Republicans have figured it out. Democrats have not.

[Self Esteem]

The Democratic Party only has itself to blame for its journey to irrelevancy.

Republicans came out of the 2008 election unified and defiant in opposition to everything and anything Obama ever wanted to do. They decided that the best course of action was not to play nice with Obama, despite his historic mandate but to obstruct him at every turn. They knew the American people would not hold them to account on anything because Americans don't vote on whether one party plays by the rules or is nice and the other isn't. The American people have shown us time and time again they only value the perception of toughness.

So, Republicans rallied and obstructed Obama on everything. Despite Democrats having a near-super majority, the Republicans forced the party to work for every vote possible and then attacked, attacked and attacked.

And what happened? In 2010, Republicans won back the House in a historic landslide, nearly won back the Senate and reemerged from the smoldering heap Bush had left them - all in two years when, after the November, 2008 election, many people were writing the party's political obituary.

Hell, Republicans nearly ended up winning back the presidency just four years after Bush tanked the economy and left us demoralized in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Despite Obama winning reelection, Republicans dug in. They refused a gun control bill that was largely supported by the American voter and had bipartisan support. They shut down the government in 2013. And what did American voters do? They didn't hold Republicans accountable for any of it - they turned around and gave Republicans a stronger House majority in 2014 and control of the Senate.

Oh but it didn't end there! No, in 2016, when Antony Scalia died, Republicans openly REFUSED to even start hearings on Obama's replacement to the court. No hearings. No vote. They actively held open a seat because they could. Senate Republicans even hinted at opposing letting Hillary fill the vacancy. It was up to the voters, they said! Despite polls showing most Americans felt the seat should be filled, what happened? Republicans won the White House and held their majorities in the House and Senate. Trump was able to fill the seat ... no problem.

Democrats need to understand that there's no rules when it comes to preserving democracy. The party is sleepwalking to its own demise at this rate and it will be the result of refusing to fight the most corrupt administration in history because they're terrified of optics looking bad.

Republicans don't give a fuck. I hate Republicans but I envy their approach.

Trump is teetering politically and the Democrats are comfortable handing him a win. This is the path to a permanent minority if we're being honest.

No one sees the Democrats as fighters. They see them as weak-kneed capitulators. The problem with that is that perception also hits at a personal level.

How can you expect the Democrats to fight for YOU if they're so quick to roll over to the Republicans?

You want to know why Republicans win? Because people see them as fighters - and a party willing to do something ... even if it's radical.

Don't underestimate how well that plays to the median voter.

And there's nothing the Democratic Party is doing to reverse that perception.

[Raven123]

1. Whatever fights the GOP has within, they vote as one

Dems somehow can’t figure this out.

[underpants]

2. 👍

[snowybirdie]

3. Getting so pissed

At posts here dissing Democrats. What's the name of the site? Take your criticisms, elsewhere. Go to Faux News!

[USAFRetired_Liberal]

5. These post are legitimate post

Are supposed to be happy with this constant weakness. We are always bringing a plastic spoon to a gunfight!!!

[snowybirdie]

6. No but

Who do you think is initiating the many lawsuits Trump is losing daily daily? DEMOCRATS! They are proceeding against the repubs and winning. Takes longer than impatient folks like, but legal and likely to ultimately succeed.

[Orrex]

22. Among those lawsuits, who's the leader who will rally the troops?

I agree that the lawsuits are vital, but at the end of the day we need a visible presence that's more than a bored-looking Schumer peering over his glasses at the press.

And that whole "takes longer than impatient folks like" is straight up gaslighting. The problem is not DUers expressing frustration over a lack of substantive action; the problem is that the majority of elected Democrats are doing a poor job of making it clear that have our backs. Ineffectual little signs at the SOTU don't ultimately count for shit. Biden/Harris racked up an astonishing record of achievement in four short years, and none of it mattered in Nov 2024 because Democrats were completely ineffective at highlighting it. Just like they're completely ineffective at highlighting their resistance to Trump's agenda.

We waited throughout Biden's entire term while Garland moved slower and slower toward nothing, and all the while we were scolded for our 100% justified impatience.

