Updated

Editor's note: The following column originally appeared in the The Fiscal Times.

As things stand, Democrats don’t have a prayer of retaking the White House in 2020. Unless they make a sharp course correction, they will continue to be defeated by the Electoral College, the bane of coastal elites. Voters in pesky swing states like Ohio and Pennsylvania will rule, and they aren’t buying what Democrats are selling.

A recent piece by Frank Rich in New York magazine is instructive. He wonders how long Donald Trump will survive in office. Margaret Sullivan, The Washington Post’s media columnist, formerly of The New York Times, predicts that Trump will make it through his first term but then decide not to run again. (This is not entirely implausible; who would choose four more years of relentless left-wing demonization?) Mike Pence, Sullivan suggests, will run for a seat in the Oval Office instead, but will be beaten by New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

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Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks between Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) (L) and Patty Murray (D-WA) during a news conference to unveil the FAMILY Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 14, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas - RTX30ZMO (REUTERS)

Seriously, Kirsten Gillibrand? The junior senator from New York, who ranks as the fifth most liberal member of that august body and least sixth bipartisan? She’s the candidate who will win back all those blue-collar workers who traditionally vote Democrat but who crossed the line to elect President Trump?

I get it that Sullivan is a displaced New Yorker, and perhaps doesn’t stray much beyond the Beltway, but her forecast is as delusional as expecting $100 billion to buy Iran’s friendship.

The reality is this: Trump supporters still support Trump. That includes members of the white working class who voted for Trump by a margin of two to one. They are certainly not dissuaded by the liberal media, whose bias has utterly undermined its credibility. That’s a change; were Walter Cronkite shaking his sorrowful head and telling voters that Trump had colluded with Putin, they might be paying attention. But Chuck Todd? Bill Maher? I don’t think so.

Democrats need a tune-up. They need to change leadership and change their message. After failing to hoist one female New Yorker into the Oval Office, the last thing they need is to double down with another.

To continue reading Liz Peek's column from The Fiscal Times, click here.