Editorials & Other Articles

After the largest mass protest in U.S. history, after a historically successful election for Democrats, and while poll after poll shows that Republicans have the weaker hand in the shutdown fight, Democrats in the Senate have chosen to surrender. As minority leader, Chuck Schumer has demonstrated that he has no strategy, no savvy, and no spine. By allowing his caucus to cave to the will of the regime, he has proven that Democratic leadership is defined by fecklessness in the face of authoritarianism.

We must turn the page on this era of cowardice. We must nominate and elect Democratic candidates who have an actual backbone. And we must ensure that the kind of failed leadership we see from Senator Schumer does not doom a future Democratic majority.

We need them to fight like lives depend on it, because they literally do. Republicans are working to strip away healthcare and food assistance from millions of Americans; they are enabling a would-be king to undermine our democracy; and they cheer on the invasion of our cities and kidnapping of our neighbors. And too many elected Democrats are content to watch from the sidelines as they do it—or worse, abet this machine of corruption and abuse.

If a Democratic candidate isn’t willing to leave it all on the field, it’s time for them to get out of the way or be pushed out of the way. If a Democratic candidate is flirting with the forces that elevated Trump and help him consolidate power, they have no place in the future of this party.

Right now, we’re talking with our grassroots network to understand where they want to see this fight go. Indivisible groups are the leaders of this movement, and they are not backing down. Decisions on primaries will be guided by them. Victories over the status quo will be powered by them. And our new leaders will be accountable to them.