To successfully counter what will be a very aggressive Republican legislative agenda next year, Democrats will be have to be unusually focused and disciplined. At a strategic level we will not just have to make clear what we are against, but also what we are for, what we will do different if once again given the chance to govern. With all that in mind, I offer up an early sketch of a focused agenda that can help animate the Democrats' opposition in the coming years:

Prosperity and Security. While there are many issues we must tackle together in the coming years, there are two that matter more to the nation and the American people themselves than the others – getting ahead, and feeling safe from threats.

The good news for Democrats is that our track record on the economy and keeping us safe is strong, and gives us a lot to work with going forward. On the economy, Obama will leave office with the nation at near full employment, GDP at a robust 3.2 percent, incomes rising since 2013, 25 million more with health insurance, his "all of the above" energy strategy having made us more energy independent while accelerating the growth of renewables, the deficit is half of what it was and the stock market at all-time highs.

For Democrats, this is second consecutive stint in power that we have left the economy far better than we found it. We simply have to become more purposeful about telling this story – since the end of the Cold War there has been more jobs, rising incomes and lower deficits with the Democrats, and job loss, declining incomes and higher deficits with the Republicans. We enter the coming debates about the budget and the economy as the only party which has successfully produced sustained prosperity for America over the past generation of our political life, and we cannot let up in this fight.

On "security," as it has been discussed in this year's campaign, Democrats have simply ceded too much ground to the Republicans of late. By most measures Americans are far safer today. Violent crime, killings of police, Americans killed by terrorists, military causalities are all far lower than during the George W. Bush administration, and in some cases, at all-time lows. The net flow of unauthorized immigrants into the U.S. has dropped from 400,000 a year net under Bush to zero under Obama – a remarkable achievement. Immigrants commit crimes at rates lower than native born Americans, and the economic achievements of the two largest immigrant groups – Asians and Hispanics – are impressive by any measure. Despite historically high levels of immigration, the American "melting pot" has once again done its thing, leaving us a better, stronger and more diverse nation than before. These accomplishments are meaningful, and well worth defending.

On the Middle East and terrorism, Barack Obama will leave office not the first nor the last president disappointed about what was achieved. But on the rise of the Islamic State group, we have to recognize that it grew from the internal political failings of two sovereign nations, Syria and Iraq, caught in the middle of a broader regional struggle between Sunni Arabs and its proxies and Iranian supported Shia forces. Creative thinking is needed here from all sides, thinking that recognizes that there is no "bombing them into the stone age" military solution to the region's troubles. The path forward involves expanding the increasingly successful military and counter-terrorism already in place, vigorously pursuing a regional reconciliation between Sunni and Shia, vigilant efforts to counter the Islamic State group's online reach, and Marshall Plan like efforts to modernize and strengthen those nations in the region wanting to put this violent age behind them.

Preserve and Modernize the American-Led Global Order. Our security, and prosperity, are also tied to the aspirations and actions of the billions of people in the world today outside the U.S. Over the past 70 years, the United States has purposefully built a global order inspired by the powerful vision of FDR's famous "Four Freedoms" speech (freedom from want and fear, freedom of speech and worship). This system, despite its demonstrable success in bringing about an unprecedented era of global peace and opportunity, is fraying now, and is not just being challenged from without, but also increasingly from within.

It is my sincere hope that Democrats, particularly younger ones with more years ahead of them, step up and begin to purposefully shoulder the burden of preserving this global order, and re-imagining and modernizing it to meet today's emerging challenges. Efforts like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris Climate Agreement are great examples of the kind of thinking and ambition that should animate our efforts in the years ahead. Working closely with our traditional European allies to resolve the Syria crisis, end the refugee flow and encourage regional reconciliation in the Middle East, as discussed earlier, should also be one or our party's highest global priorities.

The fashioning of this global system is perhaps the Democratic Party's most significant achievement, and FDR's contemporary heirs should become its most spirited 21st Century champions.

Political Reform, Renewing Our Democracy. Each party has its own take on what political reform means, but there can be no ignoring that there is great dissatisfaction with Washington and "the system" today. Democrats need to develop their own full throttled take on this challenge, and offer clear solutions that will make our politics work better and make "the system" more accountable to everyday people.

Among the things we can consider for this package are steps to make it easier for everyone to vote, eliminating the Electoral College, updating our antiquated electoral systems, no budget/no pay reform for Members of Congress, advancing a new Voting Rights Act, a wave of legislative proposals demanding greater transparency from candidates and elected officials to counter the opaque Trump era, and a full accounting of the Russian interference in our elections and concrete proposals to prevent it from ever happening again.

Be for Everybody. Democrats should consciously strive to find a new vocabulary of national purpose, putting more emphasis on the "unum" than the "pluribus" in our historic "from many, one" motto. To reclaim lost ground in the parts of the nation that have trended Republican in recent years, we will have to do a better job at connecting and speaking for them too. Winning coalitions successfully find balance among its parts, and Democrats must be vigilant to not convey in any way that our forward looking, optimistic politics is leaving any American behind, including those communities who have had far too little of both opportunity and justice for far too long.

As President Obama once said "we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States of America." Inspiring words, even today.