Democrats' election advantages are growing

Those liberals who gleefully predict that the Republican Party is on its way to irrelevance should heed recent political history. And GOP partisans who see nothing to worry about after a very close presidential election should do the same.

From the late ‘60s through the '80s, pundits suggested that the Republicans had established an “Electoral College lock” – meaning the Democrats were no longer able to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the presidency.

A lot has changed since then.

The Cook Political Report compiled some basic stats that should make Democrats smile:

*  The race between President Obama and Mitt Romney was close, 50.5 percent to 47.9 percent, but not that close -- five post-World War II presidential races have been closer.

*  Republicans have now lost the popular vote in five of the last six elections. 

*  The 332 to 206 electoral vote majority for Obama means that from 1992 on, no Republican has won 300 or more electoral votes, and Democrats have won 300 or more in four of the six.

*  Democrats have now won 18 states in six consecutive elections, and those states have a total of 242 Electoral votes -- 89.6 percent of the 270 needed to win.

2016 is certainly not a lock for the Democrats. But the GOP has a lot of work to do.