Here is the question we put before readers last week:
S.S. in West Hollywood, CA asks: If Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) agreed to abide by your suggestions, what would you suggest he do to meet this moment in history and save our democracy? And how about House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), over in the lower chamber?
And here some of the answers we got in response:
A.G. in Scranton, PA: Oh, I don't know, maybe FU**ING ANYTHING WHATSOEVER!
P.R. in Arvada, CO: Given the lack of any real power for now, my request of both Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is a fairly simple three-pronged approach. First, block only when necessary, so that Trump voters get to feel the pain of their votes. Second, set up some working groups that will track the destruction and create plans to reverse these actions, along with identifying the illegal actions, to be added to an ongoing list of impeachable offenses. Third, shout about it. Short, catchy soundbites repeated to every reporter they see as they are walking about. Exactly what Republicans do, except there is no need to lie or even exaggerate.
When they do finally get power, take that list of impeachable offenses and impeach every single last one of them. Not all at the same time, either. There is a negligible chance the Senate will convict and not much chance of Trump signing anything useful, so give us 2 glorious years of Trump being impeached time after time after time. Bonus points for dragging anyone who may run for the Republican nomination through the mud alongside him. Take the Republican tactic of hearings all the time, wrap a bow around it and put a cherry on top.
C.F. in Waltham, MA: I think Chuck Schumer is intellectually honest and very strategic. Unfortunately, his problem is that his face and facial expressions exude jolliness regardless of what he is talking about. His outward expressions have to match the gravity of what he is saying if he is to make an impact like Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), or several other Democrats who are intellectually honest, passionate, and fiery.
Hakeem Jeffries also needs to have more intensity when he talks. He is getting better, but more Democrats, including him, really need to understand that this is a war for our democracy's survival, and they can't pull any punches. In fact, there are many appropriate times to swear with all that Trump is doing, yet even now Hakeem would prefer to use "effing" instead of actually swearing. This just adds to the "PC, Woke, and Weak" narrative the Republicans wield against the Democrats.
C.V. in Chadron, NE: To save our democracy, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries should issue a joint statement that the Democratic Party has officially adopted a stance that their party will no longer be influenced by big money donors and that they represent the will of the people. People really are starving for a REAL draining of the swamp, and this will not only save democracy, but it would save the Democratic Party and if Democrats were serious about this, it would have major negative consequences on the Republican party for generations.
T.H. in Champaign, IL: Fight. Not just every step of the way. Not just every inch. Not just every millimeter. Fight every angstrom of the way. Have a news conference every afternoon, where every lie and every attack on the Constitution by Trump that day is called out. Every lie by Baghdad Barbie. Every lie and attack on America by every cabinet officer. Every repudiation of his Constitutional oath by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD). And by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Every attack on the Constitution by the Evil Six of SCOTUS.
Forget "tactical" or "strategic" decisions on which attacks to highlight and which to ignore. Call out every last one of them. And most of all, call out their attacks on Truth itself. Trump is trying to eliminate the ability of the public to actually find Truth by drowning it in lies. Call him out EVERY time he does it.
J.F. in Sloatsburg, NY: Part of being a good leader is knowing when someone else is better at a particular job, and to get out of their way.
The best thing Chuck Schumer can do is to get out of the way.
He's decent at corralling the caucus, I'll give him that. But his strategic instincts are sub-par in light of the demands of the 2020s. We spent the past four years watching him get manhandled, double-teamed, and yanked up short by Joe Coal and the Arizona show-off—not just once, but again and again and again. Then his handling of the stopgap funding bill was to take a bad situation, fail to plan for the worst outcome in the House, and then handle things in the worst possible way when that worst outcome happened. It's obvious that he doesn't know what he's doing, as a strategist, in the modern world of politics.
He also isn't inspiring as a resistance leader. His public-speaking skills are adequate at best, and he doesn't really get ordinary people to follow him. This isn't his element. The glasses thing he does hearkens back to the 1960s or so, and reminds me painfully of professors who would rather be blowing up a fume hood or buried in historical texts than teaching a class or leading a protest march.
At the very least, he needs to step aside as a public face. Other Senators are much better at the role, and he needs to encourage them to take it. Other Senators have a better understanding of how to deal with the current political environment (particularly with regards to a Speaker who is nothing more than a sycophant to a tyrant), so he needs to have them take the lead.
T.B. in Leon County, FL: My brother responded to my asking this question. He wrote (slightly edited): "Chuck Schumer should find a young Democratic Senator in a relatively secure seat and mentor him for two months and then pass on the leadership. Meanwhile he should have a variety of senators place holds on the hearings for Donald Trump's appointees, staving off their appointments as long as possible. They (Schumer and Jeffries) should both be promoting the tariff bill that restores the power to Congress."
D.S. in Bath, ME: Schumer should take a page from the examples of Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi and step back/step down. Sure, it would be a pay cut of about $19,000, but it is not about the money, is it? The smaller office, both in square feet, staff and power projection would hurt more. But it could send a message that the Democrats are positioning for the future of the Party and the country.
P.L. in Denver, CO: This is easy: Tell them both to step aside for others who want to fight against the GOP.
T.L. in Atlanta, GA: Resign.
Here is the question for next week:
J.G. in New York City, NY, asks: Before the Twelfth Amendment, the candidate with the second-most votes became vice president, regardless of his party, or his dislike of his opponent.
What if that amendment was never passed? Which resultant president/VP pairing would have been the best combination for America?
Submit your answers to comments@electoral-vote.com, preferably with subject line "Vice Squad"!