YES PLEASE. All of this. But it cannot be led by Schumer, Jeffries, and Booker, nor should it, necessarily. Republicans let their elected officials concentrate on being elected officials and destroying the country legislatively but put other, unelected people in charge of their “war room”. Obviously their war room wasn’t an actual room and they were/are loosely affiliated but they all seem to have a unified vision and message. And MAGA all have their ear to the ground and when they pick up something that’s resonating, they all start to make the same noise.
A shadow cabinet and spokespeople who narrate an alternative are amazing ideas - those of us out here in the cheap seats are just waiting to be told what to do. Dems have the soldiers. Dems are sorely lacking generals.
But PLEASE don’t wait for congressional leadership to get their acts together. They are complacent, unimaginative, fearful, and tepid. Where are the firebrands and fighters? Not there (excepting Bernie, AOC, Warren, and Murphy) but they must be so tired and how can they plug all the holes that are springing up in the dam? They need reinforcements and Schumer and his band of merry enablers and weak messengers needs to step aside to let some new blood go for blood.
Exactly. our "leaders" won't save us. The anti Vietnam War Movement was not led by elected officials (zero) but was led by us. It will be the people that do something (or not). Unfortunately the only reason the Vietnam War protest worked was the draft and then the lottery which ensured that many Americans were personally impacted by the fact their sons were sent to war. Congress learned quickly and got rid of the draft and we have never been united as a nation again.
Thank you for a forum site that doesn’t charge a fee. In these precarious financial times feeding the family is a priority over free ( charged for) speech
Absolutely agree. Dems need a strong leader at this moment. We are in full crisis and the new dictators are moving fast. Pete B.is a great choice. We are in peril of loosing our democracy. We need our leaders to push back! We need to organize.
Schumer and Jeffries are afraid of Trump, therefore they lack the courage required of their position in this moment, yet they remain entitled to their roles. You can’t be a leader if you are a coward. They need to get out of the way. No one is owed their leadership position, especially when they fail to meet the moment.
You nailed it: Democrats are seen by the populace as spectators, and thus tacitly complicit in Trump’s actions.
As just some average citizen, it’s been shockingly disorienting to suddenly have no idea where to turn for leadership. Hakeem Jeffries, god love him, comes off like a human power point presentation. But people like AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Jaimie Raskin and a handful of others are showing *bravery.*
AOC telling the government to go ahead and deport her, for example, is not cheap talk. And she regularly communicates, almost daily, for extended periods on live streams. She’s able to talk like a human person, extemporaneously, without coming off as censoring herself.
Most Democratic leadership come off like they think it’s 2017.
I’ve never, in my entire life, simply not known who’s in charge, who to trust, and felt so desperate to know that there’s ANY kind of organized leadership representing our interests.
Someone PLEASE send this column to the new head of the DNC, directly to Schumer and Jeffries, and better yet, to Raskin, Crockett, AOC, Warren. Hell, put Bernie in charge of forming the war room! Anyone who is out there at trying to make their voice heard. How do we shake them up and get them to mobilize, put this strategy in place, and start taking the fight to them??? This IS a war on the American people and they need to fight it like a war!! How do we get this done?
All of this is exactly correct. It's so frustrating and disheartening to see Jeffries and Schumer sleepwalking around like this. They have a closer view of Trump's mayhem than all the rest of us, so it beggars belief that they can't rouse themselves to active opposition. Thank you for writing this! If I could staple it to Jeffries' and Schumer's foreheads, I absolutely would.
This article says Dems need to fight differently, not just worry about a communication strategy. But then the example of how it was done correctly in 2005 is completely about a communication strategy. And there aren't really specifics of what they should do differently (aside from voting against Doug Collins), just a vague "fight harder"
These are people who don’t know how to fight with words. How to use words to hurt and degrade people publicly. They think if the respond with the right, scientifically tested, words at just the right time, the special words will lead to persuasion of the public.
No. The voters who decided the last election are semi regular voters whose preferences cannot be measured. They are looking for authenticity and they are looking to see who can fight—with words.
This is not about content. It’s about form. Call Elon Musk a fucking greedy pig who would murder us all for a dollar. Because…that’s what the voters who decided the last election will actually hear. Non some poll tested insincere jargon.
I went to my first Indivisble meeting the other night (the Cooper River Indivisible from Collingswood, NJ). It was overflowing with people. At least 200 had to wait outside with 350 inside (SRO). The event even made Rachel Maddow's show on MSNBC. The Dems should build on this movement. Indivisible is all over the country. Tap into that infrastructure!
They may have been demoralized in 2005 but Bush wasn’t exactly running the Constitution through the paper shredder. We need a Dem plan like you laid out and much more out of the electorate. We’re fast approaching the need for a national strike.
Thank you for sharing your insight and ideas. Ive been following you for years, since the last “regime.” I’ve been asking myself, “Why can’t Dems follow your strategy? Can Brian be on the War Room team, along with Politics Girl?”
I love reading your newsletters. I’d also love to see your ideas in action.
Totally agree with everything in this piece. I’m an Iowa grandma and there is an army of us just waiting for a leader. Get Chuck Schumer off the camera and give us Pete or anyone to rally behind.
Exactly! Actions speak louder than words. There has got to be a way to stop this madness. There is a groundswell growing and it’s not just Democrats this time. The firings and shutting down of services and parks has now started affecting them too and they’ve become angry. We need to find a way to harness that anger and to propel changes and more before it is way too late. It’s already late but but it’s better late than never.
YES PLEASE. All of this. But it cannot be led by Schumer, Jeffries, and Booker, nor should it, necessarily. Republicans let their elected officials concentrate on being elected officials and destroying the country legislatively but put other, unelected people in charge of their “war room”. Obviously their war room wasn’t an actual room and they were/are loosely affiliated but they all seem to have a unified vision and message. And MAGA all have their ear to the ground and when they pick up something that’s resonating, they all start to make the same noise.
