Thanks

RIGHT ON!!

Standing in the well of the House or Senate with a flip chart is not an effective communication strategy in 2025.

There are plenty of ways to be creative about getting in front of the public, but all of these things start with the message. AOC is clear about her message, and it is a message that connects strongly with the grass roots, and even with some MAGA people. It is all about economic fairness, investment in our future, and countering the spiraling corruption.

Schumer and the DNC have no message. None, so it makes no difference what media they use.

Newsom is very clear with his messaging, as is Pritzker and it aligns with AOC and Bernie about 90% or more. So the reality is we just can't expect much out of many of the DC players. They simply are not grounded in anything outside the Beltway. And the Betlway is loaded with thousands of lobbyists and consultants that are all working 180 degrees opposite the interests of average Americans.

One was from Sharper Image the other was from Chuck Schumer.

Yes! I said. This is what I want for Christmas!

A Sharper Schumer.

There have been several opportunities for a paradigm shift, that have passed us by.

I felt the pathway for a paradigm shift after Cory Booker spent 25 hours on the Senate floor. The momentum was there.

And then Tuesday's election results were screaming for a paradigm shift. The power is there - take it.

Schumer does not have the power. He is not the leader for the moment.

Disagree.

Because NYC doesn't represent the whole country.

Otherwise, it was naïve to believe the shutdown would last much longer; naïve to believe Congressional Democrats would allow Americans to continue to suffer the consequence of the shutdown, putting what’s best for the country before what’s best for the party.

Last, this is the mechanics of American governance – where the party out of power is indeed voiceless, powerless, and unable to affect change.

only scared the hell out of Magats. A Socialist, populist, with charisma who fights is Magats worst fear, apparently he is also feared by moderate Democrats.

He won because he spent a long campaign meeting people where they were and worked to earn the image of someone who wanted to be a public servant, who cared about constituents and the people who feel underrepresented in our current political system. He looked genuine. It is that simple.

We should not be of the mindset that once they are elected they should be immune from criticism. No! They should be held to account. I am a retired professor and at the end of each semester we passed out student evaluations for students to evaluate how each professor was doing. Those evaluations were instrumental in making sure the best possible people were teaching the students. Professors were held accountable. Is it too much to expect that our elected representatives be likewise held accountable?

I think he is creative and brave. He thinks outside the box.

He showed his moxie when he dared to go to El Salvador on behalf of one of his constituents.

I also seem him as someone who can communicate with a variety of personalities, such as part of the Dem caucus. He seem him as someone who can foster cooperation.

We need a leader for the moment.

He is not the only one who would do a great job.

Of course, I and others disagree but I respect that that is your position. Norms have been increasingly shattered since 2015, and are being destroyed daily over the last year, not the least of which is the mechanics of American governance.

There is nothing preventing the unified, consistent, daily presser w/consistent social media content as I described. The party out of power no longer needs to be voiceless, powerless or unable to affect change. We have new tools now and need to use them most effectively. And those tools are likely to always be changing now. That's why this is a younger person's game moving forward, imo.

Pelosi was a great leader, Schumer some how keeps his post.

she will smoke him.

Murphy? Or someone else? I'm just spitballing.

He may be our best bet for 2028.

These past ten months, he has been adamant that we need to focus first on saving Democracy, or we won't have any free and fair elections. I agree.

I think Tuesdays elections show that there is a mandate against the authoritarian take over and corruption of the regime. With a mandate, it is harder to to "steal" elections.

I think we need to not "screw up" between now and the midterms. Which is why we need the right leader(s).

I'm going to write to my Democratic Senators and express my opinion that Schumer is not the leader for the moment.

and is increasingly frustrating many of us. I feel that way about many of the older Dems especially.

I didn't always agree with Nancy's positions but there is zero doubt that she was an effective leader.

They may not have legislative power, but they always have a voice and a microphone. They simply choose not to use it and totally choose not to learn from Crockett, Newsom, Mamdani, Sanders, AOC, etc.

Also, your reasoning falls completely apart when you look at how successful republican stalling tactics have ALWAYS been when they were out of power. These milquetoast dem “leaders” could at least take a page from that book.

I am NOT saying Dems should copy him. They MUST recognize and replicate his ability to drive a message that is easy to understand and put the pedal to the metal. I don’t think every Dem needs to be out there at this point. As we get closer to the 2026 Election Day, of course that will change. The rhetorically challenged are not our best assets at this point (Schumer included).

