Inspired by Chris Van Hollen’s announcement on the Jen Psaki Show Thursday evening. He has a refreshing perspective on the impact of the people in this change election
"Democrats must deliver popular, meaningful legislation to Trump’s desk and dare him to veto it. Dare him to veto an increase in the minimum wage for hard-working Americans. Dare him to veto a ban on price gouging. Dare him to veto a ban on AI surveillance pricing. Dare him to veto a ban on stock trading . Dare him to veto legislation that gets money out of politics so no one can buy our democracy."
It really is time to put Trump's feet to the fire.
These measures would increase Dems' chances of a trifecta in 2028, so we can deliver substantive relief to the voters.
We need a fresh start on rebuilding true democracy.
Win or lose, check out The Working Americans' Tax Cut Act (WATCA) is federal tax legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate on March 12, 2026, introduced by Van Hollen
IMHO we also need elimination of the collateral source rule in litigation, which I think could make the cost of insurance drop.
Thanks for the link, Laurie. I admire Sen. Van Hollen and believe he would make a fine leader … but there is one thing Van Hollen said during the Psaki interview which gave me pause. Robert Hubbell wrote the following in his newsletter today:
“Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen announced on Jen Psaki’s Thursday evening program that he would enter the race for Majority Leader in the 120th Congress.
When asked about impeaching Trump, Van Hollen said that Trump had committed high crimes and misdemeanors, but that he had been impeached twice before, and Democrats should focus on affordability issues. (RH: A disappointing answer, in my view.) Van Hollen said the midterm mandate was to root out corruption in our political system, and that we should end the role of PACs and billionaires in deciding our elections.”
Thank you for stating this so well. I've heard lots of comments about "not changing the manager after you've just won the World Series" in relation to Schumer, but he does seem so old school and unable to effectively communicate in this moment. Plus, I like Van Hollen and like things he's done over the last two years. I hope he prevails - it would be a real jolt of energy where one is needed.
I would ask the people that advise against ''not changing the manager after you've just won the World Series':
Well, ok, then why did we not 'change the manager' after the colossal losses of 2024?
Or, put another way as Mehdi Hasan did the other day, "He doesn't get the blame when they lose, but he gets the credit when they win - heads I win, tails you lose'.
As totally corrupt and incompetent as Trump's ditto head, solid Republican election denying House and Senate members have shown themselves to be, with aggressive and competent managers, Dems should have won VETO PROOF majorities in the midterms.
This has happened again, when I see Jennifer Rubin and Mehdi Hasan on the same side, saying the same things, involving internal Democratic Party preferences or criticism, something is moving.
I live in Maryland so Van hollen is my senator. I think he’s a great choice for leader— a fresh but experienced face; good communicator.
Schumer looks and feels old school. Over the years he’s chosen some accommodationist paths i didn’t like - even when i understood they were tactical moves for the weak political situation we were in.
I think van hollen can be an inspiring partner for heffries.
Schumer's style is "this is the way we've always done things." I HATED that attitude at work. At a minimum it's lazy. i don't want the POWER (as Simon Rosenberg has correctly described) that we the VOTERS have given Dems to be wasted that way.
The problem with that analogy is the Schumer wasn't the reason the Dems retook the senate. The American people are! And they voted blue not because of the current leadership but in spite of it. Most people voted for individual candidates who inspired them and gave them hope for bringing about the change we've all waited two ugly years for. Dem leaders taking credit for the win feels like political stolen valor.
And the historic win was NOT due to Chuck Schumer. It was We the People who delivered it! Typical arrogant old rich guy trying to take credit for what we accomplished.
I’m 2 years older than Schumer and a retired physician. Schumer is definitely past his sell-by-date. He needs to not fight Van Hollen for the leadership, but acquiesce gracefully stating that he will help make the transition painless for Sen. Van Hollen. Unfortunately, his ego will probably get in the way.
Absolutely, the right and honorable thing for Schumer to do would be to step down and pass the torch. It would show the country that the Democratic party is ready to do what the people voted them in to do. Bold leadership is what is being demanded, not more milquetoast waffling.
And even worse, Chuck Schumer benefits mightily from his MO of catering to corporations and foreign interests. He is not interested in doing things differently. We will not achieve the change we so desperately need with Schumer actively thwarting us.
