WAY too soon for that... we have a weirdly high young generation of conservatives coming through the ranks, but at the same time that means Republicans will be placing a lot of their base support on a demographic that doesn't hit the polls consistently (ESPECIALLY at midterms)
we need to see how Trump carries out his responsibilities as President, and to be frank most of the controversy has been artificially created by him (his own bad healthcare plan, poor wording in a still fairly pointless immigration ban)
this test in Syria is going to be a landmark, and if he simply takes a passive stance that'd almost be worse than doing something stupid.
We're going to see how dedicated Trump is to the Republican party: the more dedicated he is, the more likely the Republicans will do well in 2018. I'm still waiting to see the Democrats start to gather support for a new candidate, Hillary is on the outskirts, and any attention still on Obama is a bad attention-glut game for attracting new voters.
I doubt we'll see Bernie pushed out again, but they have a chance to move even further left here, though I hope we see another candidate who policy wise is closer to Clinton fiscally, though perhaps less enticed by the idea of bigger government. Many liberal demographics show a SHARP decline in support for the idea of a powerful President, which isn't much of a surprise since Trump took Office. Ironically enough the changing demographics in youth might be a plus for liberals come midterms (compared to previously losses in offseasons)
If they're able to rally the party behind a new face come 2018, they can build a base in congress, and prepare for 2020. But they need to get started now, because media criticism of Trump is getting ignored, and if there's nothing really controversial that happens in the next year or so... they'll have to beat Trump on principle and policy.
that's not impossible, but Republicans are also trying to reconcile with the freedom caucus, and in a different sense they're also going through turbulence. However, the Republican base of working class does seem secured for the time being, but we're one economic drop away from that being lost.
My current predictions of the economy are that we've seen some bubbles begin to form under Obama in some areas of the economy that are being very overvalued, there's definitely one in the automotive industry, but these bubbles can persist for a LONG time. No immediate indicators of disaster yet, and the short term rate hikes by the FED might spark some life into the economy, and at the very least continue the trend of gaining confidence that we've seen these last few months.
as undecided as 2018 is, I don't think the Republican will suffer substantial losses, though Democrats only would need to challenge the Senate to have a stronger push in 2020 to turning the Senate Blue. Their plan over the next 3 years has to be one of unity, and inclusiveness. Minimize polarization, and try to regain lost votes in the center. Trump is likely to be the Republican nominee, and if he isn't the republicans won't win pure and simple.
Meanwhile Libertarians are going to play an interesting demographic, they've attracted a lot of younger voters, and they double their size in votes from 2012 to 2016. If they draw more from the right, that could tip some swing states such as Ohio. The real disaster for Democrats is if we get into a war. The military is getting revamped, and I don't see anyone screwing with Trump and getting away with it, save perhaps a Quasi-Cold War with Russia that hopefully will end in Russia losing power, as the UN loses power as nationalism continues its chaos in Europe.
2018 prediction: no major gains or losses for either party, uneventful despite media hype.
2020 prediction: Trump wins narrowly, Democrats fail to consolidate upon a strong candidate, and can't attract and appease their far left and more center voters.
Not happy predictions, but it's VERY early. much more to come.
Midterm election omen?
)
)
)
)