Jen Psaki Bluntly Says Schumer Isn’t the Leader Democrats Need

Jen Psaki stated the obvious – what Democrats have been doing isn’t working. She also gives Chuck Schumer credit for once being formidable but goes on to point out how feckless, ineffective he now is.  I agree completely with her suggestion to toss out the old playbook which she says quite specifically. I also believe while she’s spot-on in saying whatever Schumer once was, he’s simply not up to the task ahead.

You can read her OpEd here. It’s not long, and well worth the less than two minutes it takes to go through it.  Frankly I think Psaki gives Schumer more credit than he merits. Yes, he was a master of arcane Senate rules/procedures and such people are essential both in the House and the Senate. Especially in one of the top leadership positions if not the actual Speaker or Majority/Minority Leader. Schumer has a ton of institutional knowledge but from where I sit Leadership, especially the ability to capture the public’s attention and ‘make a case’ can hold it is something he’s always lacked.

In the first Trump term, it was then Speaker Pelosi who did the heavy lifting, including lifting up Schumer to make him much more of a force than he actually was. I loved that meme of Pelosi in the red coat walking alongside Schumer away from the entrance of the WH. The one captioned – “Is that blood on your shoes Nancy” with her responding “Just keep walking Chuck.” I think keeping Trump in check, and I’ll bet most reading this agree was far more Pelosi than Schumer. I also think that Pelosi put a lot of effort into preparing Hakeem Jeffries to be he successor and that he soaked up everything she taught him.

I also think that while Pelosi might have proverbially taught Jeffries ‘Everything he knows’ she didn’t teach him everything she knows about how to deal with, and sometimes slap down Trump! Maybe she assumed Schumer would be up to the task (all evidence to the contrary) and Jeffries could have more time to grow. Not for nothing but the election proved this country is still plenty racist and sexist. If Kamala Harris was a white male possessing every credential and quality (including being a powerful orator and kicking butt in interviews) she’d have beaten Trump’s fat old a$$ even more ‘bigly’ than Biden did in 2020!  So perhaps Pelosi might have counseled behind the scenes that making a black man the ‘face of the Democratic Party’ wouldn’t go over well. At least not at this time.

However the point is what Psaki points out – Schumer isn’t getting the job done. She uses the metaphor that Michael Jordan, great as he was would no longer be a starter for the Chicago Bulls.  To be honest I think Jordan could still give a lesson or two if he took the court in practice but Psaki is right – he wouldn’t be able to rule it.  His time has come and gone. Same with Schumer and Senate leadership although I truly don’t believe Schumer EVER was up to handling the moment in which he now finds himself.  He’s second fiddle – a damn fine one at times to be sure but going back to the Michael Jordan analogy Psaki raised at best Schumer was Scottie Pippen to Pelosi’s Michael Jordan. (It was said and widely believed back in the day that with Jordan on the court Pippen was the second best player in the NBA. Without Jordan he was only one of the top ten or fifteen)

I see great things ahead for Hakeem Jeffries. He’s smart, driven and dynamic on camera but he’s not had time to build the Gravitas Pelosi had.  Also, as I mentioned racism is running rampant these days.  What seems clear, to me at least is that unlike Pelosi, he can’t “carry” Schumer and that leaves us in a bad spot. Psaki writes about Schumer being asked about his leadership and him pointing to his history.  The whole ‘I’ve done it in the past’ thing but like I’ve said I’m not sure he’s ever really been THE driving force.  Psaki, like others have done says seniority shouldn’t be the end-all for Democrats when it comes to leadership. I have been saying that for a very, very long time.  Both in the House and Senate people have gotten powerful positions based mostly on seniority when others were more capable of holding leadership or committee chairmanships.  Now, with SO much on the line Schumer needs to read the proverbial room and step aside. As Psaki notes:

Schumer was a hell of a party leader in his prime. He knew how to dominate media coverage, to raise a boatload of money and to twist the arms of Republicans and of members of his own party. But he is no longer in his prime. The Republican Party of today is not the Republican Party of the past. It’s not the party of John McCain or Mitt Romney — or even George W. Bush.

