It’s still election day. Given the odds, and especially considering the huge lag time we expect from Alaska’s senate decision, this will seem premature. I don’t think it is.

I’ve been wrong a time or two. I might be wrong now. However, you don’t get very far making plans if you start off by assuming you’re wrong. That leads you directly into a morass of indecision and regrets, and we don’t have that luxury.

So let’s start with the baseline most-likely scenario: Democrats hold the House and take the Senate with a 51-48 majority. (Alaska will follow along eventually, potentially even in time to get seated on January 3rd.)

Leadership will inevitably adopt the classic “We Won, Therefore We Are Right” position, which entirely ignores the reality of an anti-Trump wave sweeping Texas and Kansas into contention. (I don’t know yet which, or if either, of these states will go Democrat here. I’m guessing. But the numbers hold even if they both stay Republican.) WWTWAR is a logical fallacy.

Nevertheless, you and I both know that Schumer is about to be the next Majority Leader in the Senate.

That’s institutional suicide for the Democratic Party. It’s what they’ll do, yes, but it’s also what they shouldn’t do.

Remember: If they win control, and it’s looking likely that they will, it’s from a borrowed majority, not a voter mandate. They’re picking up temporary victories in traditional Republican strongholds, populists who appeal to the long-disenfranchised middle ground that makes up the majority of voters. In order for the Democrats to survive long enough to actually gain power, they need to reinvent themselves, not assert the inviolability of corporate centrism. This means a long-term appeal either to moderates (which have nothing to do with centrists) or the practical progressives on the left wing.

This means new leadership.

I have some names to suggest:

• Amy Klobuchar: She’s the moderate’s moderate, a solid negotiator who can nevertheless maintain control of the more reasonable progressives. She combines a powerful personality with a no-nonsense approach to pragmatic compromise.
• Elizabeth Warren: She’s a popular pro-consumer progressive, someone who accurately represents the views of much of the voting public. She’s also competent, a highly intelligent policy wonk who also serves as an ideological bridge between Democrats of all flavors.
• Chris Murphy: Admittedly a long shot, Murphy would still be the logical choice if the DNC wishes to appeal to the younger generation.

America is sick of being governed from Wall Street. Our entire culture is about to change, adapting to the advent of overpowering A.I. and the dissolution of the classic employee model of earning. We’ll soon be facing mass unemployment and loud calls for public assistance in lieu of that necessary adaptation which ought to accompany it.

This is no time for same-old same-old.

Which, alas, is what we’re about to get.