The answer to how Congressional Democrats regain their footing remains unknown. But, history grants a clue. Governing.com,
We looked at how the parties fared under the last three presidents in U.S. Senate seats, U.S. House seats, governorships and state legislatures. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have all suffered grievously down-ballot over the course of their tenures…
Historically speaking, an additional two more years in office doesn’t make a difference — neither Clinton nor Bush was able to break into positive territory after their eighth year in office….
Only one president managed to gain seats in any category over that entire time: Ronald Reagan gained six Republican state legislative seats over eight years. Even that victory, though, represents a paltry fraction of the 7,000-plus state legislative seats nationally…
The takeaway is clear: Win the presidency, and you’ll lose everywhere else. “There is a presidential penalty in American politics,” said Alan Abramowitz, an Emory University political scientist. “The Democrats’ best chance to take back Congress is to lose the White House in 2016.”