[moonshinegnomie]

26. how many of our so called leaders are initiating these lawsuits

i dont see schumers name on any of them. all i see from the leadership is talk followed by surrender....

[LymphocyteLover]

44. Other groups can bring these lawsuits better than our elected leaders.

[Wiz Imp]

61. Especially since our political leaders probably wouldn't even have standing to file the suit.

[Egwinsi]

43. While this is true...

There are still 258 Democrats and 2 independents that should do something besides sitting on their asses and bickering with each other.

[LymphocyteLover]

42. THIS SITE IS SUPPOSED TO SUPPORT DEMOCRATS. NOT BASH THEM AND CALL THEM

IRRELEVANT. FFS!!!

[markpkessinger]

70. The people writing these posts are people who WANT to be able to support the Democratic Party, . . .

. . . but are finding it increasingly difficult to do so.

It truly is a childish notion of what it means to "support" Democrats to suggest that support doesn't sometimes entail serious and painful criticism.

I have seen no posts that are bashing Democrats merely for the sake of doing so. What I have been seeing are serious, conscientious party members who honestly believe the party is failing to meet the moment. With so very much at stake in the present moment, posts that say, in effect, "Don't tell us what we don't want to hear" amounts to burying one's head in the sand and hoping this will all somehow just blow over!

[LymphocyteLover]

73. IMO the post crossed the line into more bashing than giving constructive criticism & made false claims about Dems

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

56. It's WAY past time we brought a rocket launcher!!

[senseandsensibility]

7. So posters who don't agree with Chuck voting with the R's

(with everything at stake) should go to FAUX news? Wow. We're Democrats, not maga dittoheads who blindly swallow whatever their leaders say.

[Eddie Haskell 60]

75. No, they're saying that Democrats will continue to lose elections

Nobody wants 'Republican Lite' Democrats

[AkFemDem]

10. Democrats can COOK in the sauce they've made

[Skittles]

16. unlike repukes

we do not goosestep

[Celerity]

18. You've no power nor right to tell DUers to 'Go to Faux News!' You aren't a DU gatekeeper, as much as you may wish so.

[moonbeam23]

20. Every thing they said

is true...unfortunately.

Let's be honest with ourselves..

[SergeStorms]

71. "This, above all: ........

To thine ownself be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst be false to any man." - Hamlet - Act 1 - Scene 3.

[GaYellowDawg]

38. This is 100% legitimate

Any organization that refuses to self-critique is inevitably fucked. Use some common sense.

By the way, the name of the site is Democratic Underground. Not Democratic Mainstream. Or Democratic Lapdogs. Or Democratic Sycophants.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

53. True dat!!

[everyonematters]

4. Why is 40% of the electorate registered as independents?

It's because many voters are disillusioned with both of the major parties. Theay are both stuck in their own world, out of touch with much of society because they are being lead by their respective media.

[SergeStorms]

72. That, and.....

then they don't have to pay attention to what's really going on in government. 10 second sound bites are all the information they need to make an "informed" decision.

[republianmushroom]

8. Been this way for many years, maybe someday the Democrats

will become a political party. And not just a group of politicians. Maybe.

[SocialDemocrat61]

13. Will Rogers once said

“I don’t belong to an organized political party. I’m a democrat.”

[Wiz Imp]

59. Yeah. And that was close to 100 years ago. It's nothing new.

And the Democrats have had far more success over those 100 years than the Republicans.

[Wiz Imp]

64. I found this very interesting. From a Speech Lyndon Johnson gave in 1966:

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-congressional-dinner-held-the-national-guard-armory

Will Rogers once said, "I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat." I ran across that quotation last night in a magazine article, and I jotted down what it said:

"This week, any Democrat in the United States could borrow Will Rogers' words and describe his own status with as much accuracy as humor. The Democratic Party is disorganized, in debt, and leaderless. Democrats are wondering where their next candidates are coming from."

That article appeared shortly before the congressional campaign of 1954, and I must confess it had a very personal meaning for me. It said the Democrats might do all right in the House, but we were in such great trouble in the Senate "that Lyndon Johnson has very little chance of ever becoming majority leader."

