I’ve been shouting it from the rafters— figuratively— all year: the House Democrats will be making gigantic mistake if they elect Hakeem Jeffries as their leader. And I mean gigantic. The corrupt, glad-handing, anti-progressive careerists being touted as the first Black Speaker. That’s not enough. There are much better potential speakers— Blacks, browns, whites— than Jeffries, a career-long pawn of both Wall Street and AIPAC.
This morning American Prospect writer Robert Kuttner came to the same conclusions. “Do Democrats,” he asked, “really want their next leader to be compromised and corporate?” That describes Jeffries, the leading contender to be Democratic House leader if Pelosi goes off to Rome to be ambassador as is expected.
“But,” wrote Kuttner, “Jeffries is a corporate Democrat and a terrible opportunist. In 2021, he threw in with the most conservative Democrats in the caucus, notably Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, and created Team Blue PAC with the express purpose of preventing progressive Democrats from winning primaries. While the PAC’s mission was intended to protect incumbents, the House Democratic caucus is well to the left of Gottheimer. Jeffries pretends to position himself as a Progressive Caucus member, but this episode helped show his true colors.”
There is also the fact that Jeffries is another prospective leader from Brooklyn, along with Senate leader Chuck Schumer. That would give New York City the leadership of the Democrats in both chambers. And New York, more than any other state, disastrously underperformed in yesterday’s election. As many as six or seven Democratic seats in the Empire State could flip. In particular, the Brooklyn Democratic Party engaged in almost no effort to turn out voters, and that is at least partially on Jeffries, a high-ranking official in the borough.
…[I]f the CBC does endorse Jeffries, it would be another unfortunate case of race trumping progressive principles. With Democrats having had a better night than expected by defying the conventional counsel to move to the center, it would be a travesty to elect a corporate centrist as leader, Black or white.
Another possible contender for leader is Adam Schiff of California. It’s increasingly unlikely that Jeffries will win the job, uncontested.
Democrats had a better night than most pundits expected, because turnout held up, because abortion did not fade as a galvanizing issue, because inflation did not crowd out other issues, and because Biden’s low approval ratings did not taint other Democrats (as the Prospect has been writing in rebuttal to the conventional wisdom).
I might add that while Jeffries and his allies worked to tank progressive Democrats like Summer Lee (they failed), Michelle Vallejo (they succeeded), Adam Schiff was sending both of them money and encouragement— and raised far more than Jeffries for Democratic candidates around the country.
Can I point out that Teddy's wisdom is over a century old?
And can I point out the irony that Teddy was a Republican (for a while)?
And can I ask, once again, why all wisdom acquired by human beings, particularly Americans, is forgotten as soon as it is acquired?
And here, to answer my own questions, I will paraphrase Upton Sinclair:
Evidently, it is impossible for mankind to remember its acquired wisdom when money is amassed in the effort to make it forget.
the money doesn't want anything to get in their way. they make all of us/US dumber than shit (a trivial task, imo). we vote the way they want.
then, natch, they want more. lather, rinse, repeat.
Again, mr. Toomey seems to miss the obvious. After all, pelo$i oversaw the slaughter of 2010 and survived to ratfuck the party and voters (my perspective) for no less than 12 more years (so far).
Please consider that democraps may not seem it, but really ARE smarter than you think. They know that then can barely win an election against a KNOWN treasonous russian tool moron election denier conspiracy purveyor serial philanderer and rapist criminal (not just trump). But unless they lose, they can't win at all because there would not be the colossal evil of the nazis fresh in voters' "minds".
Anecdotally:
1) biden was, literally, laughed out of 6 prior democrap primaries... until there was the known trump…
With the inmates poised to take over the House asylum, Jeffries was OPENLY UNDERCUTTING Dem nominees. He thinks that the Dem caucus should elect him their leader? WTF?
What body made up of sane people would place someone who openly tried to reduce their membership in a leadership role? This election was literally all hands on deck--EVERY seat counted. Doing anything to hurt 1 Dem in 1 House race should be a per se disqualification for a leadership role of ANY kind.
Then again, the DSCC head poached a seat from a Dem incumbent because it had a marginally better PVI rating, and LOST the seat anyhow. A tiny handful of seats could make the difference between sane people chairin…