DEM DISASTER – AT 9:14 A.M. ET:  More and more political writers are stressing the poor condition of the Democratic Party under Barack Obama.  In fact, the party's situation is disastrous, and has contributed to its lack of credible presidential candidates.  From the Washington Post: 

There are two reasons commonly cited for the fact that far fewer Democrats than Republicans are running for president in 2016. One is that Hillary Clinton was (and largely still is) considered a formidable candidate that, for most politicians, isn't worth the energy and money to try and defeat. The other is that the Democrats, after a few bad election cycles, have a very small political "bench" -- meaning that there aren't as many politically talented and successful candidates on the left as there might otherwise be.

Our Dan Balz made this point in the wake of last November's crushing Democratic defeat. Balz noted the scattered Democratic talent on Capitol Hill -- and then looked west. "The more serious problem for Democrats," he wrote, "is the drubbing they’ve taken in the states, the breeding ground for future national talent and for policy experimentation."

Balz pointed to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures, showing that Republicans had unified control -- both chambers of the legislature and the governorship -- in nearly half of the 50 states.

There's another way to look at that. The NCSL's annual breakdown of the composition of each state's Senate and House or Assembly goes back to 2009, when President Obama was inaugurated. Since then, the ratio of Republicans to Democrats has tilted to the right in nearly every Senate and nearly every legislature...

...Overall, of the 98 state senates and houses/assemblies, the Republicans saw gains in 40 upper chambers and 45 lower ones. Meaning far fewer elected Democrats, and a smaller bench.

We can quantify that, too. According to the NCSL data, there were 4,082 Democrats in state senates and state houses in 2009. In 2015, there were 3,163 -- a decrease of 22.5 percent.

That's 900-plus fewer Democrats to move up the ladder.

COMMENT:  And let's not forget – in fact, we delightfully remember – that under Obama the Dems have lost the House and Senate.  If they lose the presidency next year, they will have lost pretty much everything, except some student governments in the Ivy League. 

August 27, 2015