Well, the voters thought otherwise. They gave President Eisenhower a Congress that could get things done. I bring this up tonight because we are in an election year and I want to remind you of how much trouble the Democrats always seem to have in an election year before the votes are counted.

So critics were saying the same types of things about Democrats 70 years ago (disorganized, in debt, and leaderless), and less than 10 years later they passed one of the most important pieces of legislation in the history of the country: The Civil Rights Act.

[SocialDemocrat61]

65. Rogers also said

“I never met a man I didn’t like” but he never met Trump or Musk.

[Aepps22]

9. Not the Same

It really comes down to who their voters are and what they expect. If Republicans actually had to govern and make meaningful changes and act like adults things would be different. We expect our elected officials to be the adults in the room and get things done and even then too many people stay at home and don’t vote

[yankee87]

11. Fighting

I have never been so embarrassed to be Democrat right now. You posted the exact reason my children hate the Democrats right now. Need fighters like AOC, Crockett and Shiff.

100% opposition all the time.

[johnnyfins]

14. THIS THIS THIS

[homegirl]

32. How

politically active are your children? Complaining and not acting is pointless!!!

[yankee87]

62. Active

They made calls, gave money. They are 25 to 36. That includes their partners. Seriously this may take them out of the political system. They’ll vote and that’s probably all.

I’m receiving SSI and Medicare and am shitting in my pants whether the money will be there.
Schumer and anyone else who votes for this is a quisling.

[LymphocyteLover]

45. WTF!!! The party has fighters. You don't give up on the party because of a few bad pols

Most Dems are great.

The politics right now are horrible either way. The real problem is TRUMP and the GOP!!!! They are crooks and trying to enact a dictatorship. Schumer letting a GOP budget pass is not going to change that.

[mr715]

78. We are the party

Leadership doesn't get to define what it takes to be a Democrat.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

54. YESSS... I'd rather go down fighting in opposition any day and every day!!

[USAFRetired_Liberal]

12. Now I get why some progressives vote third party or don't vote at all

I’ve been voting for Democrats since 1998 when I became able to vote, and I will NEVER vote Republican. I used to get annoyed with progressives who voted third party, thinking they were just throwing their votes away and hurting Democrats. But now? I get it. Maybe I was wasting my vote too because even when Democrats win, they don’t actually do much. It feels like Senate Democrats care more about pleasing Republican voters and so-called independents than actually fighting for the people who put them in office.

[LymphocyteLover]

47. No, they are making a very tough choice. They have no good options.

The OP and most of the comments here are ridiculous.

[dlk]

15. It takes a well-funded and well-organized infrastructure in place over time

There is much work to be done.

[Javaman]

36. We Dems have been saying that for years

And nothing has changed other than us having ineffectual horrible messaging and keep losing ground.

In a nut shell: the old guard in the Democratic Party is clinging onto power like grim death and passing over the younger Dems for key positions.

People were so supportive of Pelosi and Schumer when Biden was in power. I was not. I saw a dying party based on old crappy policy and tactics. Who thought more of the same would win the day.

They kept screaming the majority is razor thin blah blah blah, but sometimes you have to give up ground to rebuild. The Dems have not done that.

And here we are. Diving head first into a dictatorship

[dlk]

67. There is no Democratic version of the Heritage Foundation or Federalist Society or ALEC

I could go on. We have given away our democracy by default. Doing nothing is a choice and we are seeing the results.

Say what you will, zealots get organized and zealots vote.

[Buddyzbuddy]

17. Good talk and correct.

[DENVERPOPS]

19. Thank you, thank you, thank you SE

This has been going on since HW corruptly, and by committing Treason, stole the election from Carter in 1980.......

