Democratic Senate minority doesn't seem to get how dangerous Trump is to our democracy.

[lees1975]

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-weak-link-in-democratic-party.html

Michael Steele, former Republican National Committee Chair, did an excellent job of pointing out the flaws in the Democratic party's resistance to Trump's attempted turning of America into a fascist dictatorship on his program this weekend. Steele pointed to polling data from NBC showing that the favorability rating of Democrats in Congress has fallen to 27%, which would be a crisis if Republican numbers weren't free falling at the same time, and especially if there were an election right around the corner. That means a lot of Democrats aren't happy with their representation in Congress, and I'd bet the Senate is at the top of that list.

In addition to the favorability rating for Democrats falling to 27%, there's the very bleak statistic from the 2024 election, in which 69 million Americans, eligible to register and vote, decided to sit it out and stay at home, including a significant number of people who voted for Joe Biden in 2020. Considering all of that, there were 10 members of the Democratic Senate minority who chose to go ahead and vote for cloture on a continuing resolution giving Trump pretty much what he wanted. It's semantics that they can vote for cloture, then vote against the bill and say they weren't for it. As soon as the filibuster ends, they know the Republicans can pass the bill.

Perhaps the best explanations for why they voted for cloture came from Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz, and Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto. They did a good job making their perspective the "lesser of two evils," especially as it pertained to their own constituents. But the fear that Democrats would get blamed for a government shutdown was way overblown. No Democrat had any input or part in negotiations of the terms of this bill, so it cannot be expected that they would have a reason to vote for it. The house, 214 of 215 Democrats, got that, credit to Hakeem Jeffries. The Republicans are in charge, Trump is putting his name, and that of Elon Musk, on everything. Democrats wouldn't be blamed for a government shutdown, given that's what Trump has already set out to do.

The fact that 37 Democratic Senators did not follow their leadership, and instead voted "No!" on cloture is a sign that the leadership is weak, and that there are Senators who perceive it that way. That's the kind of weakness that has led, at least in part, to a 27% approval rating. We cannot afford to come away from the 2026 mid-term elections empty handed. Trump's jumping into attempted rule by executive order has, in a relatively short time, opened a lot of eyes of marginal supporters who weren't paying attention but who know that this isn't what they wanted or believed would happen.

[lees1975]

1. Those who voted no weren't concerned about how that would help Trump. They were worried they'd get the blame.

Bottom line.