

29,736 are government workers. Another 9,238 work in public administration.

That's 102,097 people whose jobs are on the cutting block when Republicans are in power. A strong progressive agenda, by contrast, would emphasize smart, targeted spending increases in these areas.

There are 130,472 housing units with mortgages in the district.

Since many of those mortgages are held by couples, means there are even more voters who write checks to a bank every month. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) protects their interests; a modern-day Glass Steagall Act, and a breakup of the biggest banks, would protect them even more.

More Than Numbers

What, if anything, does Ossoff's loss mean for the Democratic Party going forward? While the answer is speculative by necessity, the answer is: It could mean quite a lot. Even in their worst years, the Democratic congressional candidate in this district has received 38 percent of the vote. That's the Democrats' foundation. What will get them from there to the finish line?

Remember, less than 10,000 votes would've made the difference for Ossoff. A campaign based on economic populism and a strong commitment to civil rights -- that is, a "Berniecrat" campaign -- could arguably have turned out many thousands of voters who stayed home this time around, while swaying others to the Democratic column.

The Ossoff campaign would have been wise to spend less on television buys and invest a lot more in doorbell-ringing and other forms of voter-to-voter outreach. That could have proved especially critical in communities of color and among workers who are struggling economically.

Would this strategy have succeeded in the Ossoff race? We can't know, of course. But we do know this: what the Democrats have been doing has failed.

That's why insiders and party activists must ignore the voices of those who created this mess in the first place. That includes Rahm Emmanuel and Bruce Reed, who argued recently that Trump hatred alone will lift the party to victory in 2018.

"Democrats don't need to spend the next year navel-gazing over how to motivate their base," they sneer. "Navel-gazing" is apparently a snarky term for any analysis that doesn't promote your personal interests.

The party has lost more than 900 state legislature seats since 2009, according to some measures. It has lost both houses of Congress, along with two thirds of statehouses and two thirds of governorships. It has remained largely silent and impotent as Republicans rig the game in their favor through gerrymandering and voter suppression.

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