They dug in, chose what to fight for and became relentless with laser focus. Now they control everything.

The point is that once the Democrats lost pretty much all power they should have gotten together and worked out a multi year plan to take back power. Ditch the egos, form a solid plan and flight relentlessly. There won't be quick results but failure to essentially adopt a similar playbook has give the Republicans more time to become entrenched.

You can dispise the Republicans while also admitting that the excel at strategy. Democrats spend too much time trying to be the nice guy. Republicans can take steps that hurt people because they know the Democrats will be the bigger person to try to help the people. The result is the the Republicans make constant gains in their plans. It has taken time but the eventually reach their goals.

…….the Heritage Foundation and company focusing Dark Money. Terribly effective. Plus a propaganda outlet like Fox. It’s the formula to concentrate power.

Empathy and a belief that government can solve problems are what binds us together as a party. I will include Democratic Socialists under that tent. It’s really hard to put on blinders and soullessly repeat the “ talking points of the day” when you’ve got a soul and a mission.

Again, I agree with your analysis of the effectiveness of the Republicks.

It worked great in my state during the early days of Covid. Communication is key.

But will anyone publicize it? How do we get attention for a daily presser?

media expert advisors to do. If they don't know then get better ones.

they're useless now. A dedicated YouTube channel. (See post below)

How about a TV commercial? MSNBC coverage and notices on signs at demonstrations. Also a national post card campaign. What is the DNC doing?

Start a dedicated YouTube channel. Post that daily presser everywhere. Eventually MSM will likely pick up on it, but personally I don't think so much time and energy should be given to MSM any more. None of it. The journos who were on MSM and were fired over the last year are killing it on social media, perhaps getting more attention than when they did have a traditional platform.

These are new times and these new tools need to be capitalized upon much, much better. (It's also a lot cheaper than MSM. A LOT.)

We saw with the repeal of Roe that doesn’t work. We can’t wait for those who aren’t paying attention to wake up.

We relied on folks being appalled at the ACA costs to apply sufficient pressure that the GOP would repent. That’s reactive.

We need much MUCH more pro-active policies and messaging. AOC’s Green New Deal policy proposals failed initially but she got out there and sold it, relentlessly despite the mocking, and a lot of her ideas made it into the infrastructure bill that Dems passed.

Bernie with his relentless “living wage” message… that’s helped raise the minimum wage in many places.

We need “Medicare for all” grand strategies. And then message the hell out of them

It is all on the line until a new regime can take over. How or when that happens I don’t know. But time will tell!

they are lost, irretrievably, and we will have no help from repubs pr justices saving them.

we need to build an operational safety net including all programs and with as few "means tests" as possible. no corporations either.

I have to say that our Democratic Governors have more power and press magnetism right now than the D Senators and Representatives. It's sad to say, but our legislators have all been cut off at the knees on most issues.

The Governors - such as Newsom, Hochul, Pritzker, Shapiro, and several others - can hold a press conference in their capital cities and get noticed by their local and regional media, sometimes national media too. I like that these Governors aren't afraid to talk back to Chump and also get the constituents ready for "action." People will often make phone calls, write emails and letters to the editor after they have heard their Governor's views on certain issues.

The leadership doesn't seem to be coming from Democrats in Congress, other than a few bright stars.

If they could do something similar -- with cohesion and consistency - that would be fantastic. And talk about more than just their state even though, understandably, that's their priority. Show how these issues cross state lines. Be unified. Be consistent, not only in messaging but daily visibility. Be loud and visible.

but it's a point to ponder. What I do feel is that centrist message being the most visible isn't what is needed in this moment. On the other hand, labels have, for me, become useless. I don't think it's the person so much as the message, beyond the person needing to be very, very effective.

journalism and commentary, suggested this approach several months ago. It's a winner of an idea.

I for one am tired of, "We (Democrats) don't have any power. What do you want us to do? Waah!". If you recall, when Republicans were in the minority, Moscow Mitch managed to keep the Senate tied up in knots. I hate the man, but maybe we could learn something from his play book.

Proof again that Republicans will. not. negotiate. This is the party that once claimed “bipartisanship is date rape.” This is a major disappointment but we can’t just throw in the towel and let them win the midterms. We need to remind people that Republicans were going to extreme lengths to STARVE PEOPLE rather than give a little on the healthcare issue. They’d rather throw thousands out of work, refuse to pay the ones still working, and disrupt vital air travel rather than help people. We have to turn this disappointment around and show the people who Republicans really are. In their minds, working together to help Americans is date rape.

