ET is nevertheless one of the first major steps for the party after crushing losses in the presidential election.
Capehart, host ofThe Saturday/Sunday Show, said, Ive been through this cyclical rodeo many times.
The diminishment in the ratings after the election is like the seasons.
Jen Psaki, Symone Sanders and Jonathan CapehartGetty Images
We all saw it coming because weve lived through it after Obama, after 16, after 20.
And the one thing that we have seen is that the audience is coming back.
Such in-person gatherings are not entirely new.
While some people are like, I dont know.
I want to watch Netflix, they are paying attention and they care about this.
I dont think this is bringing them back.
People are already there, but its about meeting them where they are, she said.
Republicans have a 43% favorable and 45% unfavorable.
I dont think its a messaging problem, Capehart said.
He said that the party has to come up with a plan to address it.
And yet, half the country keeps saying, Well, I dont know what they stand for.
I dont know what their plan is.
It is no longer the case.
Its hard to fundraise right now.
How are they going to do it?
The line rubbed some in the entertainment industry the wrong way.
I think people will say, Its a disaster.
Theres no clear leader,' Psaki said.
I see it very differently.
But that, too, will be important for future cycles, Townsend said.
In the DNC race back then, Howard Dean was selected as the next party chair.
The next year, in the midterms, Democrats routed the GOP and won control of Congress.
Two years later, Barack Obama was elected to the White House.
I think its such a good example, Psaki said.
