Global threats shredded Dem midterm playbook

GLOBAL THREATS SHREDDED DEM PLAYBOOKHow did Scott Brown push the New Hampshire Senate race from long shot to toss-up? Why did the Democratic plan to roil the election with an executive order on amnesty disappear? What explains the shift toward the GOP among women, Latinos and now even young adults? When did the Democratic effort to make this an election about social issues fall apart? The answer is as simple as a look at today’s biggest story. A series of national security catastrophes, starting this summer, reset the election and left Democrats in retreat instead of merely on defense. Russian aggression, chaos at the southern border, Ebola’s arrival in America and, most of all, the unraveling of Iraq and Syria at the hands of Islamist militants shredded the Democratic playbook. When things got real, a strategy based on micromarketing of wedge issues was untenable.