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Chris Van Hollen Is Challenging Chuck Schumer for Democratic Leader (www.washingtonsun.com)
submitted 16 hours ago by to c/news@lemmy.world
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The Maryland Democrat has been critical of Schumer, who has led the caucus for nearly a decade.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen announced Thursday that he would challenge Chuck Schumer for the top Democratic leadership role in the Senate, arguing the party needs to take a more populist direction.

“In this election, the American people called for change. They called for a change from Donald Trump’s disastrous policies — but even bigger than that, a change from the status quo that isn’t working for working people,” Van Hollen, who represents Maryland, said in a statement obtained by The Washington Sun.

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[–] 47 points 14 hours ago (5 children)

I don't even consider it personal. We should just have a standing rule that any time the Republicans win a trifecta, that the upper leadership positions all get purged. I think the three senior Democratic members of the House, Senate, and DNC should be permanently barred from serving such a role if they fail so hard that Republicans gain the House, Senate, and presidency. If there's one thing these leaders should be working to prevent, it's complete control by the opposition party.

It shouldn't even be personal; it should be universal and automatic. Any time the party loses that badly, it's time for new blood going forward.

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  • [–] 7 points 6 hours ago

    Isn't it possible that congressional leadership is good, but the presidential election is botched so badly that the turnout is bad and therefore congress flips?

    In this case, the congressional leadership is not good. Biden also botched the election by not holding a primary and deciding to seek a second term. We know that depressed turnout for the presidential ticket affects the congressional results.

    There could certainly be cases where both are not true.

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  • [–] -4 points 13 hours ago* (3 children)

    Interesting idea though GOP may well get a trifecta in 2028 by rebranding as an anti-war party. You read it here.

    Also, when a party has the WH, then the president is also the de facto party leader, at least til there's a new presidential nominee from that party. Biden, H. Clinton, Obama, and B. Clinton, I'm looking at all of you. Also Gore, since I'm old enough to remember him. Harris is slightly off the hook since she was a last minute substitute. And last week's midterm flip belongs to Trump more than anyone else.

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  • [–] 4 points 10 hours ago

    I think the momentum is too much against the GOP for that to happen. They will need time to scrub away the stink of Trump and make MTG-style isolationist fascism look better than whatever centrist bullshit the Dems would have to be following.

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