This might be a hot take, but at this point I’ve come to the conclusion that Schumer and Jeffries failure to serve as effective opposition party leaders is basically a skill issue. They are genuinely incapable of creatively or strategically responding to MAGA’s political revolution.
I think it’s mostly a mismatch of us expecting, and them occasionally trying to deliver, charismatic outward leadership when they are elected by their party for an insider manager role. They should stop going in front of the camera in favor of the Dems who are good at it.
Lincoln replaced General McClellan for not being aggressive enough. Schumer and Jeffries are McClellan, and we need a U.S. Grant.
And W.T. Sherman.
Especially a Sherman.
Sherman x2
generous read
At 74, Schumer is living too comfortably to rouse the rabble.
They are both terrible "leaders". They were terrible before Trump was elected. Schumer in particular is just an incompetent hack. He can't message, can't inspire, can't counter punch GOP so what is he good for🤷♂️. He is literally the poster child for all that is wrong with the Dems.
And yet the other Democratic senators keep electing him as their leader.
> what is he good for directing the stream of money brought in by big donors and the DSCC to protect Democratic incumbents in the Senate. He lives by the Iron Law of Institutions.
he's pretty good at raising money. that, sadly, is mostly how you become leader
I think you'll change your mind after you see Schumer down a Chobani yogurt, a whole cheesecake and then wash it down with chocolate milk...assuming he is lactose intolerant, motherfucker is fearless.
As I attend protests and interact with grassroots groups, I'm gobsmacked that Dem leaders not only can't connect with the largest mass action I've ever seen, they don't even seem to be aware it exists. If GOP had devalued its base this much, MAGA would never have happened.
I wonder if elected Dems even know the protests are happening. The protests aren't being publicized by the national media, and in lots of places not even by local media, even though collectively the No Kings protests were (I believe) the biggest in U.S. history.
I literally heard someone on The Bulwark recently say something about how "the American people aren't rising up", and I thought, what? How does he not know about the protests? And then I realized that if you don't follow social media, maybe you wouldn't know.
The owners of the Dem party have actively chosen not to connect to the mass action They could but they are corrupt
This - so much this. My wife and I were just thinking: Will we ever see a dem at one of the protests? Do they even know it’s happening? If they do, does it make them so uncomfortable that they need to be out of state so they can ignore it? I find it harder and harder to imagine it is incompetence.
I've recently started volunteering for my county Democratic party and the grass roots are active, diverse, and young. I have no idea WTF the national party is doing.
Sounds like awaiting replacement.
They, and the insiders around them. It's such an insular world in the Acela corridor and the NYC machine that they have no clue about what Dems in the other 80% of America are feeling, let alone casual voters. Which is why THEY NEED TO GO. They don't get the moment and don't get what's needed.
It’s a lobbyist problem. Full stop.
But do they actually feel the urgency of this moment?
Schumer wouldn’t know urgency even it was urinary.
They are incompetent and incapable of meeting the moment. They have got to go.
Personally I think it's a combination of misinformed 90s political calculation (the more evil shit that happens the better we look) 80s mercantilism (those insides don't trade themselves) 60s Mccarthyism (fuck those commies) and
40s vichyism (i don't want to risk angering the one who already tried to hang his vp and got reelected) They're bad at their jobs because they are corrupt cowards who secretly agree with the authoritarian acts, but are aghast it personally inconveniences themselves
mccellelan
I will go further - we need fewer ivy league Democrats and more community college Democrats setting the talking points and on the media teams. We need more social media team's like Newsom's. Jeffries might right a good bill or lead the caucus to vote, but those skills aren't needed right now.
True. And we should not search for leaders but for tools. With good tools we can give everybody as much responsibility as they can bear. And as much accountability as deemed fair. We don't need leaders who are targets btw. We need systems and only weighted majority can decide how the algorithm ticks
I can’t speak on Schumer but Jeffries seems very skilled at the basic job of running a party in the house. He knows how to count votes and controls his caucus. But those skills don’t automatically translate to be a vocal “face of the party” leader
Those are useful skills for managing within a functioning legislature but not for winning elections or resisting a fascist takeover of the state.