We voted for real change and that includes Schumer. He will never stand up to AIPAC and corporations. We did our part and secured the Senate and the House. I am tired of being asked to “show up”, and I did, and get nothing but the same old, same old. I don’t want to see ANY votes for Trump-picked nominees for anything. No deals with pedophiles or Nazis. I don’t think Schumer is up to that kind of leadership. We demand change.
Before Sen. Van Hollen's announcement, I had contacted my two senators, Schiff & Padilla, urging them not to support Sen. Schumer. He is my age, but he is sadly out of touch & too firmly enmeshed in business as usual.
I called and left a message for Senator Van Hollen last night to Thank him for doing this. He’s not my Senator but he needs to know we are grateful! I then called my Senators to ask them to vote for him for Senate Majority Leader! 202-224-3121
Yea to Van Hollen! Find Timothy Snyder’s Substack interview with him this week, which I reposted on Twitter. Nay to Schumer. I’ve ground my teeth too often in the face of his cowardice or is it complicity? I don’t think Senator Warren needs a push, but I will notify Senator Markey of my choice for change.
When Schumer caved on the government shutdown - even as public sentiment was blaming Trump and the republicans for it - I nearly pulled all my hair out!
Another big failure to add was his complete dismissal of Angie Nixon.
Early in the campaign, Nixon directly asked him for funds and he told her 'we'll see'. Then he eventually gave her only $5000 from his Leadership PAC.
That's not a typo. It's almost worse than not giving her anything, truly a slap in her face.
What on earth could a Senate candidate do with $5000? That would barely cover a single AM radio spot.
It's reasonable to wonder if Schumer didn't actually flub this, but he actually did not want her to win.
(The DSCC under the other NY Senator Gillibrand didn't do much better, only giving her money literally the day before the election. Why even bother, so she could say they did?)
I'm just going to mention here that Senator-elect Colom used a wedding photographer to make his Pick another protein ad because he didn't have the money to use some Dem ad guy.
Colom's win is of course amazing.....but even he got over $1 million from the Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC (even though it was not until late October).
We lost primarily because of the registration deficit. We've had years of caging, voter roll purges, intimidation at the polls.
Nixon made several unforced errors.
DeSantis added homestead measures to the ballot that ensured that home owners, who trend Republican, showed up to vote.
Where I live Democrats at the polls are often intimidated. The Proud Boys are part of the Republican establishment.
Moreover Republicans play the Cuba card. Nationally few people understand who's on first. E.G. here in Baghdad By the Sea 3 MAGAT Congressional incumbent Republicans represent a Democratic majority. The Trump administration deports their paisanos. Discriminates against them per DEI. All survived the election.
Nixon can win in 2008 if she gets the millions of unregistered Floridians who trend Democratic registered. Needs to be educated about Cuba and Cubans.
Here MAGATs Salazar and Diaz Balart eeked out wins. We. have Democratic mayors in the city and county.
Right, that totally explains and justifies why Schumer sent her only $5000. Even then, she still came within 3 points.
Nixon won handily in Miami-Dade county, the first time the country has went blue since 2020. Moody only beat her by 4 points in Miami-Dade’s Hispanic-majority (largely Cuban) neighborhoods. Overall, the Hispanic vote in Florida swung 21 points in favor of Nixon.
This was the candidate who beat establishment pick Alexander Vindman by 12 points, even though he spent $9 million while Nixon spent less than $1 million. She did this with virtually no help from the disorganized state Democratic Party. She has shown incredible grassroots organizing skill and amazing energy, all with no measurable support from the national party.
Blaming Nixon's supposed 'unforced errors' while ignoring the obvious fact that the national party completely shunned her is ridiculous. $5000 is not just a pathetic amount of money, it is an insult. It is essentially Schumer telling her she did not care if she won, and maybe actively did not want her to win.
I once was an executive board member. We never could get funding from the DNC. We especially needed help with registrations. We also had the Val Demmings experience.
Schumer is not the DNC. You exaggerate. We also could not get private donors due to the "socialist" connection.
We had years when we barely lost... It's been getting progressively worse, even in the face of stuff like Alligator Alley, potential fraud and other stuff we could have used to advantage.
The incumbent was arguably involved in the Epstein cover-up. Maybe some other DeSantis related fraud. Nixon got the benefit that Val never had, but still lost IMHO due to the Republican disproportional turnout compared to other states.
