If Schumer votes for cloture and there’s not a leadership challenge the Dems are genuinely cooked. They’re never going to raise another dime from people who understand that this is an emergency. - ThreadSky

paleofuture.bsky.social • 15 days ago

If Schumer votes for cloture and there’s not a leadership challenge the Dems are genuinely cooked. They’re never going to raise another dime from people who understand that this is an emergency.

Reposted from Osita Nwanevu

There are centrist Dems who dislike party leadership because they're venal careerists and the olds aren't letting go of their positions. There are progressive Dems who dislike party leadership substantively. Remarkable there hasn't been a convergence to sweep Schumer and the rest out by now.

Comments

roseross-123.bsky.social•15 days ago

Why ? Sad times from liberal think people

patientadvocacy.bsky.social•15 days ago

ersatzmossback.bsky.social•15 days ago

Yeah. I'm deleting ActBlue tomorrow if this fecklessness prevails. (Guess I'll be mailing paper checks to the primary challengers.)

jacksquatto.bsky.social•15 days ago

Explain to me what's the benefit of voting no. I really don't get it it seems to me like Democrats are going to get blamed for the shutdown & everything that's done is going to be blamed on the shutdown which is blamed on the Democrats instead of now it's blamed on the people who actually doing it.

ncallaway.bsky.social•15 days ago

Absolutely this. If Schumer votes for cloture and remains the Dem Senate leader I won't put any time or money to getting Democrats elected after this (unless they run on an explicit platform of voting out the current Democratic leadership top to bottom).

blzerk.bsky.social•15 days ago

like me

stoppeterthiel.bsky.social•15 days ago

I am never giving a penny again.

littlerednj.bsky.social•15 days ago

Or volunteer hours, I have knocked on thousands of doors. I'm done

buttfarts7.bsky.social•15 days ago

Schumer is such mayonnaise that he makes Pelosi feel like spicy chipotle.

neqone.bsky.social•15 days ago

I've already made it known to political people I give money with that I'm not funding any Democrats that aren't AOC/Frost/Walz/Pritzker types and like-minded groups. I'm also not giving to the party orgs. They are pissing the money away on consultants and focus groups that tell them to do nothing.

citizenvbates.bsky.social•15 days ago

Exactly! I immediately decided to go into Act Blue and pull my money back.

dalatindiva.bsky.social•15 days ago

Dems are crooked

warrenwp.bsky.social•15 days ago

Yep and the people who have already stopped donating are walking away with their votes and their ears.

cmonmaque.bsky.social•15 days ago

I’ve believed Americas cooked for nearly a decade and I’m still like “but holy shit it’s REALLY COOKED”

raflw.bsky.social•15 days ago

AOC, Walz, Run for Something will be among the few I donate to. The rest of this cycle's money (several thousand bucks) goes not to Dems but to mutual aid and to queer nonprofits (I already support, but they get boosts).
It'll be a noticeable shift in my giving.

mdawn007.bsky.social•15 days ago

These old people are nuts. Mitch McConnell stayed until he was 124 yrs old. He was falling the halls, having strokes on TV & still wouldn't leave. Feinstein couldn't walk or talk & was still voting. And don't get me started on the woman who was in a MEMORY CARE UNIT for a yr before anyone noticed.

christosilvia.bsky.social•15 days ago

It's much easier to take over the existing democratic party (the way Trump took over the Bush/Romney GOP) than it is to form a new third party

politicalamericans.bsky.social•15 days ago

America's future is contingent on Democrats having the guts to let the government shut down.

In truth, there is no government to save.

MAGA have violently attacked our Capitol and filled our government with grifters & fascists.

If Democrats help MAGA out of this mess, we'll know America is dead.

doge-bag.bsky.social•15 days ago

It would be one thing if the CR vote had taken place back on Jan 20. But it’s quite another thing today. They’re going into this with eyes wide-open. What the hell?! They know that Musk & Trump are torching the fed govt & the constitution. Why on earth are they going to enable that or legitimize it?

notcribley.bsky.social•15 days ago

Controlled opposition

drhello.bsky.social•15 days ago

I'm old enough to remember when Schumer said Trump was cheering for a shutdown https://bsky.app/profile/adamparkhomenko.bsky.social/post/3lkdq5yi7x22s

calleycat.bsky.social•15 days ago

During a govt shutdown it is up to the Executive branch to decide which workers are essential and no one can argue or stop him. Then they would simply fail to bring back workers after the shutdown. Even federal courts would be shutdown and they could fail to bring back court personnel.

canadiansagainstt.bsky.social•15 days ago

costrike.bsky.social•15 days ago

It's third party time if that happens, assuming parties still matter.

ellenahzulu.bsky.social•15 days ago

Third parties will never prevail. We need to vote Blue No Matter Who & get a charismatic candidate. GOP persuaded outlier voters to back Trump--incl. new/non-voters, New Agers, libertarians, Monarchists, SovCits, extreme Zionists, Muslims & Christians & Nazis to vote GOP instead of 3rd party

rulen613.bsky.social•15 days ago

I'm with you. A stool cannot balance long on 2 legs, a democracy cannot last on 2 parties.

