One of the most significant developments in what was another ear-shattering, soul-crushing week in American politics transpired quietly last Monday evening, when Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) announced he was stepping down.
Nadler, 78, has been a liberal force during his three decades in Congress, and by finally throwing in the towel signaled that maybe — just MAYBE — Democrats are starting to listen to their angry constituents, who are not at all pleased by the way the party has comported itself leading up to, and after, the most consequential election in American history this past November.
“Watching the Biden thing really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party, and I think I want to respect that,” Nadler said, before grudgingly adding, that a younger replacement “can maybe do better, can maybe help us more.”
Using the word “maybe” was Nadler’s ego talking, but it was the “Watching the Biden thing …” that really interested me. I’ll have more on that in a minute, but for now, it’s instructive to listen to how news of Nadler’s departure was received in Democratic circles. Put it this way: I have not heard from ONE person of note who thought this was a bad decision.
Basically, this is what I have been hearing:
“Thank you, sir, for your many years of service. I wish more Democrats would do the same.”
To put it kindly, the Democratic Party has become a stale, useless brand. It is a party crying for a new direction, and new leadership. It needs fresh faces, and new ideas. Again: Nobody I have talked to disputes this.
One only needs see what is transpiring in Nadler’s haunts in New York City for a vivid illustration of the party’s self-destructive clash of cultures.
Up-and-comer, Zohran Mamdani, 33, handily won the New York City Democratic Mayoral Primary in July, but instead of celebrating his victory, the Democratic old guard, led by Andrew Cuomo, are fighting hard against him.
This is grotesque, it really is, but is serving to expose all that is wrong with a party that refuses to get out of its own way.
Even Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has not been able to bring himself to endorse his fellow New Yorker, most likely because his campaign has accepted upwards of $1 million from the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (which loathes Mamdani) in just the last year alone, and because Jeffries has proven himself to be too cute by half.
Once an up-and-comer himself, Jeffries has lately fallen flat, and is out of tune with the majority of his party these days, who see him as a lurker, not a leader. Sadly, he seems to be one of the only people who doesn’t see this.
Mamdani’s stunning victory in the July primary was a repudiation of the old guard, their failed ideas, and all that old money. Mamdani has proven he can reach the voters that Democrats must have to win elections, which begs the question:
Why then are so many old guard Democrats throwing rocks at him?
The easy answer is all that damn money, but there is also something else at play here: Sheer stupidity, as well as that ego even Nadler has found so hard to shelve.
Listen to me:
If there was just ONE thing Democrats could do to enhance their chances in every election for the next 20 years it would be this: Throw out that old guard, swap out your so-called leadership, and make good and damn sure every person in America knows you’ve done it.
REPEAT: Throw out the old guard, swap out your so-called leadership, and make good and damn sure every person in America knows you’ve done it.
Nothing would signal you are listening to your terrified and angry electorate more than that. Further, it would serve notice to the growing number of Americans who don’t see a difference between our two major parties that this version of the Democratic Party isn’t serving up just more of the same old bulls--t.
Politics is a competitive, bottom-line sport. And in every sport except politics, winners are rewarded with a second chance, while losers go home. When a team wins, coaches, players and general managers are rewarded for their efforts. When a team loses, coaches, players, and general managers are sent packing.
At least this is how the perennial winners do it …
Fans of these teams expect nothing less. Why would they pour their hard-earned money into the pockets of losers? Are these fans any different than the constituents of the Democratic Party? Why should the people who do all the heavy lifting, volunteering, door-knocking, and rallying and marching until their feet hurt keep showing up if their party is just going to trot out the same old, tired-a-- losing team?
If you’ve read even a little of my stuff, you know how I feel about the revolting, racist, misogynistic, anti-American Republican Party.
That this group of bought-off goons has been able to garner the support of something called the “working-class American” is not only patently insane, but speaks to the massive failures of the Democratic Party, which has allowed for the greatest heist in American history.
How can the party that stands with unions, workers’ rights, increased minimum wage, wages overall, healthcare, childcare, social security, Medicaid and Medicare be losing the working-class voters?????
And, by the way, have you seen the latest job reports, showing Trump’s predictable and massive failures?
We’ve heard a lot about Democrats’ inability to communicate to the American public, but I’m not sure if that messaging is as much of a problem as the people who are doing it — those losing players I was talking about.
Like it or not, most Americans are sick and tired of the Cuomos and the Clintons, the Chuck Schumers and Hakeem Jeffries, the Amy Klobuchars and the Steny Hoyers, the Mark Warners and the Cory Bookers …
The list is really long, and growing.
None of these people should be in leadership any longer, and none of them will ever become president despite all their unbridled ambition, so they need to finally get that out of their hard heads.
Like it or not, they are the faces of a failed brand. I am not saying they all need to go, but they do need to learn to lead from behind, while pushing new, aspiring leaders forward.
THAT is how you truly serve your country, and thank you in advance.
It was bad enough the party lost the House, the Senate and the presidency in the most consequential elections in American history last November, but they somehow made it even worse by the way they completely and callously mishandled their beating.
It was almost as if they couldn’t wait to surrender.
It was as if they didn’t give a good goddam about the people who spent their time and treasure working their tails off to get them elected, and were now terrified about what was coming down the pike in a second, vengeful Trump dictatorial term.
A term, by the way, that should have never been allowed to happen if we had a damn Justice Department that acted with the urgency Trump’s January 6, 2021, attack on our nation most certainly demanded.
Joe Biden himself was absolutely appalling in Kamala Harris’s defeat, what with his warm welcome to America’s dictator in front of that damn fire in the White House only days after the election. I will never be able to unsee or un-hear that grotesque spectacle.
Then there was the cheery Klobuchar handling the inauguration festivities of the fascist dictator as if hosting some terrible, pinky-out cocktail party, while Schumer took it all in doing his worst impression of Chuck Schumer.
The gall of these people …
Within months, polls started reflecting Americans distaste for this out-of-touch, ineffective group. As I type this, the Democratic Party’s approval ratings are at roughly 20 percent.
Four out of five Americans don’t like what they are being served by Democrats.
It almost makes Trump’s 40 percent approvals look stellar by comparison.
But maybe Democrats are finally opening the door a crack, to let the fresh air in.
In the past few weeks I have seen hints of a different party, with different tactics, even if I am still seeing the same galling stupidity out of too many selfish dimwits like the odious, women-groping Andrew Cuomo.
Maybe Jerry Nadler’s resignation is a sign Democrats really are beginning to listen to their bosses in the field. We need more of this, people.
FAR MORE OF IT.
We need to hear from the new politicians, with new voices and ideas, who are advancing all the good Democrats have done and are doing, while forcefully standing against the most dangerous party in our nation’s history.
And we need to see them competing in our Red States as well as the Blue and Purple ones. Quit conceding turf to these fascists, who offer nothing to their voters but vitriol and death.
WE are the good guys, dammit.
WE need fighters.
These are the people who I will support. I am done getting my a-- kicked by backing the same old losing team with the same old losing players.
(D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and finished up a 30-year career in journalism as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. You can find all his work here.)
