General Discussion

...that's the question.

We can argue out our differences in a majority, compromise and move forward. That's how progressive change has always happened.

The new fad of trying to burn down the house(s) every election is an ignorant and sophomoric pursuit that predictably does little to account for the ultimate outcome; the numbers; the math that puts republicans in the position to dictate the direction of our government and our nation.

It makes little sense, and is a profound misunderstanding of the utility of the party. We're a coalition of diverse and often disparate interests and concerns from myriad regions of the nation who band together to advance the many things that we agree on, and work to reconcile the rest into action or law.

Our democratic system makes room for our elected officials to either sit on their hands and object, or compromise with each other to move legislation forward. Democrats decide on what they will legislate by way of a caucus of members in their respective chambers.

It's not a dictatorial system, but a deliberative one that intends to build coalitions around what these many interests and their constituents want. That's what their leaders are challenged to accomplish; as unified a coalition as they can manage.

That's why THEY vote to advance leaders who can bridge or accommodate often competing notions and determinations on how to move forward. That expectation of our elected Democrats of their leaders isn't going to produce a firebrand, or someone who wears their personal politics on their sleeve.

They want someone who will represent to the public THEIR consensus of opinion as expressed in the caucus meeting they hold before votes and at the beginning of legislative cycles.

One thing that's always frustrating to me is how individual legislators, especially heads or ranking members of committees, are celebrated for their tenacity and toughness, while the leaders or the managers of the party who deliberately placed them in those positions are treated like they lack the same fire and fight.

They completely misunderstand and misrepresent the way the party functions. It's absurd to expect that the people that legislators choose to manage THEIR votes are going to promote much more than what their membership indicates they will support.

So far, both Dem leaders have done a really good job at keeping their respective memberships together on votes; not just key ones, but all votes, so far; managed to keep them together through two shutdowns where they made republicans own their health care cuts and their nazi immigration regime.

Whatever people want to see happen in Congress happens legislatively, not performatively. It only happens with a Democratic majority, and, that only happens by practicing ADDITION (of Dems), not subtraction.