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Democrats Seek to Right Midterm Wrongs With 'Victory Task Force'

Donna Brazile and Lee Saunders will help provide a blueprint for the party's future.

When Congress reconvenes in January, the Republican-led House will have its biggest majority since 1929. On the Senate side of the capitol, the GOP also will be in charge. And they'll be looking ahead at how to become a triple threat by capturing the White House in 2016.

Democrats are still stinging from their stunning losses in November, but instead of feeling sorry for themselves, they, too, are looking forward. In an effort to recapture or at least recoup some the power they lost in 2010 and in 2014, they've formed a task force to review and assess their "role in recent elections and identify places where the party can strengthen and improve operations to better serve candidates and constituents in future elections," the Democratic National Committee announced Thursday.
The Victory Task Force will include activists, longtime political operative Donna Brazile and labor leader Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

"We all have a lot to learn from what we've done in the past both successes and shortcomings," Brazile said in a statement. "Our goal is to help strengthen the party as a whole and provide a blueprint for state parties, candidates, activists, supporters and other decision makers as we move forward."

The group is expected to produce final recommendations by mid-2015. They most certainly will include ways to get out the critical African-American vote and support from an ever-growing population of people of color, but according to Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Marcia Fudge, the party really needs to remember its roots.

"I think the Democratic Party needs to once again be the 'big tent party' and not put all of their weight so heavily in the minority vote. I think they've lost the vote that was historically theirs, which was blue-collar workers, especially white male, blue-collar workers. They have lost young people. And certainly we have to work at getting seniors back," the Ohio lawmaker told BET.com. "So it has to go back to being the big tent and not rely solely on the votes of minorities."

Follow Joyce Jones on Twitter: @BETpolitichick.

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 (Photos from left: Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Time Inc, UPI/Kevin Dietsch /LANDOV)

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