Like Bernie and Mamdani. People all over, of all affiliations respond well to a positive plan.
Food. Housing. Healthcare.

We can be FOR something and defy Frump simultaneously.

We can learn a lot from the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960's. Persistent pressure. Re-read MLK's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail. It's all of us together demanding justice.

We shall overcome.

for the next several days explaining why they did this and the effect of the republicans' desire to take healthcare away from millions of people. The Rs are spreading lies and the resistance from the party leaders is another tired lecture.
Take them out of the picture and put some younger politicians behind the mike and look alive.
How did we get leadership that sounds like college professors instead of inspirational leaders.

I listened to President Obama's interview on Marc Maron's last podcast. He is still inspiring people!!!

who don't get enough attention.

Chris Murphy is a phenomenal messenger. He is genuine and sincere - he is an explainer.

Melanie Stansbury is a great communicator, and smart. Others that come to mind are Dan Goldman, Sheldon Whitehouse, Maxwell Frost. As renowned as he is as a Constitutional scholar, Jamie Raskin doesn't get enough attention.

And the first thing that needs to happen is Schumer needs to step down. I say it often. There needs to be a paradigm shift. The "old school" ways aren't working. The "minority" leader needs to be creative and brave. Chris van Hollen comes to mind. He is also a great communicator.

People on this forum are feeling betrayed by the Dems in Congress. I think we have a right to expect more of our representatives.

Thank you for pointing to solutions.

and I hope they come together to strengthen their "communicator/fighter" coalition.

Like the idea of using people power to get a consistent message out. Chewing on MSM's cookie.
IMO the folks speaking clearly about working people are setting the pace. Follow, catch up or run a lonely race. I and many, I believe, will be donating to those who speak clearly about this.

Who am I but nicely done OneGrassRoot.

For more than two decades, I have watched time and time again the “centrist” ruin any and every chance of furthering a progressive agenda that supports the working class. I have donated the maximum amount to Kerry, Obama, Hillary, Biden and Harris. What was the point?

To have the ACA for 15 years so 8-10 traitors could help undo it?

Sorry folks, I am beyond bitter.

I have protested,
I have organized and knocked on doors,
I have donated 10s of thousands of dollars and am by no means wealthy.

For what?

Democrats are worse off today than when George W. was President.

The party fought the wrong fights with one hand tied behind their back.

We lost the Supreme Court which we should have a majority in.

Red states do whatever the fuck they want while blue states are punished.

SS and Medicare are next on the chopping block while Mango Mussolini is planning to go hard on liberals.

The Democratic leadership has lead us to a place where it is not even safe to be a liberal. We need to punish the Zel Millers, the Sinemas, the Tulsi Gabbards, the Fettermens… all of these 8 assholes who betrayed us and the 10 before who passed the CR in the spring. This weakness in leadership has brought us to this point.

I really, really, really hear you and your anger/frustration/bitterness is 100% valid. I wanted to acknowledge and offer a .

First, I have not read anything that would suggest the OP attempts to "justify what the Democrats just did." Second, I do not think you have a clue who you were just responding to. For if you did, you would either not have replied harshly, or would at very least delete such a comment. I say this as someone who has, for over 20 years on this forum, been firmly at the very left edge of the Democratic Party, and who has little faith in establishment Democrats. OneGrassRoot has -- for twenty+ years -- been someone that I recognize as being of like mind.

Not just from the Internet, but on the streets. I was personal friends with SEVERAL truth speakers here who have been banned for speaking the truth, including and certainly not limited to William Rivers Pitt, God rest his soul. I am a Bostonian and a patriot at that. Please take your concerns elsewhere and take a long hard look at what standing up for goodness has gotten us… absolutely nothing that isn’t being undone because a bunch of apologists didn’t like it when people here called out the Bullshit from within the party itself. I know well the players here at this site and in the real world for more than a quarter of a century. You banned people here for calling out Garland FFS and they were right! This site reflects the very same problems that plague the political organization called the Democratic Party. The party has lost labor and farmers which is inexcusable in and of itself. All because the party wanted to quiet dissent to have the appearance of looking as tight as Republicans when it has come to betraying the party. But the reality is its enabled traitor after traitor in the ranks for the sake of being a “Big Tent”.