I note that you also opposed some of our candidates even in the general election.
another reason for the registration disadvantage is that the Dem party has outsourced registration to 501(C)s or something like that for years. & they legally can not push registering as Dems.
This is changing. Jane Kleeb, head of the Nebraska Dems & I forget what VP in the DNC, is a big advocate for the need to bring this in-house.
IMO Schumer must go. Full stop. He's held the gavel long enough. No Kings also means No Kings in the senate or the house for that matter. Sadly Schumer is so deeply into AIPAC and other corporate funding sources that being able to truthfully face the debacle that continuing support for Netanjahu's endless wars against Palestinians and others mean and charting a new and more just path forward will remain elusive. I applaud Sen. Van Hollen and a more transparent process.
Schumer thinks he’s responsible for the big win. But we, the people, are responsible for that, and the No Kings and everything else that he has not acknowledged!
I was impressed by Van Hollen's interview with Jen Psaki but above all, I don't want there to be infighting for leadership. This issue should be settled before the Dems go into the next Congress but for sure there needs to be a united front, so they need to work out their differences. I myself am dissatisfied with Shumer and ready for a change, and I think others are as well. That said, I think that probably Shumer had a big role in picking and supporting candidates that got us to this point. But I think Van Hollen might be a bit more effective in the leadership role.
They vote on December 1, a closed-door, secret-ballot election. All that's needed is a simple majority. Schumer has been expressing confidence, which I hope is just posturing for effect. I'll be disappointed if he's right.
Inspired by Chris Van Hollen’s announcement on the Jen Psaki Show Thursday evening. He has a refreshing perspective on the impact of the people in this change election
https://www.ms.now/news/van-hollen-schumer-senate-majority-leader
"Democrats must deliver popular, meaningful legislation to Trump’s desk and dare him to veto it. Dare him to veto an increase in the minimum wage for hard-working Americans. Dare him to veto a ban on price gouging. Dare him to veto a ban on AI surveillance pricing. Dare him to veto a ban on stock trading . Dare him to veto legislation that gets money out of politics so no one can buy our democracy."
It really is time to put Trump's feet to the fire.
These measures would increase Dems' chances of a trifecta in 2028, so we can deliver substantive relief to the voters.
We need a fresh start on rebuilding true democracy.
Win or lose, check out The Working Americans' Tax Cut Act (WATCA) is federal tax legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate on March 12, 2026, introduced by Van Hollen
IMHO we also need elimination of the collateral source rule in litigation, which I think could make the cost of insurance drop.
Thanks for the link, Laurie. I admire Sen. Van Hollen and believe he would make a fine leader … but there is one thing Van Hollen said during the Psaki interview which gave me pause. Robert Hubbell wrote the following in his newsletter today:
“Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen announced on Jen Psaki’s Thursday evening program that he would enter the race for Majority Leader in the 120th Congress.
When asked about impeaching Trump, Van Hollen said that Trump had committed high crimes and misdemeanors, but that he had been impeached twice before, and Democrats should focus on affordability issues. (RH: A disappointing answer, in my view.) Van Hollen said the midterm mandate was to root out corruption in our political system, and that we should end the role of PACs and billionaires in deciding our elections.”
Thank you for stating this so well. I've heard lots of comments about "not changing the manager after you've just won the World Series" in relation to Schumer, but he does seem so old school and unable to effectively communicate in this moment. Plus, I like Van Hollen and like things he's done over the last two years. I hope he prevails - it would be a real jolt of energy where one is needed.
I would ask the people that advise against ''not changing the manager after you've just won the World Series':
Well, ok, then why did we not 'change the manager' after the colossal losses of 2024?
Or, put another way as Mehdi Hasan did the other day, "He doesn't get the blame when they lose, but he gets the credit when they win - heads I win, tails you lose'.
(Same goes for Jeffries)
As totally corrupt and incompetent as Trump's ditto head, solid Republican election denying House and Senate members have shown themselves to be, with aggressive and competent managers, Dems should have won VETO PROOF majorities in the midterms.
I would propose that “we won the World Series” despite the manager.
And, it wasn't Schumer who managed the Democratic wins. It was Indivisible. And now that group is behind Van Hollen.
They certainly deserve a lot of credit.
