LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Democrats’ wait-and-see strategy is not working

To the Editor:

I love the way political humorist Jon Stewart skewered Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer recently on “The Daily Show” and how Schumer’s capitulating to the Republicans on the budget. The man has no courage, no leadership ability, and I don’t see why the Dems keep putting up with him.

According to Stewart, Dems have a 27% approval rating, and I don’t see how it’s even that high. Schumer says he talks to Republicans in the gym when he’s on the stationary bike, as if that will somehow bring them bipartisanship.

Stewart said, “Pedaling really hard and not going anywhere is a great metaphor for where the Democrats are right now.” He went on to say that “There is a persistent fiction that if they just hang out with Republicans in the gym, or wait out Trump’s popularity (to which I would add, they’ve been doing for 10 years, and it ain’t happened yet) or give them concessions on a continuing resolution they said would harm the country, the Republicans will finally see the light and the Democrats will be rewarded with continual bipartisanship, or, as they put it …” Stewart then played a succession of Democrats all saying, “This fever will break,” going all the way back to 2012, apparently referring not only to Trump’s popularity, but Republican propaganda in general. And since this budget, if it passes, will have a very harmful effect on millions of people, the Dems will receive as much blame as the Republicans, and they will deserve it.

At this point, the Democrats need to stop waiting for voters to “get it” and suddenly turn on Trump, ’cause it ain’t gonna happen. The party is standing on the sidelines, doing virtually nothing but talking about race and gender and telling people how awful Trump is.

I don’t know how many times in the weeks before the election MSNBC showed clips of what was supposed to be a town hall meeting in which Trump simply danced to music onstage. If enough people still voted to elect him, I don’t care if all he does in a town hall meeting, a presidential debate or a State of the Union address is do the Macarena, they’re still going to vote for him unless the Dems give people reasons to vote for them instead of reasons not to vote for Trump.

And they don’t need to tell people how awful this budget is, then have their so-called leader in the Senate say he’s voting for it. I have had it with both parties and don’t understand how the rest of the country can support either one at this point.

Alan Thornton

Leesburg