Pelosi was also a great vote wrangle, and also utterly terrible in front of a camera. They need to get some of their most charismatic members in front of the cameras, and stuff these other people back into the smoke filled rooms. But Democrats seem to abhor Politics 101 stuff like this.
It’s a weird issue but Dems (and the press) need to deprioritize what’s mostly a legislative leadership position from ACTUAL party leadership. Like how a charismatic WR can be the face of the franchise if the QB is drab and boring
💯
The thing is that the establishment Democrats refused to see that and play it out to the detriment of the party. Look at the latest, how they pushed out AOC who is clearly a great communicator and it's killing it in public, over an older dude that ultimately ended up not doing anything. 🤦🏽♂️
Democratic leadership has shown that achieving policy goals is a low priority, coming in a distant fourth behind rewarding seniority, protecting incumbents, and winning power. Many of the senior incumbents seem to prefer to be out of power, lest anyone except them to actually achieve policy goals.
Yep. The Iron Law of Institutions strikes again.
Yeah, I kind of agree with you. But I think it's more their sense of decency. They have not adjusted it to fight MAGA in today's modern politics.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't wrangling votes the whip's job? Put the awkward people who know how to get the caucus in line there and let someone media savy handle the leader role
Sort of. But the whip is more the second in command. The role of the leader and the whip are essentially the same. And that job doesn’t HAVE to be the vocal and “front of the media” leader of the party. Of course that requires a level of humility no one in the leader position has..
Where’s Tim Ryan when you need him?
AOC, Pete Buttigiege good communicators. Also Bernie, Jasmine Crockett and Elizabeth Warren but they have issues. Or I should say middle of the road people have issues with them.
I never tire of AOC. Make her the official speaker and let Jeffries do all the back-room work.
Counting votes and controlling your caucus are useless skills when you're leading the House minority against an opposition party that votes unanimously for whatever Trump wants, no matter how illegal and deranged.
They are very useful. He nearly derailed the Trump tax bill at its outset by bringing in two Dems who were expected to be out. And he, like Pelosi, never lost a vote as maj leader. But this is my point that type of leadership is different from media facing type of leadership. Which he sucks at
"Nearly" is the key word — it only matters under circumstances when the majority is, for some reason, missing a few members at voting time. The GOP managed to stop that particular near-loss and I suspect they won't make the same careless mistake again.
I think the leaders' main job now is to rally public opinion to damage the GOP's image and win back some seats.
They're both Israel employees and shouldn't be leading shit here
They're okay, maybe good managers but the evidence we see is that they are not leaders.
They are bringing 20th century balls to a 21st century fight. And the worst part is that they refuse to listen to the people. We are telling them loudly and clearly what we want and need, and they are smugly digging their heels in and allowing the country to be dismantled. Disgraceful. Shameful.
I would imagine each of them has at least one young woman on their staff who is 100x more politically savvy than them and knows exactly what to do to oppose MAGA in all the messaging-related ways that count, but no one listens to her in their strategy meetings because, well, obviously.
Just think of that moment with Schumer trying to lead a "Fight! Fight! Fight!" chant. It's not something he can do. He can do many things and is effective but he cannot convince people he's a fighter nor can he lead them to the fight.
He couldn’t even decide what to chant. It went from “we will fight” to “we will win” to just sort of weird fist pumping in the span of 30 seconds. He’s worse than useless. A genuine waste of space. And he’s so arrogant that he won’t leave and thinks he’s doing a great job.
Do you think it's arrogance? I think some people are oblivious to how different this all is.
With Schumer, yes. I do. He is incredibly high on his own supply. Witness his insane plan to go on a book tour immediately after preemptively surrendering to the GOP. Again. Jeffries is earnest, but just not a man for this moment. Schumer is an ultra arrogant fool.
Provided that lack of skill is the one that teaches you not to be bought by foreign lobbies paying you to protect a fascist so you have a conflict of interest in opposing one here. bsky.app/profile/maxb...