My final comment about we at DU cheering them on must have felt apologist to you. I get that.

I'm a registered Independent for the last 25 years. Yet the Democratic platform and most candidates have been what I choose to support given our options. I'm not a fan of the two-party stranglehold.

But it is wise to be mindful of where we are speaking right now, and there are rules if we choose to continue to do so.

For the record, I did not ban anyone for "calling out Garland." I was friends with Will Pitt as well. He offered me a position with TruthOut, which I declined as I do not want income for expressing my opinion, or to be well known. I'm simply an old woodchuck who has had the experiences of getting high with Abbie Hoffman, hanging out with Angela Davis, interviewing Mark Rudd for DU, and being a volunteer -- hence, unpaid -- speech-writer for a number of Democratic Party candidates that I have been fond of. I served on my late friend Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's defense team, and worked with the Haudenosaunee's Grand Council of Chiefs, and have been involved in environmental cases in the federal courts. I have no hesitation when it comes to comparing credentials with anyone on DU, yourself included. Yet none of this -- not a single bit -- makes my opinion any more valid or important than anyone else's.

I definitely am not justifying what happened. I thought your "Copium" comment was aimed toward people who are. I think wires are crossed here somewhere.

Rubbed me the wrong way:

I’m not singing kumbaya with with folks who are trying to defend what a failure last night was.

When I say they, I mean the candidates most of us tend to support most strongly, like AOC, Crockett, Raskin, Murphy and others. The fighters. The good communicators. The other dems can help by not shitting on the message, if they can't join in in a cohesive, coherent, consistent way.

Those are the people I want to see out there every day, same time, hammering home a clear message and daily refutations of the previous 24 hours of authoritarian bullshit and criminality. Not watering anything down.

I think you communicated your thoughts very well. Do you remember an old commercial about consuming "grumpy dog food"? It is just my opinion, but the old saying "you are what you eat" comes into play here. Those who consume grumpy dog food risk being consumed by grumpy dog food. For this very reason, I have long held that "you are who you eat" is more enlightening.

By any means necessary.

Moderation and compromise does not work against fascists. How do these senators not understand that???

YES

Recommended.

Thanks, Dear Sir, and thanks for the support above. I think wires got crossed somewhere. lol

Spot the fuck on!!!

Well, guess what?

(Ain't no hero coming to save us. The broken system isn't going to help us. The programming worked.)

what Dems do as far as strategy.

We the People can and are doing what we can in a variety of ways including and beyond voting.

My OP is a response to the many cries of “what do you want/expect Dems to DO!” not being in power.

Self employed people and small business owners have paid double for their share and half again for each employee. This is theft on a very large scale and I am sick of dead beat politicians saying differently.

...what M$M channel, owned by Republican billionaires, will air AOC or Crockett?

Oh yeah, C-SPAN will carry them!

talking any sense, he started daily briefings on YouTube. He got so many views that the media started to cover him.

Did you watch them? Do you remember that feeling of, "Finally, I'm not alone in this. Finally, someone with information is telling me what we know and what I can do."

Perhaps those of us who are older and don’t participate in social media don’t recognize its power to shift the narrative. So many former journos fired by MSM went to YouTube.

If Dems held a daily presser, it would get out without MSM. I’m old but I believe the MSM needs to made irrelevant until something drastic changes, and there are ways around them.

They do, and what do the local news cover, a sound bite from the right and maybe a glance at the left

Cable news only covers what’s interesting to their audience, anything else and they get slammed.

The Senate cannot force people to listen to the press conferences,, oh this is so frustrating

I agree it’s frustrating. They ARE doing things. I’m saying to get away from traditional boring pressers. Don’t do them with the goal of getting traditional media to cover it. And do them in a way that attracts attention.

We pay attention here, much more than the average person. But their pressers aren’t even on our radar.

Someone needs to be clever and think way outside the box, like Newsome’s team has.

Here's a suggestion:
Why complain here about daily press conferences when you can email or call AOC, Jasmine, Schumer, Jeffries to lodge your daily presser suggestion, and that you speak for at least 213 Democrats who recommended daily pressers. You get back what you put into it. And where. Maybe those 213 can pitch in and distribute the effort.

If Democrats don't check their independent sources, they can miss even the weekly pressers.
I just got all these on YouTube. Took 10 minutes. Pretty easily. You might also keep a daily log of which Democratic leaders show up on CSPAN channels (tv or YouTube), and nightly cable news.
I see them every single day and night.

