What Do the Democrats Need to be Relevant?

This paper examines the federal and state-level outcomes of the 2016 election cycle to argue that the Democratic Party is increasingly becoming irrelevant. As a result, the question is posed 'What do the Democrats need to do to be relevant?' To answer it, county-level data from the most politically strategic important areas of the country are analyzed. What the data shows is that the dominant issue of the past election, at least implicitly, was economic inequality. Hence, to solve this widespread issue, a Green New Deal platform is put forward that will solve virtually all of the economic crises facing the lower and middle classes, while additionally mitigating manmade climate change. However, doing so will face opposition from entrenched interests. To compensate, a political strategy is put forth that will enable progressive interests to ensure an ability to adequately implement a Green New Deal, tackle economic inequality, and make traditionally Democratic ideals relevant once again. (C) 2018 by The Transformative Studies Institute. All rights reserved.