Democratic Party reckoning begins as Obama prepares to leave White House

A selection of the front pages of the British national newspapers showing the reaction following Donald Trump's shock US presidential victory in London on November 10, 2016. A triumphant Donald Trump heads to the White House Thursday for talks with President Barack Obama on securing a smooth transition of power and steading nerves after an election that shocked the world. / AFP PHOTO /

President Barack Obama hands over the White House to Republican Donald Trump in 71 days, leaving the Democratic Party leaderless and with few up-and-coming stars among its aging cast of stalwarts.

In what appeared to be a wave election, Republicans also secured majorities they already enjoyed in the Senate and the House and in governor's mansions and State legislatures across the country.

The defeat of Hillary Clinton, an experienced Washington politician who sought common ground with Republicans, could make it more likely that the party will turn to its liberal wing as it grapples with its future. That's best represented by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whom Clinton defeated in a long primary, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a pull-no-punches progressive darling.

"The Democratic Party needs to remold itself in the image of them and offer a systemic critique of the rigged economy that shows the voters who put Trump over the top that they understand why they are angry," said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

Green said Democrats must make a "conscious decision to separate themselves from the corporate villains who are, to a large extent, funding their campaigns."

Trump's open warfare with Republican leaders over the past year and a half obscured the extent of the Democrats' crisis, and they are only now beginning to contend with it.

"This is painful, and it will be for a long time," Clinton said in her concession speech Wednesday in New York.

She implored those who want to fight for Democratic values — particularly young voters — to participate every day, not just every four years.

Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz urged careful deliberation as the Democratic reckoning begins. He said the "rush to recalibrate" strategy and messaging concerns him.

"Democrats need to take, not forever, but weeks and months to diagnose what just happened to us and why," he said.

Democratic leaders are already in touch with each other and party strategists, he said, but added that alone will not provide answers.

But the outlook for Democrats may well get worse before it improves.

In two years, they will be defending about two dozen Senate seats, including at least five in deep-red States. That election could hand Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a filibuster-proof majority, further clearing the way for a conservative policy agenda.

"We have to ask ourselves what is wrong with our party," said Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, arguing it's at least in part a failure to connect with working-class people who are hurting.

One small Democratic bright spot this year was the election of three women of colour to the Senate, Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada, Kamala Harris in California and Tammy Duckworth in Illinois.

Across the Capitol, Democrats are led by 76-year-old Nancy Pelosi.

In a statement Wednesday, Sanders said Trump had "tapped into the anger of a declining middle class that is sick and tired of establishment economics, establishment politics and the establishment media."