What is to become of the Democratic party? The world’s oldest political party, formed in 1832 to secure the re-election of a president whose name is no longer deemed acceptable as an honoree of party fundraisers (psst, it’s Andrew Jackson), is in as dire straits as it has ever been.

It has lost a presidential election most of its followers expected to win. It failed to win a Senate majority, gaining just two seats in a year when it had nearly a dozen plausible targets. Its minimal gain in the House leaves it with just about as few House seats as it has controlled since the 1920s. It holds only 15 governorships and fully controls only four state governments — giant California, mid-sized Oregon and tiny Delaware and Rhode Island.