And Schumer’s own party is now so mad at him that he had to cancel his book events over the backlash.

These days, “the social media,” as Schumer called it, is how the majority of people communicate and consume news, not the Sunday press conference.

Of course all this begs the question of who would take over for Schumer?  I doubt he’s ever given it much (if any) thought. I think as far as he’s concerned his position is his ‘birthright’ and he’s entitled to it until the day he dies.  I call bullsh*t on that!  But still, if there have been quiet discussions among Senate Democrats about replacing Schumer Democratic Senators have done one hell of a job in keeping it secret.  I honestly don’t see all that many who can be what is needed in this moment.

We need someone who’s been around long enough to have learned the boring, arcane stuff about the workings of the Senate. Someone who’s distinguished themselves via work on important committees.  Someone with Gravitas who can persuade big money donors to open their checkbooks again – and cough up extra sometimes. That person also needs to come across well on TV.  That shouldn’t matter as much as it does but it’s a fact. ‘Camera Presence’ is a requirement for political leadership.  More than ever we need someone who can get on camera for an interview, a press conference or stand in front of a crowd while being filmed who can speak about sometimes complex things, yet in a way that regular folks instinctively “get.”

That was Joe Biden’s strength, his ‘magic bullet’ back in 2020 and why Trump feared him and only him as an opponent. Biden could and was the Presidential candidate from modest beginnings who could still relate to what average Americans go through. He really was everyone’s “Uncle Joe” or best friend sitting at the kitchen table talking things through.  So for me, someone who has a similar quality, who looks well on camera and can speak plainly, someone who seems like a trusted friend who “knows sh*t” and can break it down for you is essential.  There are only a couple that I think have all the qualities I’ve indicated we need, and need right freaking now. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.  It would take at least one article for either one of them to explore their qualifications to be Democrat’s Leader in the Senate.  However I’m convinced either of them would be superior to Schumer, either the current or former iterations of ole Chuck.

You might disagree, or  have your own suggestions but I think it’s important to think ahead to the next, huge step if one is calling for Schumer’s resignation or ouster.  The very next day we would need someone stepping up to the cameras and making the rounds with major news outlets. And giving some major speeches taking on Trump/Musk in start, direct terms that again, the average voter will understand, to feel in their gut as soon as they hear/see the words.  We have to accept we live in a (deliberately) dumbed-down electorate. Even those who might if they thought about it and did a bit of research in the right places don’t want to deal with nuance anymore.

So Psaki it on to something important when she insists that it’s time to accept the “old ways” don’t, and won’t work anymore.  Too much has changed and this country is in the trauma ward. Another way of looking at it is from the cockpit of an aircraft caught up in an event cascade that seems certain to end in a crash. Sometimes the pilot/aviator just sets the rulebook aside and comes up with something completely out of the blue to save themselves, the aircraft and anyone else on board. Sometimes in blatant violation of ‘the rules.’ Sometimes there isn’t time to go through that rule book, and even if you did there’s no procedure to cover the mess the aircraft it in. Think Capt. Sullenberger and the “Miracle on the Hudson’ water landing.  Within seconds after assessing the situation he took a step that wouldn’t have worked had he waited, and save everyone’s life in the process.

Even if still President, Biden would likely be facing a Senate under GOP control. While he performed miracles no one (other than him) thought were possible during his first couple of years even HE would have to reluctantly accept that the Senate he once served in, it’s customs and traditions was gone forever.  So, Psaki concludes by telling us to dump the old rule book and leader:

So where does that leave the Democrats at this moment? Well, instead of making tweaks at the margins of the message (which is important, too), maybe it’s time to throw out the old playbook and to start thinking about new messengers.

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Zoomers, if you can hunt through the sofa cushions for spare change, we could use it. We are in month five of depressed traffic while a depressed nation tunes out. I have every belief that the disenchanted will tune back in and some point and return to the fight but until that happens, the bills keep coming and we need help. Thank you. Ursula

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