The third only needs 10% of the seats to redeem the constitution from the doormat it has become. Keep both D&R from getting over 50%, and force a real negotiation on policy, instead of demonizing the other.

mattortega.com•15 days ago

Primaries man. It would take a very long time to try to stand up a third party. By then, we'll be a longtime single party state because the opposition fractured. Republicans would love nothing more.

spm1961.bsky.social•14 days ago

if a large number of dems who actually give a shit (they don't even have to be progressives) win primaries in '26 you can expect the "spontaneous" birth of a no labels/3rd way backed new party made up of a bunch of losers loudly complaining about "hyperpartisanship" to anyone who'll listen.

spm1961.bsky.social•14 days ago

i'll add that those people won't give a fuck if their efforts enable continued republican government - they don't want the democrats to be a force for good - their purpose has always been to make sure the dem party doesn't swing hard left in response to the hard right swing of the republicans.

askgma.bsky.social•15 days ago

So fascism wins? That’s their wish. Maybe we need to chill just a tich and see how it all plays out. We don’t know enough I’d say. Though we know this ain’t working right now

drhietanen.bsky.social•15 days ago

I unsubscribed from every democratic text line I had in my message history earlier. It had to be at least twenty. I’m not donating another cent until things change.

meant2be.bsky.social•15 days ago

I have to say I’m with AOC on this one. Why is this is a good Idea when your voter base and most republicans are deeply hurt by this bill. Sick of pansy ass democrats that don’t know who to land a punch on a nose as big as Pinocchio’s. This isn’t a strong case to give the Dems a chance majority.

bluebanditjim.bsky.social•15 days ago

I am sending a message to Chuck. I just donated $1 to AOC's ActBlue campaign site. Maybe New York needs a new senator? Do you think enough people will send a message by sending a dollar? Worth a try?
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/alexandria-ocasio-cortez

ilovefrenchbulldog.bsky.social•15 days ago

Right so what do they have on chuck to make him vote that way?

baggyblue.bsky.social•15 days ago

I’ve already been blocking 90%+ of any messages that request campaign donations(from Dems)…. Because most incumbents don’t seem interested in listening to what their constituents want. These rich cμnts are telling us what “we want & need” just like mElon & Felon.

papayacoconut.bsky.social•15 days ago

Dem Senators need to get a spine, vote no on cloture, and fight like hell to save Medicaid and prevent the next recession.

A dominant Republican Party and a submissive Democrat Party -that backs down when life gets hard- is terrible for working people, the country, and the free world. 🇺🇸

melissahbuckner.bsky.social•15 days ago

This. This. This. @kenmartin.bsky.social @benwikler.bsky.social

organizingpower.bsky.social•15 days ago

And the leadership challenge needs to be successful. Every Dem Senator needs to hear from their constituents every day that Schumer needs to go and that unless they demand a vote to remove him from leadership, thn they will be primaried

hunnybun100.bsky.social•15 days ago

They will go begging to Wall Street and Silicon Valley and start talking about Sista Souljah

marriedcatlady.bsky.social•15 days ago

Since Congress won’t set age limits, voters must. I’m tired of them dying in office. There are competent legislators to fill those seats with the skill set that hits hard with facts, not grimly smiling while adhering to dysfunctional traditions.

khsinclair.bsky.social•15 days ago

What's a "leadership challenge", is that a thing under Senate rules? Or do we have to wait until the next Congress (too late)?

paleofuture.bsky.social•15 days ago

The problem is that the U.S. system is actually rigged against third parties. It’s not worth the effort. I would love it if third parties were a thing in the U.S. but they aren’t allowed to win in our system so we need to find other ways.

thedetroitdiva.bsky.social•14 days ago

"By rigged against" are you saying you'd prefer a parliamentary style of government?

paleofuture.bsky.social•14 days ago

Yes, very much so. Our system is uniquely terrible.

thedetroitdiva.bsky.social•14 days ago

The reason I ask is that parties in parliamentary systems have to form coalitions to get anything through. I'm skeptical you'd actually prefer that because Dems are already a coalition and you seem opposed to the need for members to work w/in that coalition

Did I miss something?

paleofuture.bsky.social•14 days ago

Yes, you’re missing something. A parliamentary system is preferable in literally every way. I’ve lived under a parliamentary system and think it’s a much better form of government

thedetroitdiva.bsky.social•14 days ago

What did I miss?

