As Democrats try to regroup from their disastrous performance in recent elections, they delude themselves on two crucial points.

First, they blame their losses on a uniquely unpopular presidential candidate, despite the fact that Hillary Clinton is hardly alone among recent Democratic nominees in her inability to connect with the public. In the last thirteen presidential contests, going back 48 years, Barack Obama is the only Democrat who reached 51% of the popular vote – and he did it twice.

And liberals also fool themselves if they think there’s another Obama waiting in the wings: this president enjoyed a unique ability to make history as the first non-white major party nominee, but the current Democratic bench is shockingly weak. Elizabeth Warren, Tim Kaine, Andrew Cuomo or even the aging Joe Biden hardly look like solid bets to revitalize a party with a half century record of failure in securing a solid majority of the presidential popular vote.