Magats_Love_NHB
Let It Burn!
Hakeem Jeffries is not the leader Democrats are looking for.
It’s not that I have anything against Jeffries. I know he was reselected less than two months ago. He seems to be decent, intelligent and diplomatic. But as the new Congress opens today, the party might want to reconsider.
These are not the times for a statesman. Democrats need a charismatic rebel leader, someone with the communication skills of a social-media-savvy Martin Luther King and the tactical flexibility of Bugs Bunny.
Jeffries is simply too nice. He wants to fix problems and make things better for the American people. “We are prepared to work hard to find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues and the incoming administration on any issue, whenever and wherever possible,” he says. All very laudable, I’m sure, but painfully misguided.
Take the farm subsidy bill that Democrats waived through as part of the package to keep the government open just before Christmas. It reflects well on Democrats that they feel farmers’ pain and are keen to help them out. But the hard truth is that Democrats lending votes to Republicans to pass a farm subsidy bill is political stupidity.
Look at the electoral map. Some rural counties voted for Donald Trump and Republicans by 4-1 margins. Now that Democrats have passed the bill, Republicans are going to go back to all those farm states that elected them and thump their chests about all the great things they did for farmers, rather than explain why the House Republican majority decided to turn their backs on them.
In short, if Republicans want to do favors for farmers, Democrats should make them find Republican votes to do them with. If Republican incompetence means that farm bills don’t get passed, perhaps rural America will start to value competence over “owning the libs.”
There are lots of issues like this, where Democrats need to let Republicans either govern or fail even though the pain will be felt by Republican voters and Democratic voters alike. This isn’t mean-spirited. It’s tough love. Saving Republicans from their own incoherence and incompetence just prolongs the agony.
By “working hard to find bipartisan common ground,” Jeffries is just enabling bad behavior. Helping Republicans govern only shields Republican voters from the consequences of their choices. It’s also utterly thankless. Approximately zero voters elected Republicans because they wanted more bipartisanship. Instead, many voters opted for magical thinking. Tariffs, tax cuts, lower prices and a balanced budget, what’s not to like?
Democrats, instead, should be rolling the dice on reality. Trump’s plans, such as they are, aren’t going to work out. He’s already backing away from some of his most categorical promises. The Democrats have no responsibility to govern for the next two years. Instead, Democrats need to let Republicans fail and make sure that the GOP owns every failure.
Of course, I can’t really say who should replace Jeffries, but there are a few House Democrats who have at least some of the right stuff.