That you lived in another country? If you believe everything ("in every way")about that country was better only because it had a parliamentary system, it should be easy to point to at least ONE thing beyond "I lived in X country"

neqone.bsky.social•15 days ago

There is a shell of a party there ripe for being overtaken by a group of people with desire for action and a fire in their belly. It's a perfectly easy route to take. It'll be even easier than when the Tea Party/MAGA overtook the GOP.

delthefunk66.bsky.social•15 days ago

If ever there was an opening to convert normy democrats to a third party the time is now. I’ve voted Dem for every presidential election since 2002. I can’t see myself voting for one

svenkoprek.bsky.social•15 days ago

I guess making sure there's no third or fourth party with any chance of winning is one of the few things GOP and Dems can agree on. They protect their power like a mafia cartel

warrenwp.bsky.social•15 days ago

How many Americans would have to die before a 3rd party becomes an option?

rusty.todayintabs.com•15 days ago

I never realized how easy it would be to fix this problem for the House. It’s just statute and there’s a very simple fix for it. I always assumed it would require major changes but not really! https://www.npr.org/2023/11/18/1194448925/congress-proportional-representation-explainer

paleofuture.bsky.social•15 days ago

Interesting. Though… “There's a federal law that bans it, and many of its supporters acknowledge it would likely be years, if not decades, before a majority of lawmakers allow such a big, untested restructuring of Congress.” Still sounds like a heavy lift.

rusty.todayintabs.com•15 days ago

Oh yeah I mean getting the law changed is the hard part, I’m just saying the actual change necessary to the law is surprisingly minor. It’s not like we have to amend the Constitution or anything.

unlabeledelder.bsky.social•15 days ago

That quote was 2023, pre fascist takeover of the government.

notwelcomematt.bsky.social•15 days ago

Parliamentary democracy supremacy strikes again

costrike.bsky.social•15 days ago

I understand the circumstances, but the need to either fix it of kill it is escalating quickly.

demusk.ing•15 days ago

A third party would require a plurality that we’ll be hard-pressed to muster amid the current D / R dysfunctions.

Who leads this party of neo-cons and who-knows-how-many Dems? What is their platform besides NOT 47?

die-no.bsky.social•15 days ago

Better to just primary every single Democrat and take over the party

edgarallandoh.bsky.social•15 days ago

The problem is the US thinking that it only "really" matters if a third party wins a majority or the Presidency. If the Greens were an actual party, they could fundraiser, win state and federal seats and become a temporary spoiler to a lot of evil shit. That matters too.

fisak.bsky.social•15 days ago

Then we need 4 or 5.

paleofuture.bsky.social•15 days ago

The easiest way to understand how the U.S. system is literally rigged against third parties is to look at the presidential election in 1992. Ross Perot won 19% of the vote and was awarded 0 electoral college votes (the thing that matters). He got 1 in 5 votes and literally nothing to show for it.

bobisjim.bsky.social•15 days ago

They could be a thing if there was a significant ground up effort that actually built up party machines to rival what dems and reps have. But it's a lot easier to just primary people and move the party that way

raisinit.bsky.social•15 days ago

Well yeh. But we also need to get rid of the EC

petergratton.bsky.social•15 days ago

Has anyone hit you with the “well it’s not going to happen if you think this way?” bit yet? Like you’re somehow acceding to the problem by merely identifying it.

markgutekunst.bsky.social•15 days ago

“Rigged” makes it sound nefarious, but I think it’s just structurally unsuited for extra parties, especially at the presidential level. A viable 3rd party would have to build through statehouses, governorships & congress, likely for decades, before anyone could cash a meaningful presidential vote.

unchi.org•15 days ago

Exactly. Any system with first-past-the-post, winner-take-all voting will naturally consolidate power into two parties. It's so well known there's a name for it: Duverger's Law. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duverger's_law

theboatend.bsky.social•15 days ago

The US electoral system [primary elections and "ballot access regs] mean that the "democratic party", [and Republican party] function as government agencies and normal political parties are prohibited. It's not the UK or Canada, "third parties" cannot legally function effectively in the US.

rulen613.bsky.social•15 days ago

That's the mistake though. To fix things, and 3rd party needs 10% of the seats. Keep D&R under 50%, and force actual policy negotiations and debates.

Ignore the Executive, let D&R squabble over that. Make Congress be a collaborative, policy-making body. Not a cult of hate for the other side.

paleofuture.bsky.social•15 days ago

I will say there are a handful of Dems I still believe in. AOC and Walz are good people. I could be wrong, but when Walz made mistakes during the 2024 campaign they seemed to be guided by establishment Dem advisors and he was just going along with their plan in a VP role.

ncallaway.bsky.social•15 days ago

Yea, I feel like Walz was *excellent* right up until we was formally incorporated into the campaign, and then just vanished.