Senate Democratic Leadership Press Conference 09/03/2025
Senate Democratic Leadership Press Conference 09/09/2025
Senate Democratic Leadership Press Conference 09/16/2025
Senate Democratic Leadership Press Conference 09/30/2025

October 20, 2025: Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Senators Patty Murray, and Brian Schatz spoke to reporters
October 28, 2025: Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and others held a press conference.

LIVE: House Leaders Hold Weekly Press Conferences (Sept …

October 6, 2025: House Minority Leader Jeffries News Conference on Government Shutdown
October 14, 2025: House Democratic Leaders Hold News Conference on Day 15 of Shutdown
October 21, 2025: House Democratic Leader Jeffries & Dems Hold News Conference on Gov't Shutdown Day 22
October 29, 2025: House Democratic Leader Jeffries Holds News Conference on Day 30 of Federal Shutdown
October 30, 2025: House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a press availability

November 5, 2025: House Democratic Leaders Hold News Conference
November 8, 2025: House Minority Leader Jeffries Holds News Conference on Day 41 of Government Shutdown
November 9, 2025: Senate Democratic Leader Schumer Speaks on the Senate floor

If your frustration is about how much work you'd have to do to find out what Democrats do daily, maybe check your effort level daily. Looks pretty easy to see that they're out there daily.
This post took me 15 mins to collect data and write.
Finding a Democratic presser daily would probably take you a minute on YouTube...or
Like this one today posted by Rhiannon12866:
https://democraticunderground.com/132160233

1. My OP was primarily aimed at the DUers who, when other DUers create OPs and complain about Dems, reply asking "What do you want them to DO? They aren't in power."

I offered my thoughts about that, anticipating a lot of OPs expressing strong frustration about the Sunday deal, leading to the "What do you want them to DO?" replies. I also wanted to make the point that I personally don't feel it's up to us to figure out what they should do as far as a strategy; they are the best and brightest among us and that's why we voted them in.

2. That said, of COURSE we have responsibilities on our end. You have absolutely no idea what I do to engage politically or within the community. I'm old enough now that I don't feel compelled to share the list of my activities, which do happen to include regularly contacting local, state and federal elected officials.

3. This OP wasn't a complaint about Dems as many other posts today have been. To reiterate, it was a message to fellow DUers who get frustrated with other DUers' frustrations with congressional Dems, and I offered one answer to the standard question of "What do you want them to do?"

4. OF COURSE the Dems are doing something. The win on Tuesday made me ecstatic. I never said they aren't doing anything, nor did I say they haven't accomplished anything.

5. I realize there are a variety of pressers. That's part of the problem. It's disjointed and primarily intended for news media, which isn't exactly our friend.

Perhaps we're all swimming in different content and media. From where I and many others sit, the Dems do NOT control the narrative at all with their efforts thus far, including the various pressers. They have the goods; they have the vision and are doing the work for the people. What isn't happening is getting that info out there in a way that engages more and more people. Traditional media won't do it any more; too many are tuning out. Traditional media tends to pick up on what goes viral in independent and social media now.

I'm far, far from alone in the critique about Dems still not having found their footing regarding CONSISTENT, COORDINATED messaging that goes viral and maintains attention.

I suggested that I would like to see is something that controls the narrative. I shared what my idea is, for whatever it's worth; I won't repeat my OP's suggestion here, but it would do something different from your list of pressers.

Actually, I think it IS on us to work with them in finding solutions. Sure, they need to work on it more closely but they REPRESENT us which means we need to supply input for them to work with, it isn't entirely on them to figure this shit out. We're supposed to work together with our representatives which also requires the electorate to be educated in their responsibilities in this democracy thing. Elections are only a part of the whole thing.

It's a participatory government, you can't put this entirely on them, we have to provide them with info and support too.

IMHO.

And I believe many of us here are very active in communicating with elected officials, offering feedback and suggestions.

I shared one thing I would like to see them do. I don't see it as a complicated suggestion, certainly not rocket science. Controlling the narrative has always been our/their challenge and I don't believe their efforts thus far have any hope of doing that. Only they can do it; we can suggest it and amplify it. I have offered it as a suggestion via official channels and on various social media platforms of our reps.

Those that can afford it, or get funding, or rise above the noise with messaging - which can often not be the one we need.