A shadow cabinet and spokespeople who narrate an alternative are amazing ideas - those of us out here in the cheap seats are just waiting to be told what to do. Dems have the soldiers. Dems are sorely lacking generals.
But PLEASE don’t wait for congressional leadership to get their acts together. They are complacent, unimaginative, fearful, and tepid. Where are the firebrands and fighters? Not there (excepting Bernie, AOC, Warren, and Murphy) but they must be so tired and how can they plug all the holes that are springing up in the dam? They need reinforcements and Schumer and his band of merry enablers and weak messengers needs to step aside to let some new blood go for blood.
Exactly. our "leaders" won't save us. The anti Vietnam War Movement was not led by elected officials (zero) but was led by us. It will be the people that do something (or not). Unfortunately the only reason the Vietnam War protest worked was the draft and then the lottery which ensured that many Americans were personally impacted by the fact their sons were sent to war. Congress learned quickly and got rid of the draft and we have never been united as a nation again.
Yeah, when our kids start dying after we invade Canada, I’m guessing the calculus will change for some people?
Thank you for a forum site that doesn’t charge a fee. In these precarious financial times feeding the family is a priority over free ( charged for) speech
Absolutely agree. Dems need a strong leader at this moment. We are in full crisis and the new dictators are moving fast. Pete B.is a great choice. We are in peril of loosing our democracy. We need our leaders to push back! We need to organize.
I pray the Democrats are capable of this. I worry they, or at least the leadership, are not.
Schumer and Jeffries are afraid of Trump, therefore they lack the courage required of their position in this moment, yet they remain entitled to their roles. You can’t be a leader if you are a coward. They need to get out of the way. No one is owed their leadership position, especially when they fail to meet the moment.
You nailed it: Democrats are seen by the populace as spectators, and thus tacitly complicit in Trump’s actions.
As just some average citizen, it’s been shockingly disorienting to suddenly have no idea where to turn for leadership. Hakeem Jeffries, god love him, comes off like a human power point presentation. But people like AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Jaimie Raskin and a handful of others are showing *bravery.*
AOC telling the government to go ahead and deport her, for example, is not cheap talk. And she regularly communicates, almost daily, for extended periods on live streams. She’s able to talk like a human person, extemporaneously, without coming off as censoring herself.
Most Democratic leadership come off like they think it’s 2017.
I’ve never, in my entire life, simply not known who’s in charge, who to trust, and felt so desperate to know that there’s ANY kind of organized leadership representing our interests.
Someone PLEASE send this column to the new head of the DNC, directly to Schumer and Jeffries, and better yet, to Raskin, Crockett, AOC, Warren. Hell, put Bernie in charge of forming the war room! Anyone who is out there at trying to make their voice heard. How do we shake them up and get them to mobilize, put this strategy in place, and start taking the fight to them??? This IS a war on the American people and they need to fight it like a war!! How do we get this done?
All of this is exactly correct. It's so frustrating and disheartening to see Jeffries and Schumer sleepwalking around like this. They have a closer view of Trump's mayhem than all the rest of us, so it beggars belief that they can't rouse themselves to active opposition. Thank you for writing this! If I could staple it to Jeffries' and Schumer's foreheads, I absolutely would.
Thank you! Exactly! And back up systems for when they start taking away our digital means to organize.
This article says Dems need to fight differently, not just worry about a communication strategy. But then the example of how it was done correctly in 2005 is completely about a communication strategy. And there aren't really specifics of what they should do differently (aside from voting against Doug Collins), just a vague "fight harder"
These are people who don’t know how to fight with words. How to use words to hurt and degrade people publicly. They think if the respond with the right, scientifically tested, words at just the right time, the special words will lead to persuasion of the public.
No. The voters who decided the last election are semi regular voters whose preferences cannot be measured. They are looking for authenticity and they are looking to see who can fight—with words.
This is not about content. It’s about form. Call Elon Musk a fucking greedy pig who would murder us all for a dollar. Because…that’s what the voters who decided the last election will actually hear. Non some poll tested insincere jargon.
Agree -- this all reads like a communication strategy to me. I'm honestly not sure what the "do more" component of the plan is.
I went to my first Indivisble meeting the other night (the Cooper River Indivisible from Collingswood, NJ). It was overflowing with people. At least 200 had to wait outside with 350 inside (SRO). The event even made Rachel Maddow's show on MSNBC. The Dems should build on this movement. Indivisible is all over the country. Tap into that infrastructure!
They may have been demoralized in 2005 but Bush wasn’t exactly running the Constitution through the paper shredder. We need a Dem plan like you laid out and much more out of the electorate. We’re fast approaching the need for a national strike.
Thank you for sharing your insight and ideas. Ive been following you for years, since the last “regime.” I’ve been asking myself, “Why can’t Dems follow your strategy? Can Brian be on the War Room team, along with Politics Girl?”
I love reading your newsletters. I’d also love to see your ideas in action.
Totally agree with everything in this piece. I’m an Iowa grandma and there is an army of us just waiting for a leader. Get Chuck Schumer off the camera and give us Pete or anyone to rally behind.
I’ve been impressed by J.B. Pritzker
Me, too.
Exactly! Actions speak louder than words. There has got to be a way to stop this madness. There is a groundswell growing and it’s not just Democrats this time. The firings and shutting down of services and parks has now started affecting them too and they’ve become angry. We need to find a way to harness that anger and to propel changes and more before it is way too late. It’s already late but but it’s better late than never.
Timothy Snyder Shadow Cabinet give credit when credit is due https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/shadow-cabinet?r=fa5ey&utm_medium=ios