This has happened again, when I see Jennifer Rubin and Mehdi Hasan on the same side, saying the same things, involving internal Democratic Party preferences or criticism, something is moving.
I live in Maryland so Van hollen is my senator. I think he’s a great choice for leader— a fresh but experienced face; good communicator.
Schumer looks and feels old school. Over the years he’s chosen some accommodationist paths i didn’t like - even when i understood they were tactical moves for the weak political situation we were in.
I think van hollen can be an inspiring partner for heffries.
Schumer's style is "this is the way we've always done things." I HATED that attitude at work. At a minimum it's lazy. i don't want the POWER (as Simon Rosenberg has correctly described) that we the VOTERS have given Dems to be wasted that way.
The problem with that analogy is the Schumer wasn't the reason the Dems retook the senate. The American people are! And they voted blue not because of the current leadership but in spite of it. Most people voted for individual candidates who inspired them and gave them hope for bringing about the change we've all waited two ugly years for. Dem leaders taking credit for the win feels like political stolen valor.
Schumer shows how out of touch he is by comparing this decision to a baseball game.
Absolutely
He just seems bought to me. And cynical.
And the historic win was NOT due to Chuck Schumer. It was We the People who delivered it! Typical arrogant old rich guy trying to take credit for what we accomplished.
I’m 2 years older than Schumer and a retired physician. Schumer is definitely past his sell-by-date. He needs to not fight Van Hollen for the leadership, but acquiesce gracefully stating that he will help make the transition painless for Sen. Van Hollen. Unfortunately, his ego will probably get in the way.
Absolutely, the right and honorable thing for Schumer to do would be to step down and pass the torch. It would show the country that the Democratic party is ready to do what the people voted them in to do. Bold leadership is what is being demanded, not more milquetoast waffling.
And even worse, Chuck Schumer benefits mightily from his MO of catering to corporations and foreign interests. He is not interested in doing things differently. We will not achieve the change we so desperately need with Schumer actively thwarting us.
We voted for real change and that includes Schumer. He will never stand up to AIPAC and corporations. We did our part and secured the Senate and the House. I am tired of being asked to “show up”, and I did, and get nothing but the same old, same old. I don’t want to see ANY votes for Trump-picked nominees for anything. No deals with pedophiles or Nazis. I don’t think Schumer is up to that kind of leadership. We demand change.
Before Sen. Van Hollen's announcement, I had contacted my two senators, Schiff & Padilla, urging them not to support Sen. Schumer. He is my age, but he is sadly out of touch & too firmly enmeshed in business as usual.
I did the same.
I called and left a message for Senator Van Hollen last night to Thank him for doing this. He’s not my Senator but he needs to know we are grateful! I then called my Senators to ask them to vote for him for Senate Majority Leader! 202-224-3121
Thanks for suggesting this. I've just done the same.
Good for you, Nancy!
Let us never forget that if not for Schumer's shenanigans, Admiral Joe Sestak would be in the seat that Fetterman holds.
Also, but for Schumer's lack of support and vision, Angie Nixon would have won in FL. He also refused to back Zohran Mamdani for NYC mayor.
Exactly!
So glad Chris Van Hollen is running!
Yea to Van Hollen! Find Timothy Snyder’s Substack interview with him this week, which I reposted on Twitter. Nay to Schumer. I’ve ground my teeth too often in the face of his cowardice or is it complicity? I don’t think Senator Warren needs a push, but I will notify Senator Markey of my choice for change.
When Schumer caved on the government shutdown - even as public sentiment was blaming Trump and the republicans for it - I nearly pulled all my hair out!
That’s when I truly lost faith in him. Him and about 6-8 others.
Hear! Hear!
Couldn’t agree more!
Another big failure to add was his complete dismissal of Angie Nixon.
Early in the campaign, Nixon directly asked him for funds and he told her 'we'll see'. Then he eventually gave her only $5000 from his Leadership PAC.
That's not a typo. It's almost worse than not giving her anything, truly a slap in her face.
What on earth could a Senate candidate do with $5000? That would barely cover a single AM radio spot.
It's reasonable to wonder if Schumer didn't actually flub this, but he actually did not want her to win.
(The DSCC under the other NY Senator Gillibrand didn't do much better, only giving her money literally the day before the election. Why even bother, so she could say they did?)
I'm just going to mention here that Senator-elect Colom used a wedding photographer to make his Pick another protein ad because he didn't have the money to use some Dem ad guy.
