If you want a loyal friend in politics: buy a puppy
Before the last drops of champagne were consumed the self-designated progressives began attacking the architects of the Blue Tsunami: Sen Schumer and Rep Jeffries.
Schumer and his team spent two years since Trump’s 2024 win searching for candidates and raising campaign dollars. Listen to an hour long detailed interview with Schumer in which he explains how he and his teams recruited and supported the democratic candidates – fascinating.
Candidates who would have a narrow campaign focus: affordability, ending the war, punishing corruption and the results were beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.
The NY Times frames the internal struggle within the democratic party,
The Democrats, … were really trying to grasp at straws about how they had lost popular appeal, so they appealed to these purely symbolic cultural things that didn’t look at economic redistribution.
In fact, since 2016, the Democratic Party elites kind of characterized the working-class man — the working-class white man — as the enemy of progress. I think that was terrible, terrible politics and a terrible strategy.
These last elections showed incredible diversity of candidates that succeeded, but they succeeded because they were people of principle who happened to be people of color. And that I was very, very heartened by.
They didn’t play the people-of-color card first. They were people of principle.
Days after the victories a well-organized attack on the democratic leadership, targeting Schumer and Jeffries exploded across social media.
Thousands of e-posts, demanding “new leadership,” and “suggesting” Sen Van Hollen a 68 year old from Maryland and with Sen Sanders announcing he would not vote for Schumer. The “new leadership” defending the unsuccessful “woke” leadership versus the middle of the road Dems centering on affordability, fighting corruption and ending the war,
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen said Thursday that he will run for majority leader, challenging longtime Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
Van Hollen said in a statement that the midterm election results are a sign Americans want “change” not only from “Donald Trump’s disastrous policies” but also from a “status quo that isn’t working for working people.”
And Schumer responded,
Schumer has repeatedly predicted since the Democrats won a majority in last week’s midterms that he will be elected majority leader. In a statement after Van Hollen’s announcement Thursday, he said he has already locked up the votes in the race.
“I welcome any discussion about the future of our caucus and the important work ahead. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together — 55 seats and counting is an amazing result — and I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader,” Schumer said in a social media post.
The attack, as I understand, is about the leadership of Congress and has been in the planning stage, probably for months, expecting a Republican controlled Senate and maybe Repubs retaining leadership in the House, pointing fingers at the failure of democratic leadership. Whoops! a smashing, unparalleled victory… no matter: the attack was on.
Bernie has never gotten over the 2016 presidential nominating process,” Hillary was underhanded, I should have been the candidate and I would have beaten Trump.” No do-overs, politics is a full contact sport.
The newly elected Congress will select their leadership in a closed, secret ballot election, the House next week and the Senate the first week in December.
The Dems will also select committee chairs and delegation leadership.
The overwhelming Dem majority in the House will allow the House to pass legislation, and, soon to be elected by his colleagues, Hakeem Jeffries will be passing bill after bill.
The investigative arm of the House, already staffing up, hearing after hearing, the majority has subpoena power.
The Dems in the Senate, 55 or 56 seats (Alaska yet to be decided), Senate rules require 60 votes, called cloture, to bring a bill to the floor for a vote. Senators serve six year terms, 1/3 of the Senate on the ballot every two years. Will the current Republicans who will be on the 2028 ballot stick with Trump or become “bipartisan?”
Jared Bernstein, who writes an almost daily Substack, lays out specific areas the Dems should address: affordability and accountability.
With Schumer and Jeffries leading Congress, huge plus for NYC and NYS.
The Chips and Science Act is funding two enormous chip manufacturing facilities, one in Arizona and one in Syracuse, thousands of high paying union jobs and close relations with the local school districts.
The connection between the CHIPS and Science Act, (Syracuse), the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), and New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) centers on a major workforce development partnership. State officials, Micron Technology, and major teachers’ unions launched this initiative to prepare New York students for careers in the semiconductor and advanced manufacturing industries.
Schumer, undoubtedly, played a key role in the site selection.
I live on 25th street in Manhattan and a block away the Brookdale School of Nursing, a huge building: residences, classrooms, labs, an auditorium and a pool, the building was in disrepair.
The City acquired a site uptown to build a new nursing facility and planned to raze the old building and replace it with a huge sanitation garage.
A lengthy, at times acrimonious dispute evolved, the local Community Planning Board worked with the community, many meetings with Economic Development Corporation (EDC) who was providing the 200M, the struggle would make a great movie!!
Instead of a sanitation garage a magnificent science research center, SPARC Kips Bay, Science Park and Research Center,
The campus will include classrooms and labs across three integrated City University of New York (CUNY) schools—Hunter College School of Nursing, CUNY Graduate School of Health & Health Policy, and Borough of Manhattan Community College health care programs; an NYC Public Schools health and science-focused high school; outpatient ambulatory care services and a training simulation center for NYC Health + Hospitals; a new forensic pathology center and medical examiner facility for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner; life sciences research labs for companies of all sizes; and community and retail spaces.
At one of the numerous meetings with the Economic Development Corporation folk I said , “Let’s include a high school.” and shazam, the high school will include internships and job opportunities.
I kept Schumer’s staff in the loop.
Having the two most powerful legislators in Congress from NYC has its advantages, politics is based on relationships.
Yes, Schumer is 75, will he run for another term in 2028? AOC, one of the leaders in the “progressive” insurrection will probably challenge whoever runs in the June 2028 primary, unless she gets involved in the presidential primaries and the presidential primaries begin January 22nd 2028 in South Carolina.
And, early next year contract negotiations will begin, a long and at times tedious process, and if the “bubble” bursts the city finances could take a nosedive, Paul Krugman muses.
Will Mamdani have to ask Michael to help with “this or that” if the economy tanks? To speak with Schumer/Jeffries? As I have said over and over again: relationships matter. Mamdani refused to endorse Schumer who did not endorse him, never know when you’ll really need a friend.
Listen to Peter Seeger “Talking Union? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SIhG7Wv5YI
