Dems Should Try Being the Opposition

What do Mark Carney, Emmanuel Macron, Claudia Sheinbaum and Vladimir Zelensky all have in common? They’ve seen increased popularity because they’re standing up to the convicted felon Donald Trump. Maybe U.S. Democrats should give that a try.

Carney, the new Canadian Prime Minister, leads a Liberal Party that was heading for a disastrous election defeat. But when the previously unpopular Justin Trudeau stood up to Trump, his party’s fortunes turned dramatically. And it doesn’t help that the Conservatives are being supported by Elon Musk. One Conservative operative says that his candidates lose two points every time Musk posts something in their favor.

Mexican President Sheinbaum has toggled between dealing with Trump and mocking him. Her send up of Trump’s stupid idea to rename the Gulf of Mexico was very popular there. She suggested that North America be renamed Mexican America and offered actual historic reasons for it. Her approval rating is 80%.

Similarly, Macron’s numbers were in the tank before he started disagreeing with Trump and leading European efforts to pick up the torch of freedom and democracy that Trump has extinguished. His popularity is soaring.

And when Zelensky returned home after sticking up for Ukraine at the famous White House ambush, he found a hero’s welcome.

All of which is to suggest that maybe Democrats right here in America might want to try this approach. They could be, oh I don’t know, say, the opposition party. They could stand up to Trump every time they get a chance.

Four of these are actual leaders. Who doesn’t fit with this group?

Of course, they missed their most recent chance when Chuck Schumer caved on the budget continuing resolution. Now, he’s so afraid of getting criticized that he’s postponed a planned book tour. This is an especially bad look just as Democrats are getting at least some traction in hitting Republicans for cancelling town hall meetings in their districts.

I’m not really angry at Schumer. I just think he’s the wrong man for the times. His reasoning was that he didn’t want to make the Democrats the focus — and a party that has an historically low 27% approval rating should not want to be the focus of anything.

But on the other hand, maybe my party has numbers like that because either nobody knows what they stand for or because people think they know what they stand for and they don’t like it. I don’t have anything against transgender people, but when transgender rights define your party you’ve got a problem.

And I don’t have a problem with lying in the weeds and letting the other guys make themselves look like idiots and fascists. Except, I’m coming around to the idea that that’s not working. Trump’s approval is still underwater, but at 47% it’s his highest ever. He looks strong and the Democrats look weak.

It’s time to air it out. It’s time to go after this S.O.B. And Chuck Schumer, for all his good qualities, simply does not have the make-up to do what needs doing right now.

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