And I think that's gotta be on the campaign.

ncallaway.bsky.social•15 days ago

Like, Harris can't have that excuse. She was running the campaign, and so if she got and followed bad advice, that's ultimately on her (though, I would cut her a small break and also lump a lot of blame on Biden for the way she had to inherit a last minute campaign)

lovewinzalways.bsky.social•15 days ago

Biden seems to have caused a different problem.

When Harris awkwardly avoided topics like LGBT or Palestine on the stump, people close to the campaign hinted to me that this was not by choice, but because she feared Biden or Third Way would *publicly oppose her if she engaged*, sinking her. >

lbyock.bsky.social•15 days ago

I’d like to see AOC take Schumer’s seat, and a Walz/ Sara Nelson ticket for pres.

nateboyd.com•15 days ago

Check out @repauchincloss.bsky.social

raflw.bsky.social•15 days ago

I strongly believe his debate performance was wrecked by consultant coaching.

paleofuture.bsky.social•15 days ago

Same

lovewinzalways.bsky.social•15 days ago

You're not wrong.
Here was me writing about the establishment Dem advisor who effectively broke them (thread):
https://bsky.app/profile/lovewinzalways.bsky.social/post/3ljazna255c2s

ellenahzulu.bsky.social•15 days ago

I actually really liked his "weird" commentary and thought it actually was weird when suddenly the campaign became all about "joy". Was this Oprah pressure?

lovewinzalways.bsky.social•15 days ago

Thread:

christosilvia.bsky.social•15 days ago

I mean I believe in all but one house Dems, and almost all of the Democratic senators! This isn't a Democratic party problem, it's a Chuck Schumer problem!

jimbo831.bsky.social•15 days ago

This is bullshit. Chuck Schumer wasn’t granted his position by god. He is elected by Senate Democrats (unanimously I believe). They could oust him if they wanted. He is there to take the fire for them, but he remains there because they want him to.

paleofuture.bsky.social•15 days ago

This is a fair question! I had assumed, given how Mike Johnson was installed, there must be a way for the minority party in each chamber to select new leadership through a vote of no confidence. That’s typically how it’s done in liberal democracies. Can anyone explain if Schumer can be replaced now?

marcbbbbb.bsky.social•15 days ago

Just need one Senator to challenge him and 26 Dem Senators to support the challenge.

marcbbbbb.bsky.social•15 days ago

The “challenge” itself would be mostly a behind closed doors kind of thing, private conversations. Then eventually a caucus meeting. But a leader would most likely resign before a vote in a caucus meeting.

defaultvalue.bsky.social•15 days ago

Yes, in that he can be forced to resign at any time by sufficient pressure from his caucus, regardless of what the official protocol is (e.g. Richard Nixon), and allowing him a more graceful exit should be something he has to negotiate in exchange for material concessions.

paleofuture.bsky.social•15 days ago

Question answered. It needs to happen. Schumer has to go.

mauvemelinda.bsky.social•14 days ago

Maybe George Clooney will write an op ed

beinbin.bsky.social•15 days ago

I was disappointed but surprised that once again CHUCK Schumer has demonstrated that he is a feckless coward who just wants to get along. Here’s hoping that a successful primary will result in Mr. Schumer being sent back to Brooklyn.

emewm.bsky.social•15 days ago

Wow 👏

kateprotests.bsky.social•15 days ago

It may be too late. The damage is already done.

jimbo831.bsky.social•15 days ago

I like both of your examples but neither of them will ever be allowed to have power. The party is rotten to its core.

itsjustglitter.bsky.social•15 days ago

What are your thoughts re: the courts? Passing the CR keeps the courts open. Schumer stressed this tonight.

itsjustglitter.bsky.social•15 days ago

Under the Antideficiency Act only “essential work” related to the “safety of human life and protection of property,” such as criminal prosecutions, continues unhindered. Civil cases, on the other hand, often experience significant delays”

https://judicialstudies.duke.edu/2024/05/how-a-u-s-government-shutdown-impacts-courts-access-to-justice/

equalityforhumans.bsky.social•15 days ago

@schumer.senate.gov this was what we discussed at our daughter’s birthday dinner. Kitchen table talk- disgusted that our party is spineless, weak, cowards unwilling to stand up against the pillaging of our country.

If not now, when will Democrats make a stand?

This was the talk of true blues.

zenny1.bsky.social•15 days ago

I get the anger, but wouldn’t Dems shutting down the govt, shift all the blame away from Trump/Musk tanking our economy with Tariffs, shit policy, etc & give them a weapon to start blaming the Dems instead? Why not Let them sink themselves!

mrm2811.bsky.social•15 days ago

I thought this election would end the republican party. The old GOP is gone but so too is the old Democratic Party. The under 40s need to keep their eyes on the prize.

wnjeffers.bsky.social•14 days ago

The Democratic Party needs to go the way of the Whig Party after the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854.

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