The perfect title for a book, (or volume of books) about the past 45+ years would be:

WHILE THE DEMOCRATS SLEPT

[doubleplusgood]

21. Republicans figured out their media

Decades ago at least in the late 80s and 90s, the Republicans started building their own media machine, first with "hate" radio (Limbaugh, etc), then Fox News, Sinclair broadcasting, Clear Channel, and lately podcasts, TikTok videos, etc. Meanwhile, the Democrats still think we just need to put some ads on TV fof a few months every election cycle, knock on people's doors, etc., as if we''re still in the 1960s or 1970s media environment. Our side spends billions of dollars each cycle for media ads, flyers, get-out-the-vote efforts, etc. but after election day, we have little to no permanent media infrastructure to get out our message before the next election. And by the time anyone DOES hears a Democratic message, it's likely they've been bombarded with R/W messaging daily for years.

[JMCKUSICK]

35. I posted something very similar after the election

I'm going to my first County Democratic Party meeting on Monday.
I've talked to two members and both sounded absolutely demoralized and defeated. I live in Fayette County Illinois and it is deep red here. Mary Miller is my Congress person.
I'm angry, nervous and passionate and being on the progressive side so I may well get shouted down

[GaYellowDawg]

40. Same boat, different lake.

I'm in deep red east Tennessee, where people think that the "J" in "Donald J Trump" might just be "Jesus," and where Fox News is for the left-leaning moderates and true Murkans watch Newsmax.

Our Democratic Party is absolutely demoralized, too. I'm going to see how I can get involved. I know I've had some good ideas and they get nowhere because I have no connections and no way to get them out. I'm going to start forging them.

Someone up above had it absolutely right about the media machine. We're literally 3 decades behind the Fox machine. They ran their network at a huge loss to get market penetration and into businesses. They studied casinos for all the flashing lights and bells that get and hold peoples' attention, and then they locked into their message and the surrounding lies and have been unwavering ever since. Unless the Democratic Party fights and pins the blame on the upcoming apocalypse squarely on the GOP and its right wing media machine, we will continue to be screwed.

[JMCKUSICK]

57. Agreed. I'm only sorry that I was

One of those that needed this to wake the fuck up.
That's all on me.

[EllisWhy]

23. A new Democratic Party Mascot?

If (...or when, I fear) they fold on this, I think a petition is necessary to replace the Donkey. I don't know what it should be, but it definitely should not be a vertebrate.

[homegirl]

33. A panther

or leopard!

[Javaman]

37. Because we keep voting to have our face eaten? LOL nt

[markodochartaigh]

24. A couple of decades have passed since

I first heard the dictum "Strong and wrong beats quiet and right". It seems ever more apropos.

[GreenWave]

25. Republicans haven't figured out shit.

Their elected candidates must pass the Koch bros. idiot test.
Fox news tells them what to say or covers their asses.
They have the media, the brain washed Christo zombies
and 60% of all adults under 6th grade reading level.

Despite all on their side they still have to lie, gerrymander and voter suppress to eke out their wins.

[mdbl]

27. Can someone show this to Chuck Schumer?

Like, Tonight?

[voteragain]

28. Fight

I just expect the worse and try to adjust about what's going on.

When do you say enough is enough and put the red line not to cross?

FDR....I welcome their hatred.................

[dalton99a]

29. Kick

[creon]

30. not even wrong

[LymphocyteLover]

48. it is wrong

[elocs]

31. Republicans engage in a street fight: no rules unless it benefits them, otherwise do anything

to win. Meanwhile, Democrats are noble and virtuous, taking Michelle Obama's advice, "when they go low, we go high". Except in real life, that usually doesn't work out well. The ones going high get their asses kicked.

When it comes to the Democratic Party and its leadership, my expectations are pretty low. Social Security is my only source of income and I fully expect to lose that. So unless I can find a job, I will be homeless. It's a terrible thing to lose hope. For over 50 years I have exclusively and always voted for Democrats. I sure wish I had gotten a better return for my effort.