NONE of them manage their own communications. So "skill" is just a matter of choice. Any one of them could find a team - just like GCN did - to help them. The problem is they wont act against their own financial interest. They don't want change, and are perfectly happy being the least worst option.
💯 spot on They just don’t have what it takes
100 percent. But their egos keep their heads too far up their own asses to see this and accepting their own limitations.
True, but imv not exclusively. Motivation too. Also, I would add Pelosi since she still holds tremendous control over the party broadly & even more so over Jeffries specifically.
Agreed
I think their "salary" depends on the effectiveness. Hence, why they suck so hard. Bought and paid for
They're skilled. Collaborators. Enablers. Posers.
Let's ask the Baileys what they think
This is too generous. For reasons they refuse to disclose to us they have decided to support rather than resist Trump's regime. Washington Dems on the whole are behind them in this, as they do not challenge their leadership. History will not judge any of them kindly.
I think this might be the traditional approach of giving the opposition party enough rope to hang themselves. The Republican "policies" are not popular and inflation is a certainty given the tariff craziness.
They don’t even do that. They bail the GOP out over and over again. This weekend they both had stories out in the media about how they were reaching across the aisle to avert a government shutdown. The GOP own this shit show. Get out of their way when they are fucking up. Stop bailing them out.
The political parties in the US are vehicles not movements. Currently the MAGA (fascism) has taken control of the GOP and the Democrats have defaulted to everybody else. The only thing everybody else agrees on is that fascism is bad which leads to a disorganized caucus.
bsky.app/profile/arie...
Schumer is also a deeply committed racist. Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer to Bret Stephens (March 18, 2025): "My job is the keep the left pro-Israel"
They are institutionalists who don't understand that their institution has been rendered completely irrelevant by Republicans holding a Congressional majority and ceding all their power to Trump.
@hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social @schumer.senate.gov you have the opportunity to respond to the comments above. And, btw, I’m in agreement with the hot take above.
I've been listening to "I came to DC to write policy not fight my political opponents" for decades while the GOP rigged it all in their favor. It's exactly why we're here now. If that 'policy' isn't to stop the fascists to hell with it, they'll just shit can it when they get in power.
I wonder if it's gamed into their ascension. If they were effective, creative, able to throw bombs, and to know when, would they be leading their caucuses?
It's this 100%. The punching down was to explicitly thin the herd of up and comers down the most obedient and obsequious individuals. When Pelosi picked Jeffries, it established continuity of rule. Like Putin and Medvedev...
I think its a perception issue. They are so clueless and living in a fantasy about who their opposition is – and what that would mean – that they cannot see and do not understand what is going on.
Or more cynical, they just don't give a fuck.
Worse is that like so many people that are out if their depth they have no idea that they’re out of their depth.
Indeed. It's Dunning-Kruger syndrome over and over, apparently for all eternity.
My fantasy that congresspeople set aside egos/individualism & work as a team. Divide up tasks according to skills. Create a rapid response comms team of Senators/reps who are good at it and hire good staff. Others do admin & policy details. Above all, don't just react, take control of narratives.
They're too old-school to meet the current situation. Although one could argue that they're perfectly happy with the status quo, so long as the donor money keeps flowing in.
I agree. I am so disappointed in Jeffries.
Not interested at all in the source of their ineffectiveness. That's their task to determine. That is, if they are even interested in becoming effective.
Or, and maybe hot take here, it's on purpose. Malevolence is often masquaraded as incompetence. When you remember Jeffries gave an award to Mike Johnson at an aipac event you realize that they are part of the same club. Friends even.
I think they're told to be incompetent
Agree 💯
They aren't leaders, but they're very effective legislators and they've done quite a bit while in the minority.
It not a skill issue, it is a will issue They do not wish to do what the people want of them
it’s the ‘dogs playing basketball’ tweet
They're rich too. Maybe they secretly want to become more rich just like the Republicans.
100 fucking hundred percent.