Colom's win is of course amazing.....but even he got over $1 million from the Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC (even though it was not until late October).
And look how that turned out!
We lost primarily because of the registration deficit. We've had years of caging, voter roll purges, intimidation at the polls.
Nixon made several unforced errors.
DeSantis added homestead measures to the ballot that ensured that home owners, who trend Republican, showed up to vote.
Where I live Democrats at the polls are often intimidated. The Proud Boys are part of the Republican establishment.
Moreover Republicans play the Cuba card. Nationally few people understand who's on first. E.G. here in Baghdad By the Sea 3 MAGAT Congressional incumbent Republicans represent a Democratic majority. The Trump administration deports their paisanos. Discriminates against them per DEI. All survived the election.
Nixon can win in 2008 if she gets the millions of unregistered Floridians who trend Democratic registered. Needs to be educated about Cuba and Cubans.
Here MAGATs Salazar and Diaz Balart eeked out wins. We. have Democratic mayors in the city and county.
Right, that totally explains and justifies why Schumer sent her only $5000. Even then, she still came within 3 points.
Nixon won handily in Miami-Dade county, the first time the country has went blue since 2020. Moody only beat her by 4 points in Miami-Dade’s Hispanic-majority (largely Cuban) neighborhoods. Overall, the Hispanic vote in Florida swung 21 points in favor of Nixon.
This was the candidate who beat establishment pick Alexander Vindman by 12 points, even though he spent $9 million while Nixon spent less than $1 million. She did this with virtually no help from the disorganized state Democratic Party. She has shown incredible grassroots organizing skill and amazing energy, all with no measurable support from the national party.
Blaming Nixon's supposed 'unforced errors' while ignoring the obvious fact that the national party completely shunned her is ridiculous. $5000 is not just a pathetic amount of money, it is an insult. It is essentially Schumer telling her she did not care if she won, and maybe actively did not want her to win.
you don't know the lay of the land.
I once was an executive board member. We never could get funding from the DNC. We especially needed help with registrations. We also had the Val Demmings experience.
Schumer is not the DNC. You exaggerate. We also could not get private donors due to the "socialist" connection.
We had years when we barely lost... It's been getting progressively worse, even in the face of stuff like Alligator Alley, potential fraud and other stuff we could have used to advantage.
The incumbent was arguably involved in the Epstein cover-up. Maybe some other DeSantis related fraud. Nixon got the benefit that Val never had, but still lost IMHO due to the Republican disproportional turnout compared to other states.
I note that you also opposed some of our candidates even in the general election.
re registration.
another reason for the registration disadvantage is that the Dem party has outsourced registration to 501(C)s or something like that for years. & they legally can not push registering as Dems.
This is changing. Jane Kleeb, head of the Nebraska Dems & I forget what VP in the DNC, is a big advocate for the need to bring this in-house.
I spent several years as a volunteer for Field Tram 6. Registers unregistered people who trend Dem. The party would never cooperate.
IMO Schumer must go. Full stop. He's held the gavel long enough. No Kings also means No Kings in the senate or the house for that matter. Sadly Schumer is so deeply into AIPAC and other corporate funding sources that being able to truthfully face the debacle that continuing support for Netanjahu's endless wars against Palestinians and others mean and charting a new and more just path forward will remain elusive. I applaud Sen. Van Hollen and a more transparent process.
Yep. Schumer needs to understand he’s not a king, either.
Call your senators now and tell them the blue wave is watching how they vote on majority Leader.
My Vote (well voice) is for Chris Van Hollen!
Schumer thinks he’s responsible for the big win. But we, the people, are responsible for that, and the No Kings and everything else that he has not acknowledged!
I was impressed by Van Hollen's interview with Jen Psaki but above all, I don't want there to be infighting for leadership. This issue should be settled before the Dems go into the next Congress but for sure there needs to be a united front, so they need to work out their differences. I myself am dissatisfied with Shumer and ready for a change, and I think others are as well. That said, I think that probably Shumer had a big role in picking and supporting candidates that got us to this point. But I think Van Hollen might be a bit more effective in the leadership role.
They vote on December 1, a closed-door, secret-ballot election. All that's needed is a simple majority. Schumer has been expressing confidence, which I hope is just posturing for effect. I'll be disappointed if he's right.