Why not Jeffries and Schumer?

Some readers asked me why the democrats need different leadership.

Howdy do, y’all?

“Why not?” is an important question, so I’m going to answer it as clearly as I can.

For many decades, the Democratic Party has been guided by leadership like that of Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer. In Schumer’s case, I mean him specifically. In Jeffries’ case, it’s more the ideology. And that leadership has led to the Democratic Party being disrespected, mistrusted, and unliked nationally. Of course, we still have pockets where the party is strong, but in general, we’re running at about a 39% approval rating across the country. And those two are even less popular than Donald Trump.

But the biggest reason the Democratic Party needs new leadership is that it needs to rebuild trust with the American people. It needs to rebuild trust with its own voters, in government, in our institutions, and in our systems of justice and accountability. The Party needs to make sure life is affordable enough for people to not only survive, but thrive. It also needs to work towards restoring faith in our democracy by strengthening it.

That means taking on a lot of efforts where the people’s interests are at odds with many of the members in the House and the Senate. Those policy fights will go against not just their donors, but their friendships and their relationships. They’re still in a mindset of bipartisanship as opposed to supermajoritarian rule. You can’t have both.

If you want a country that’s able to change things, like ending Citizens United and ending gerrymandering at the federal level, you need a powerful Democratic Party. And if you look back through history, America has made most of its major changes and improvements under supermajoritarian, single-party rule at the federal level, with big majorities in state legislatures and governors’ mansions around the country too.

The simple fact of the matter is that divided governments are great for maintaining the status quo, but they’re not built for change at all. And this moment we’re in, and the foreseeable future, are going to require change. Systemic, dramatic, radical change. Adapting to things like AI and robotics. Adapting to climate change. Working to repair broken institutions like our judicial branch, our prison systems, and our healthcare systems. Fixing our relationship with tech companies, with markets, and with private firms, including what we require from them in exchange for allowing them to exist.

Neither Chuck Schumer nor Hakeem Jeffries is well-suited for this. I’m not sure any of the people who’ve raised their hands are the exact choices we need. But at this point, the most valuable thing that comes out of the fight to replace them is just the fight itself. Flexing the muscles of the electorate.

When so many Americans don’t want to see Hakeem and Chuck in leadership positions in the House and the Senate, it’s a dereliction of duty in a democracy to ignore that. But that, in and of itself, has no consequences unless we provide them.

That, I think, is why it’s so important that we’re doing what we’re doing. All across this country, organizations, individuals, and a handful of elected officials are taking a stand and saying, “No. We need to move in a different direction. This isn’t the way.” And that unity of purpose, that unity of mission, is one of the most valuable things to come out of this fight.

So what are we doing here at A Fight Worth Having?

We’re sending LED trucks all across D.C. so the new members, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and others are reminded that the American people are behind them if they choose to be brave. We’re running ads on television in D.C. We’re running full-page newspaper ads. We’re trying to make sure the people in D.C. see and know that the American people are united in their resistance to this leadership, and that they’ll be doing the people’s business if they take a stand.

We’re also running a series of about 110 polls across the country to see exactly where Americans stand, and we’re releasing that polling, hopefully on Monday or Tuesday, before the votes for Speaker. We’re doing everything we can to make sure these folks are ready.

The other thing we’re doing is raising money for the handful of folks who’ve said, “No more” and commited to opposing Jeffries. So far, we’ve raised $86,000.

If you want to help these members, you can do so here.

This is the first of many fights that are worth having,

Corbin Trent