DISCLAIMER: I’M NOT FROM USA.
From the outside looking in, it seems like at least half of the inaction of the “left” is because ol’ Chucky just hinders everything.
“We wrote a strong letter” was probably the first time I actually, genuinely didn’t understand how he’s still the leader of the party.
Since then I’ve done some digging, and it seems like the guy is actually quite delusional. Not even his imaginary friends vote for him, which is kinda sad. Understandable though.
Now he’s talking about voting on whether they should block the military action in Venezuela. The ongoing one. The one that’s been planned publicly for months.
So, how does he still have his job?
His job is U.S. Senator, which he holds because he received the most votes from the state of New York. “Senate Minority Leader” is a position he holds because no one else wants it. It’s not a Constitutional position, like Speaker of the House or President of the Senate, and the U.S. Senate is a house of equals. Being “minority leader”bestows no added power, only responsibility for representing his party when negotiating with the other party. If another Senate Democrat wants to be responsible for negotiating with a senile man-child, they can call for a vote whenever the minority caucus meets.
And like Pelosi, he received the most votes from the state of New York because, “That’s our guy!” We gotta fight these people where they live.
Mitch McConnell had the game down pat. He’d campaign like hell in Kentucky, be damned what the rest of the US thought of him. He’s shaken the hands of 10s of thousands of little old ladies who say, “That Mitch sure is a nice man!” (got that last bit from an article about how he worked his campaigns, not making it up)
Jesus, if lemmy only knew about Orrin Hatch or Robert Byrd (KKK member!). 🙄 Those dirtbags lasted for decade after decade after decade by appealing to their constituents, not the US as a whole.
Former House Speaker Tip O’Neill: “All politics is local.”
Side note, Mamdani has this game figured out! Except he went out and listened to his voters, of all sorts. Fascinating man to watch. No talking points shoe-horned in as replies, no sound bites, legitimate listening skills and answers. Bill Clinton was such a master. We will watch his career with great interest!
Technically?
What do you mean?
Technically, he’s in office because he won an election. But he did that by being in the pocket of numerous lobbies and in the good graces of the Democrats’ campaign operation. If you don’t do those things, your odds of winning are vanishingly small. So he’s borderline untouchable.
Oh, the other Democrat candidates withdrew and no other parties are popular:
https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_Senate_election_in_New_York,_2022
I would expect lobbies to play a decent part in this but I’m not sure I’ve seen the mechanics fleshed out.
As a voter in New York, what are the options coming up to the next election that help remove him and impede the far right groups?
How did Mamdani take NYC against a filthy-rich opponent (Cuomo) with literal billionaires and the national conservative machine standing against him?
AOC was a bartender and took her House seat, untouchable now.
Obama was a nobody from Illinois. People heard him speak at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (me included!) and jumped onboard.
Clinton took the Presidency as an unheard-of governor of a hick state nobody cared about. And a Democrat in that state no less!
They all did it without big money, against wealthier opponents and won by talking to their people and listening. The formula works.