Win or lose, what's the future of the Democratic party?

John Nichols, national affairs correspondent for "The Nation", along with Phillip Chen, Postdoctoral fellow in the department of political science at the University of Calgary, joined MPR News host Kerri Miller to discuss the future of the Democratic party.

"The problem is, we saw with president Obama, is that it was really difficult to transfer that energy into governing," Chen said of the 2008 election.

Following a call urging young voters to get more involved in politics today Nichols suggested that they already are, they're just discouraged.

"I hear people saying that when they look up, they look at what their options are, what their power is, they just don't see it," he said.

Nichols also said that it is up to both political parties to change from within, saying the last great shift in the democratic party was in the 1950s, during the civil rights movement.

"You don't get those moments when you're busy organizing the next fundraiser," he said.

To listen to the full conversation click the play button above.