Was 2017 the worst year ever for the GOP?

[Tekken_Guy]

Was 2017 the worst year ever for the Republican Party? I mean in terms of damage to their brand. It seems impossible for them to recruit any more undecideds.

[Beet]

Yes, and Donald Trump is finished. Who will run against Hillary in 2020?

[ProudModerate2]

In recent history ..... yes.

[GeorgiaModerate]

1974 was pretty bad too.

[Crumpets]

I feel like 2005 was worse. I'm not sure if I have any empirical data to support this, but I submit this Jib-Jab video as evidence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ThHrqlGdSk

[muon2]

I feel like 2005 was worse. I'm not sure if I have any empirical data to support this, but I submit this Jib-Jab video as evidence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ThHrqlGdSk

I was going to post about 2005, so let me add some specifics:
Congress failed to move on W's big legislative items that he ran on in 2004, especially his proposals for Social Security.
App and May were terrible months in Iraq, and thoughts of a withdrawal were abandoned, disappointing the public.
Hurricane Katrina put government failures nightly on TV.g
Majority Leader Tom DeLay was indicted and resigned.
Jack Abramoff was indicted in a lobbying scandal touching the Administration and Congressional Pubs.
Cong. Duke Cunningham resigned as part of his scandal involving defense contracts.

These set the stage for the Pub collapse in the 2006 midterms.

[Cactus Jack]

Just wait until next year.

[The Mikado]

1929-1930 is the canonical answer to this.

[Suburbia]

1998-99. Although keeping House/Senate, they failed to get rid of their 1990s enemy: Bill Clinton.

[SATW]

I'd say yes, but we still have 3 more years for something crazier or dumber to pop up.

[Landslide Lyndon]

1929-1930 is the canonical answer to this.

[Mr. Smith]

1932 by far.

If 2017 was that bad, there'd be Congressdudes Ossoff, Quist, Parnell, and Thompson....these didn't happen. Oh and also Guadagno lost by low doubles rather than 20 or 30 points.

[gottsu]

It's not as worse as 2004-06 (second Bush Jr. midterms), but if GOP doesn't deliver Alabama senatorial win and tax&ACA reform - I think some pundits will be starting to make an equal sign between 2017 and 2004-06.

1998-99 were also tough times for R's that are fit to mention. The Republican Revolution finally devoured its creator - Newt Gingrich and was effectively over.

[OSR stands with Israel]

1974 and 2008 were far worse.



All time 1932 was the worst

[TPIG]

1932 by far.

If 2017 was that bad, there'd be Congressdudes Ossoff, Quist, Parnell, and Thompson....these didn't happen. Oh and also Guadagno lost by low doubles rather than 20 or 30 points.

Exactly. The country was far more elastic in support for political parties in the 1930s, and the GOP brand was incredibly toxic back then; more than it could ever be now.

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

1930 spawned a realignment that made the Democrats the majority party through at least 1994.

[The Mikado]

I don't see any year beating 1861 for Dems or 1930 for GOP, wver.

If a year does beat either of those, that party will cease to exist.

[Mike Thick]

Everything that the other posters have said. Plus, they got to stack America's court system with dozens of archconservative young judges who will be there decades from now, which gives this year a pretty solid floor.

[Mr. Reactionary]

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

I agree with Crumpets. 2005 pretty much signified the resurgence of the Democrats in 06 and 08.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

1929-1930 is the canonical answer to this.

Actually, there is some debate on to whether this is accurate or not based on when the depression took hold as the dominant political issue. 1930 looks just like 1926 or 1922, and the Republicans nominally held the house on paper, in all three of those years. The theory is that the tariff issue in isolation, prohibition and other issues were dominant in 1930, and it is only with the revving up of the bank failures in 1931-1932 that the bottom fell out for the Republicans.

1932 by far.

If 2017 was that bad, there'd be Congressdudes Ossoff, Quist, Parnell, and Thompson....these didn't happen. Oh and also Guadagno lost by low doubles rather than 20 or 30 points.

I should note that in the 1930 the congress elected that year did not take office until December 1931. Several congressmen died in office and though Republicans narrowly won a majority in the actual elections, the special elections to fill those vacant seats, shifted control to the Democrats by the time Congress convened.

So yeah 1931-1932, 1973-1974, 2005-2006 and 2008 were worse than 2017.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

They took back the Presidency.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

No. They won 5/6 Special Congressional Elections, with the only loss coming in the Strongly Democratic CA-34. They may still pull out the Alabama Special even after all that's happened. They may be able to push tax reform through. They got to undo all but one of Obama's last minute regulations. They convinced Susan Collins to forgo a run for Governor, avoiding a difficult 2019 Special Election. They got to fill a Supreme Court Seat originally opened under Obama with a conservative nominee. They've filled a bunch of lower court seats too.

The year seems terrible because the bad moments were highly publicized and stick out like a sore thumb. They lost the Virginia and New Jersey Governorships. They will either lose or just barely hold the heavily gerrymandered VA HoD. Democrats won some state legislative seats they have no business winning, including a bunch in Oklahoma of all places. CA/HI/OR/WA now consist entirely of D governorships and legislatures. They were awkwardly forced to agree to a 3-month continuing resolution because Trump decided to randomly be nice to dems for a little while. They, arguably unexpectedly, ended up in the sticky situation of threatening the military eligibility of Transgender Individuals and the residency eligibility of dreamers. But the existence of this second paragraph doesn't mean the first paragraph didn't happen or isn't worth anything.

[Pericles]

Yes, and it's not even over yet. However, 2018 will be worse, then 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023....

[Pericles]

Tax reform-not happening.

Obamacare-still alive and strong, despite repeal attempt after repeal attempt.

"I'll appoint a special prosecutor to look into your situation"-Trump on Clinton, 2016. 2017: Trump has special prosecutor on him, not Clinton.

Trump approval: 38%.

2016 House popular vote margin: R+1.1%. Now: R-9.1%