What The F*ck Do Democrats Think They're Doing?
How about being an actual opposition party, not Happy Fascism Helpers?
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia) is a good guy. He’s was elected to the House in 2008 and, as a member of the House Oversight Committee, is a familiar face in hearings, where he has gone after Republicans’ nonsensical investigations into Hunter Biden’s weenus, mocked the effort to impeach Joe Biden for … things, fought back against Donald Trump’s child separation policy, and advocated for an assault weapons ban.
His Facebook page also features a sweet photo of himself petting a doggo at a train station, of which we completely approve.
And yesterday, House Democrats overwhelmingly elected Connolly to become the ranking member of the powerful House Oversight Committee, choosing him in a 131-84 vote over Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York). Ocasio-Cortez, 35, argued that with Donald Trump and a Republican trifecta coming to power next month, it’s high time for House Democratic leadership to break with business as usual and to do that generational change thing, to oppose the fascist leanings of the incoming administration.
It was a good argument, especially considering that Connolly is 74 years old, not terribly well-known outside Virginia (or outside the nerds who closely follow the House), and is being treated for esophageal cancer, although he says he’s fine to handle the stresses of the job. Connolly has seniority on the committee, and we get Traditions and Norms, but democracy is in danger here, and with her far larger public profile, Ocasio-Cortez would have been a far more effective voice of opposition to the Trump-driven vendettas, racist scapegoating of immigrants, and attacks on basic freedoms that are on the way.
As Politico explains, Connolly’s win wasn’t solely the result of his seniority or his collegial ties with lots of influential House Dems, though those were certainly factors. There was also entirely too much worry about making the public face of the committee a Young Progressive Firebrand like Ocasio-Cortez, never mind her mastery of issues, her TV-savvy rhetorical skills, or, related to that, her knack for focusing public attention on issues that matter. Or rather, it was that knack for getting on TV and social media that may have worried them, the big chickens.
There were enough “centrist” Dems who were willing to go with seniority — and to some degree, to listen to the urgings of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi — that seniority won out. (It probably also didn’t help AOC’s bid that she has supported progressive primary challengers to old-line Democrats, although she reportedly promised to refrain from doing that if she became ranking member on Oversight.)
But after a campaign in which Democrats were perceived as bending over backwards to overlook Joe Biden’s age — sure, unfairly, compared to Trump! — the vote looked like one more win for the congressional gerontocracy, as Chris Hayes noted on MSNBC last night.
Far worse, though, is that Democrats just aren’t acting like a real opposition party, as Jamelle Bouie argues today in The New York Times (gift link):
An opposition would use every opportunity it had to demonstrate its resolute stance against the incoming administration. It would do everything in its power to try to seize the public’s attention and make hay of the president-elect’s efforts to put lawlessness at the center of American government. […]
It would prioritize nimble, aggressive leadership over an unbending commitment to seniority and the elevation of whoever is next in line. Above all, an opposition would see that politics is about conflict — or, as Henry Adams famously put it, “the systematic organization of hatreds” — and reject the risk-averse strategies of the past in favor of new blood and new ideas.
Gerry Connolly is a perfectly OK Democrat on most issues that matter, but the times call for much more than “perfectly OK” and “focus on getting things done” that seems to be infecting too many Democrats, who instead of preparing to stand up and fight Trump, are freaked out over the election loss and wondering how they can make Americans like them again.
Trying to appeal to Trump voters is not the answer. Nor is rolling over and hoping for belly rubs, although Crom help us, this story from ABC News certainly suggests that's exactly what some Democrats are hoping to do, again.
Democrats have a plan to take back power in Washington back from Republicans in two years: work with them now.
Democrats, who are already planning their comeback after being swept out of power in Washington last month, have said they'll oppose President-elect Donald Trump and his allies when their values collide but are open to cooperation on a range of issues, including immigration, federal spending and entitlements.
Oh, fuck no. Please tell us this is only a terrible parody of Democrats’ thinking, please:
"People want to see government work, and we're going to hold Republicans accountable for whether they're willing to help move things forward for the American people. So, if they aren't, then absolutely, that will impact them at the ballot box," said Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., who led House Democrats' campaign arm this year and will do so again for the 2026 midterms.
"I think we are telling them that we're here to govern," DelBene added. "And I guess the question is, are they serious about governing?"
EXCUSE ME, WHAT PARTY AND WHAT ELECTORATE ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? Republicans haven’t been serious about governing since sometime before Newt Gingrich made “refuse to ever cooperate with Democrats” the most important principle of GOP politics in the 1990s, and it’s only gotten worse since then! Donald Trump has made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t give a single ripe shit about consumer prices now, and only pretended to during the campaign. Instead, it’s all going to be revenge and giveaways to the people what funded his campaign. Or the person, as the case may be.
And voters have made clear they don’t care about good governing, either, or they might have gone with the vice president lady who had actual policies that were aimed at helping Americans, and who served with a president who managed the best national recovery from the pandemic, and even from the inflation that followed it.
We are not, however, going to let that ABC story freak us out too much just yet, because what some Democratic leaders are saying and thinking in the immediate aftermath of the election loss is almost certain to change rapidly once we have to deal with the realities of another Trump term with a GOP trifecta. We just wish more Democrats would plan to fight back sooner, instead of trying to impress voters with what a fine report card they’ve brought home.
[AP / Politico / NYT (gift link) / ABC News]
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Dok's take here is the best possible. Connolly seems to be a fine guy, but it is in the common interests of the USA and the Democratic Party to install as oversight chair someone who not only ferociously rips apart the bad faith arguments and actions of Trumpists as publicly as possible, **but also** makes it seem cool and fun while they're doing it.
Connolly doesn't strike me as the guy to get the first part done, but maybe he could surprise me there and make better use of the media to expose GOPeeps bad faith. But on the second part, there's no fucking way he holds a candle to AOC.
We already know that winning an intellectual argument -- where Connolly is perhaps sufficiently prepared -- is insufficient. We have to win the intellectual argument while emotionally rallying the troops.
Time to pat the old guard on the back, thank them for their service, and install new leaders everywhere that know how to make destroying their enemies more fun than an otter shattering an iPhone.
I'm starting to see the appeal of the "burn it all down" thinking.