Hey John, David here — and I'm pretty pissed off right now.
Chuck Schumer had one job: hold the line for working people. He failed. Again.
For over forty days, Democrats stood their ground. They finally had real leverage to protect affordable health care for millions, backed by public support, a fresh mandate from voters, and the moral high ground.
And after all that? They walked away with NOTHING — not a single concession or win for the people who were begging them to keep fighting and not to fold.
They caved for a “compromise” with Senate Republicans to maybe talk about ACA subsidies in December. Now those same Republicans are saying it’s dead on arrival unless they can attach it to abortion restrictions.
That’s not a compromise. That’s total surrender.
You’d think Democrats in D.C. would know by now: when you give MAGA an inch, they take a mile. Show weakness, and they go for blood.
And the eight Senate Democrats who caved? They weren’t the new or younger members. They were the “steady hands” with over 120 years in office between them. The same steady hands who promised to protect our care, then went on TV and said: It was too hard to stand up to Trump, so we gave up. As we’ve said over and over again, experience means nothing without courage.
This all begs the question: where the hell was Chuck Schumer?
The Senate Minority leader has one actual responsibility: keep your caucus unified when it matters most. Senator Schumer either has completely lost control of his caucus, or he has let corporate donors, airlines, and lobbyists push him to reopen the government on their terms, without securing anything for working people.
I know which one seems more likely to me. But neither is acceptable. Because they both send the same message to voters:
Your health care, your stability, and your basic needs are negotiable. They’re not really worth fighting for, even though we spent 40+ days telling you they were and when we had maximum leverage and we were winning we gave up with nothing to show for it.
This is why the Democratic Party brand is toxic. This is why trust is collapsing. This is why we need new leadership and this is exactly why LWD exists.
So I’m saying it plainly:
Chuck Schumer must step down as Democratic leader.
Not in 2030. Not eventually. Now.
And when Democrats pick a new leader, it can’t be another “steady hand” from the same Senators who have more experience in folding than governing. We need someone who can communicate, inspire, and actually fight, no matter if it’s someone with decades of experience or someone newer. What matters most is that they have the courage to make any amount of experience meaningful.
That’s what Leaders We Deserve is building: leaders who don’t cave the second corporate donors get uncomfortable. But to take on the Democratic machine and corporate PAC network, we need real grassroots power behind us.
Your support is the only thing that powers us to primary asleep-at-the-wheel feckless Democrats and elect a new generation of leaders, not folders.
We have to build a party that fights like people’s lives depend on it — because they do.
Thank you for standing with us,
David Hogg