Maintaining the Status Quo is what they do Best. 🤷🏼♀️
Dems aren't fighting back b/c a majority of them are in on it. They've had enough pushback by now that it's obvious they're choosing to do barely anything. Actions speak louder than words & their inaction is screaming. Both sides haven't worked for us for years & we think one side will start now?
all these people are ancient and you wonder why they are inflexible and tired?
I think that lets them off the hook too easily. They're actively shooting down opportunities to effectively resist.
They’re sellouts. Special interest puppets. A joke.
And incapable of listening to advice
I think it's an intention issue. Schumer and Jeffries are basically fine with what Trump is doing so they are only willing to put up token resistance.
I agree to it though revolution has positive or progressive spin into it. There is nothing progressive or positive about MAGA
I’m a NYer. Ashamed the only two soft NYers I’ve seen…lead the House & Senate. This ain’t Little House on the Prairie, guys. It took 250 years for us to be seen as the pricks we are. Your lack of fight, fails the country. And embarrasses us. Fuhgeddabout it. Step away.
I think the Dems hear different things in private conversations with Reps than what is said/done in public. So they a) believe they can still work with those clowns, and b) don’t grasp how dire things are.
and rally around the Popular (Punishing Pedo Protecting Predators) Front! ✊🥖 🐊🚽🛳️👩🏽⚖️🇺🇳⚖️🚀🐍⚠️
Some guys just went to congress to do some insider trading...
they're worse than useless and if trump were secretly paying them to waste everyone's time with performative nonsense and faux outraged lip service I'm not sure what they'd actually be doing differently. those stupid fucks might as well be working for the GOP at this point.
Perhaps because they aren't actually opposed?
They're unimaginative cowards. At least when it comes to war gaming. And if you can't do that now, all your other skills don't mean much.
I think this plus being petrified of the donor class. It's not that they don't want to win, they are just playing in the NFL wearing leather helmets.
They continue to bring a broken, discarded plastic spork to a knife fight. They continue to operate as if they are dealing with a sane, rational and democratically minded opposition when they know that they aren’t. They are failing the country and democracy, not just the Democratic Party.
Their skills led them to a different position: caucus leader of a two party legislature in a presidential system with multipleveto points. These skills do not naturally translate to opposition leader in a consolidating autocracy based on a cult of personality. In fact that position does not exist
They aren’t leaders. Or at least war time leaders
They are too cautious to respond to a crisis and to act in a timely fashion in today's media environment. Jeffries has been ineffective against Trump and Schumer has disappeared. When is the last time you saw Schumer do a national interview?
It’s as if they are anti-strategy.
They are beholden to their donors, many of whom are gleeful about fascist rule. That might explain it.
Skills can be learned. It is a motivation issue. They are not motivated to stick their head above the parapet.
And apparently Jeffries was really pissed at AOC for being a part of that. Look at how they shut her out for a septuagenarian that was dying of cancer, for fear that they actually would have someone with a semblance of charisma in a position of potential authority.
I don’t agree. They are establishment Dems, they work for the Oligarchy not America. They are serving effectively for the Oligarchy. WE need to replace them.
My ask of Hakeem Jeffries... Please let someone even remotely connected to planet Earth be the speaker. They call the job "Speaker" for a reason. It's like there's a shovel inside your mouth that just digs the hole deeper every time you bloviate. Endorse Mamdani now!
i really admire Jeffries but he has the wrong skill set for this particular moment
What is admirable about him to you?
Yeah, @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social seems replacement-level at best. Ok, maybe he is good at whip counts, but in communication and reaching and persuading voters? CLUELESS! Cmon @markpocan.bsky.social and @repgwenmoore.bsky.social - we have to have a lot better than that guy.
well whip counts etc is important! but fully agree not what the moment is calling for
No need to ask whether or not they have those skills. They aren’t the leaders we need in these horrific times. They’re led by focus groups, PACs, and $ donors. Whether or not they’re able to lead Dems and harness the palpable anger voters feel about these horrors, they are definitively not doing it.
I think it is intentionally bad.
I think this is as true as anything. Factor in the financial incentives from donors and they’re bound to be useless or less