[tornado34jh]

34. This has been my criticism of Democrats in Congress, not all, some

They capitulate too much. What exactly are they thinking they will achieve by trying to appease the other side? It's a cult, you're not going to convince them otherwise. I said this another post, I don't remember which one, but this isn't the Republican party of the early 2000s. I don't know why some of the Democratic congresspeople are not realizing that. Since 2008, when Obama first took office, the Republican Party has been pushing farther to the right. Something tells me that they are being bought by money. A lot of the people were sponsored by Wall Street. Many of their donors were corporate big business, and thus were not for the average person. To quote George Carlin, "It's one big club, and you ain't in it." That is why they were losing many voters because they had other interests going on. Many Democratic congresspeople don't understand that when you associate with big corporations, whether you are given money by or are a speaker of them, it is not a good look for them.

[LymphocyteLover]

49. it's not appeasing--- they don't want a govt shutdown, pure and simple

[tornado34jh]

52. What are you talking about? How many times have Republicans shut down the government when Obama/Biden were in office?

They never let Obama and Biden get much done. If anything, we should do the same thing the Republicans did. No more high road stuff, it's time to get down and dirty just like the the Republicans did. Are you saying we should just capitulate to them? Heck no we shouldn't! Again, we are not dealing with the same party from 20 years. Why do you think Republicans want tax cuts for the rich billionaires?

[Wiz Imp]

63. Because Obama and Biden were not willing to ignore the Constitution

Trump has decided to effectively be a dictator, and as long as his party willingly goes along with it, there is little to nothing Democrats can do to directly stop it. They have to rely on the Courts or else a few Republicans growing a conscience. In case you hadn't noticed, Republicans in the Senate have put very few bills up for a vote this year because they know they won't pass (most bills they have voted on have not passed due to being filibustered). They've chosen to let Trump & Musk bypass Congress altogether. In reality, Democrats have voted more solidly against Republicans in both the House and the Senate in the first 3 months this year than any minority party has ever voted against the majority in the history of the country.

[LymphocyteLover]

66. I know Republicans are the worst and play by different rules. I'm actually in favor of blocking the CR

But I can still see why it's good politics to let it go through. The biggest concern is the economy is about to collapse and Dems shutting down the govt will be used to blame the collapse on the Dems. Also shutting down the govt would keep a lot of the courts out of business and they are doing important work right now. Another worry is that shutting down the govt will trigger Dump to take even more extraordinary measures, perhaps dissolving the whole govt or declaring martial law. The dude is nuts.

[Alliepoo]

39. Amen, Amen, Amen,

Amen, Amen!! Every single thing you said.

[LymphocyteLover]

41. This is a lot of Dem-bashing BS!!! JFC. Total hyperbolic crap.

Obama was POTUS for 8 years after Bush. not 4.

[Borogove]

46. My sentiments exactly.

[DFW]

50. Republican Congressional stategy has been the same for over 20 years, laid out right here in two words

[leftstreet]

51. DURec

[nowforever]

55. Trouble is

Democrats have a hard time continually lying and being corrupt. When you have a media controlled by the super wealthy and unlimited spending by corporations it is hard to ever get a platform to present your side. The American public cannot see or hear the truth when there is no media to disseminate those truths. My only hope is the Orange menace will collapse the economy and force people to wake up from 40 years of mind numbing propaganda financed by the wealthy elite.

[JMCKUSICK]

58. https://www.democraticunderground.com/11045035

From December and I've felt this way since the early 2000's

[Wiz Imp]

60. Republicans did not nearly win back the Presidency in 2012.

Obama won the Popular vote by about 4%, beaten this century only by Obama in 2008 & Biden in 2020. He won the Electoral College by 332 - 206 beaten this century only by his margin in 2008 (a landslide by modern standards).

[Cosmocat]

68. You have been paying attention

I have posted here going back to the early Bush years, trying to relay the simple point that republicans will blame, denigrate and attack democrats regardless of what they do. Even when they are profoundly wrong about things, which is most often, the double own on their idiotic thinking and scream about how horrible the Ds are.

So ... why do Ds care about that?

Seriously, they are going to attacked and slandered, so why play by the queens rules if you are going to be negatively portrayed anyways.

[North Coast Lawyer]

69. SO MAD

I'm so sick of Democrats unilaterally disarming and caving. We need more representatives like AOC and fewer surrender monkeys.

