In messaging, timing is everything and last week my timing turned out to be less than ideal. On Monday, my weekly post suggested being careful and intentional when advancing a “Democrats are weak and passive” message. My fear: that narrative can play right into Trump’s hands.
Just three days later, Senator Chuck Schumer caved on a critical Senate vote in a way that clearly demanded an outraged response.
So today, let’s take a look at Schumer’s actions as a failed exercise in both strategy and messaging. Then we’ll revisit last week’s advice.
There’s a lot to learn from how Chuck Schumer bungled one of the biggest calls of his career. Today, let’s focus on three crucial factors.
In a giant strategic flaw, Schumer counted on just one scenario playing out – Republicans needing Democratic votes in the House.
House Democrats stood firmly in opposition with only a single defector. But Trump cowered Republican holdouts into voting for the bill.Schumer hoped that wouldn’t happen. But hope isn’t a strategy and not having a plan for the bill passing in the House amounts to political malpractice. The lesson for all of us: Plan in advance for every within reason scenario and don’t avoid the most alarming one.
In the aftermath of Schumer’s surprising decision to cave in, House Democrats are making clear that Leader Jeffries was, in the words of Rep. James Clyburn, “blindsided.”. Here’s how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez put it: “We had an agreed upon plan, House took immense risk, then Senate turned around midway and destroyed it w/ a fear-based, inexplicable abdication.”
Now, in addition to battling Trump and Musk, Dems have to quickly resolve their internal tensions.
Perhaps the strangest move Schumer made last week was raising expectations of a strong Senate response a day before he threw in the towel. Here’s the Wednesday headline from NBC News:
Senate Democrats say they will reject GOP’s
funding bill as shutdown draws near
After meeting with his conference, the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said “Republicans do not have the votes” to advance the House-approved measure.
But 24 hours later, Schumer announced he would vote with Republicans to clear the way for passage of their bill. And he helped deliver his and eight other Senate Democratic votes without extracting a single concession from the GOP.
A stark messaging reminder: One way to make disappointing news even more discouraging is to raise hopes higher before you deliver the disappointment.
So, in the aftermath of last week, what’s the right strategy for those of us eager to see a more vigorous response to the Trump/Musk assault?
This probably should have been my first point in last week’s memo. In the face of unacceptable failures of courage and conviction like the Schumer move, it’s essential for progressives and the whole Democratic base to express vocal frustration. Why? Because it seems to be the only way we can make clear just how alarmed we are about what Trump’s doing and how unaccepting we are of actions that appease and acquiesce.
Far less helpful and less strategic are generic broadsides in social media about Democrats not rising to the moment. That kind of messaging feeds the narrative that things are hopeless and Dems are no match for Trump. Not a storyline we should be advancing.
The ”Dems are a Mess” line of argument is also not accurate. We can’t forget that, in a display of amazing discipline and conviction, 213 of the 214 Democratic House members voted to reject the horrendous Republican budget legislation. The same is true of 25 of the 35 Democrats in the Senate. So, we need to direct our anger not at “the Democrats” but at the Schumer 10.
In a single stroke, Schumer drowned out our ability to celebrate an amazing show of strength in the House. Those 213 Democrats who said no to the GOP/Trump budget bill included not just progressives from deep blue districts but Democrats who won in 2024 in districts Donald Trump carried.
Our warnings to the Schumers of the world have to be matched with our explicit appreciation and support for Democrats who are standing their ground.
All politics is a contest of narratives. And, if polls like the recent NBC News one are any indication, Trump is losing control of the storyline about his presidency.
He’s 10 points under water (44% approve/54% disapprove) on his handling of the economy. And he’s 13 points in the wrong direction (42% approve/55% disapprove) on “inflation and the cost of living” and on “the war between Russia and Ukraine.” Trump’s usual move in situations like this is to try to distract and draw attention in another direction.
A big part of our job is to make sure we don’t do things that give him that kind of out.
Bottom line: If we want to fuel stronger resistance to Trump, we have to be smart about where and when we apply pressure on Democrats. And, at the end of the day, we have to realize that leadership and action have start with our own activism and the broader culture. More on that front in future posts.
