D downballot underperformance (and GOP overperformance) is pretty much guaranteed until Ds abandon their strategy--a losing one, for 26 years--to avoid basic partisan politics, ie making people trust D designation more than they trust R designation. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/28/us/politics/democrats-republicans-state-legislatures.html?smid=tw-share

This problem is actually fixable/ameliorable. You(1) make your supporters identify more strongly as Ds, and (2) make low-info apolitical types identify Rs with chaos, corruption, economic decline. The current strategy is almost the opposite.

D Party is presented as an elite civics movement devoted to wonky legislation. This doesn't fire up the base (which leans left) nor does it appeal to low-info voters, who vote according to often negative gut instincts about what R and D stand for.

The importance of party brand (as opposed to candidate brand or policy allure) was made historically clear in this election: incredibly, Biden voters voted R downballot *even though Rs had no policy platform.*

@DNCWarRoom messaging was 100% about Trump, and heavy on policy detail. Attacking *the GOP* was seen as too partisan, too negative. Meanwhile GOP for years has attacked Ds as such--on economy, social stability. Result? Most Americans trust Rs > Ds on economy, social stability.

So it's not at all surprising that in a national election, dominated as usual by low-info voters, people who didn't like Trump still didn't trust Ds--because Ds never made the case that Trump and GOP are indistinguishable, never adopted the message that Rs can't be trusted.

Pandering to low-info voters on policy is not only irrational but lessens trust among your supporters. D base wants policies that prioritize their concerns. The good news? Biden could still deliver--move from demonstrably failed nonpartisanship to a normal partisan politics.