[Scubamatt]

74. Extremely well said

You are 150% that the majority of this country - regardless of where they stand on particular issues - will vote based on who they see as fighters and winners. Our sports culture and winner take all approach has conditioned the majority to this effect. Republicans - even when they are in the minority - think, act, and talk like they are winning; when was the last time you saw any Republican not take some radical action out of fear of how the public will perceive it? If the Democrats do not fight and act like they can win (instead of avoiding fighting because they are worried about what it looks like if they lose), they will neve capture that mushy middle that responds to this dynamic.

[Nanjeanne]

76. The Onion says it all

https://theonion.com/chuck-schumer-helps-pull-democrats-back-from-brink-of-courage/]

Chuck Schumer Helps Pull Democrats Back From Brink Of Courage

[mr715]

79. I wanted to post a link to that!

But I was worried people'd get angry at me.

But yeah, the onion has become the journal of record of our times.

[Nanjeanne]

80. People are always angry at me. I think a bat signal goes out when I post. But that's usually because

I’m a Jew with family in Israel who personally knew and know victims of Oct 7 and my family and I still support Palestinian rights and are against the war on Gaza.

Rolls off my back like water.

[ImNotGod]

77. I've figured out that for the first time in my life I will be leaving the caving in party. Very sad day. nt

[Bluetus]

84. There is no party, really.

When was the last time you saw a yard sign that said either Democrat or Republican on it?

Any party affiliation in TV ads? It has been at least 25 years for me.

A unifying party platform? Hardly. There are some positions that Dems support in the general sense, but no big, bold ideas that the whole party is behind. Just look at universal health care, for example. Dems have been all over the map on that.

Republicans have a very clear agenda. It is to eliminate all consumer protections, eliminate all taxes on billionaires and large corporations, and to eliminate or privatize all social programs. Of course, these positions are highly unpopular, so instead, they have become very good at pounding wedge issues of race, immigration and bathrooms. Nonetheless, Republicans are completely unified and not afraid to enforce complete loyalty, even to the point of threatening mob violence directed at any of their own who aren't "team players."

So the only thing that the Dem party really provides now is some GOTV organization. But in 2025, that really isn't about door knocking. it is much more about social engagement, and the party is way behind on that.

The upshot is that we either must purge the leadership that is still living in the 1980s, or else the party will collapse, and we'll have to form a new entity.

I am around age 70. I don't believe I will be alive when a successor party could be a real force. I don't feel there is anything in the national party structure that works for me today. But there are many good people winning elections. So my choice is to donate directly to the candidates I feel are showing the kind of leadership that can make a difference.. At the moment, this includes AOC, Chris Murphy, and a few others. I think what we need is an organization that will be a funding clearinghouse for dynamic leaders with bold idea that can inspire America, and not give a penny to the people who are dead weight or worse. We have the names of 9 Dem Senators that should forever be on the dead weight list.

In an ideal world, the Democratic Party would be that organization. But they just aren't. So we need something else.

[pansypoo53219]

81. BE PARTISAN. fuck the reagan loving MEdia.

[qazplm135]

82. I don't disagree

But ultimately it's the economy. If Trump torches it, Republicans will lose.

If people aren't happy economically they vote out the party in power. Even if the alternative isn't appealing to them.

[Bluetus]

83. This is an EXCELLENT summary, but the problems did not start in 2008

We have had 3 generations of Democrats whose only real claim to fame has been the speed with with they capitulate to Republicans. They are masters at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

We do have some strong, passionate younger Dems coming up the ranks, but the leadership is still dominated by the fossils whose first instinct on everything is to retreat. It has literally been over 50 years since Democrats have championed any bold new ideas of ANY kind. You have to go back to the Apollo program and the Great Society to find the kind of ideas that are worthy of the legacy of FDR.

And the result has been a steady slide from power over that entire 55-year period. Oh, we've had some good moments from time to time, but the overall direction has been a slide to irrelevance.

And the shame of is that if we list the things that Democrats are supposedly for, they align strongly with huge majorities of the population -- like 60-80% on most issues. The problem is that Americans simply don't believe we will actually fight for the things we say we believe in. That's a damning position.