Democrats, Say Nothing, We’ve Given Up on You
1874 cartoon by Thomas Nast via CNN.
Remember when the Democrats brought Olivia Pope and “President” Fitz on stage at the Democratic National Convention in 2024 as a serious contributing act against President Trump? How well did that work out? It only cemented one thing: from then until now, the Democrats have no fucking idea what they’re doing. In most presidential campaigns with Trump, Democrats have had an issue with taking him seriously. Yet, they have consistently failed to determine whether his rhetoric is rooted in misinformation, whether his base is committed to backing him, and whether he is faithful to his cause to unleash havoc on America. The question that I believe we should be asking democratic leaders is, “When are you all going to show up to this fight? Do you all have a clue of what you are all fighting for?”
Republicans: Chess, Democrats: Checkers
After Trump’s inauguration, he has wasted no time in boldly aiming for immigration, transgender medical care (for those under age 19), DEI, and the functions of our federal government, from policies to its employees. In addition to these attacks, Trump has also unleashed his bulldog, Elon Musk, to “dismantle bureaucracy” by exposing “waste” within America’s government spending. And while Musk has aimed at the Treasury, Medicare/Medicaid, Education, and Defense, Democrats have disgracefully sat back and watched.
Along with relegating themselves to “watchers,” they’re also at odds with each other. On Friday, March 14th, Senator Chuck Schumer, with the objection of top Democratic leaders, supported a Republican-led Senate bill with the hopes of avoiding a government shutdown. This spending bill that Democrats considered a “blank check” for Trump has the outward goal of decreasing government spending, yet it’s an opportunity for Trump and Musk to defund programs they don’t like. The Republicans haven’t wasted any opportunity to gloat that they hold power in both the Senate and the House. And with Trump as president, the leverage discrepancy is palpable, and Democrats don’t know what to do with it.
Did Democrats See This Coming?
The Democrats didn’t bother to look too far into the future regarding how they saw this election going; they didn’t stand for anything outside of supporting a genocide in Gaza, which caused most young liberals to abandon them at the polls in some states during the presidential election. They were — and continue to be — out of touch. They didn’t understand who they were representing, how they would do it, or even who would be the face of the party. Senator Bernie Sanders stated, after the loss of Kamala Harris, “It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working-class people would find that the working-class has abandoned them.”
Let’s be honest: Democrats have been hoping for a Hail Mary viral moment to give them momentum ever since they asked Joe Biden to step aside. But no “viral moment savior” has come to rescue them. Kamala Harris hoped to get some momentum in her “I’m Speaking Now” moment in response to pro-Palestine protestors at a rally in Detroit during the campaign; it didn’t and backfired for her at the polls. And to the Democratic leaders who thought that wearing shirts that say “resist” and holding up signs that say “this is not normal” during the State of the Union address doesn’t mean shit. The only “resisting” most of the American people are doing is disassociating, a social defense mechanism that masks their hopelessness with numbness. There is no way to “resist” when there is no other option to choose from. What does the option “resist” even mean? For millions of American liberals who are looking to the party for guidance at a time like this, the messaging to “resist” is tone-deaf and insulting.
What’s more disappointing is that Democratic leaders are more committed to pointing out a problem than they are to strategizing to fight for what they believe in. Democratic leaders are like passive-aggressive parents who allow their grown children to live with them while decorating their refrigerators with subtle, hostile Post-it notes, all done with a smile. There’s an elephant in the room, but in our exasperation, we will walk around it. This isn’t to say that it will be easy to fix the fucked-up situation America is in. After all, moving the elephant out of the room will take both coordination and manpower. But a party can take pride in its leadership when it not only acknowledges what’s going on but takes its duties seriously enough to put substance in its message of “resistance.”
U.S. senators hold privileges beyond wealth, money, influence, and power—they have exclusive access to knowledge and understanding. The average American doesn’t have the level of understanding or insight as to what’s happening beyond what they’re told in newspapers and on networks. So, the perpetual news cycles about Elon Musk slashing through the government without any context from Democratic leaders leave the average American Democrat confused and angry. And when it appears that the only “efforts” made by Democratic leadership are holding up signs that say “resist,” it causes regret in the average American Democrat for supporting and believing that their party stood for anything else. The average American Democrat is tired of being lied to by well-spoken con men in white Stetson hats. They’re tired of having to gaslight themselves into thinking that their party welcomes a fight when they know damn well it doesn’t. The average American Democrat is currently learning how not to count on their party for anything; they’re giving up.