I was struck by how much she SMILED during the Inaugural events. Almost every photo on nj.com showed her smiling and looking happy and approachable. No scowling! No yammering about an apocalypse. Just smiling and looking like, OK, let's get together and work together!
Rick, I appreciate your very thorough analysis of the situation. I’ve been saying for a while now that we should look at how successful individuals have been in approach every election that way, and not give up any election. That is run in every election even if you think you can’t win. I don’t disagree that overall the messaging hasn’t been great. Except on the local level, where people actually talk to people. But we need to stop letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. I hope we can say we’ll support Democratic candidates even if we don’t agree with every piece of their message.
I suggest you go deeper. Trump and his gang are there just because we had a dormant Democratic leadership! This was not a surprise to most of us, as we watched after eight years of a senile Reagan, then four years of Bush! Then the "southern" Democrat Clinton, who worked to create barriers for welfare families, and aided by Republicans, balanced the budget! Then came Bush/Cheney, with a fake war, thousands of lives lost, and a destabilization of the Middle East that continues to this day! And, lest we forget, the illegal use of torture, and the beginning of moving public education back toward segregation!
Then Obama came into office, and the Democrats held the Congress, as well. Most of America was ecstatic, believing that our democracy was about to change for the better! However, even after having eight years to prepare, they had no agenda for day one, or for any other day! The minimum wage was $7.25 the, it is $7.25 today! Obama never prosecuted any of the Guantanamo criminals, much like his disinterest in prosecuting the bankers responsible for the depression in 2008!
So, when we put all of this together in its historical sequence, we should be able to see exactly how Trump and the Republicans were able to overthrow our democracy! To this day, we are searching for a way to get this Party to mount a concerted and planned attack on those currently in charge.
As many of the fine writers like Jen continue to expound what needs to happen and even how it can be achieved, we remain uncertain how the Democratic Party and those supporting the elimination of the dictator and his supporters are up to the task before us.
I like your summary, but it's not really complete. There have been positive events in the past 40 years too. Every President has only limited political capital and they focus on only a few major things each administration. They simply cannot win them all.
Clinton DID balance the budget. That's huge. I did not like some of his compromises either, but he did balance the budget and gave Shrub a surplus... which he instantly turned into a tax cut, of course.
And Obama DID pull the US out of a global financial catastrophe at NASCAR speed compared to the rest of our peers. And he did get the ACA passed, even if it was weak tea by the time they got enough support to pass in the Senate. It's still far better than what we had before.
And Biden oversaw the taming of COVID, the recovery from supply chain inflation and got several major pieces of legislation passed including a trillion dollars of FUNDED infrastructure upgrades!
Mind you, I am appalled that neither Obama nor Bush used their clout to get Guantanamo closed. That is an open sore, a bleeding wound in our national image. I cringe every time I consider that it's STILL in use as a political prison.
I'm so tired of the whiners & complainers; the negativity; the pessimism; the ungratefulness!!!
I challenge you to list 10 good, positive specific ideas/actions of how the Democratic Party can improve. (And, no, just listing people who you think should be ousted from their positions/office Does. Not. Count!)
AND, more importantly, how are YOU going to help make these positive actions happen?!
I am sorry to have upset you. Your questions, however, have been listed and answered not just on this site, but on many others. We are not here to whine, although when facing a dictator, I suppose that many people will whine. More importantly, I would suggest, is identifying the issues we face and then convincing those who can initiate actions various ways to proceed.
However, I do agree with your last sentence since it addresses just those "whines" you mention. We all can contribute to helping to motivate our leaders by being honest about what is happening. That means being honest about the foundation of the Heritage Manifesto, and even though it was advertised months before the last election, no one actually believed it to be real. "That could not happen here"!
So, let's just agree to accept others and each present our ideas in the ways that we each feel are needed. We are all different, yet I can assure you that everyone on this and other alternative sites cares, and we all want the same thing: a new and vigorous democracy for the people, and by the people!
The country needs more women in leadership positions. Would we be in this predicament with a President Harris...or Clinton? It's time for the political "dinosaurs" to return to the Cretaceous, where they belong (yes, I know there was the Triassic and Jurassic, too). I am not sure where people like Trump fit, however. He would be at home at every and all levels of Dante's Inferno.
I happily voted for both of them, but female leaders are not a magic cure for anything. If they had been elected we would have just had different crises. I voted for them because they were competent, qualified and better candidates (to me) than any of the others on the ballot.
It does highlight a clear streak of misogyny in America though. I mean, PAKISTAN has elected a female leader! And India, one of the most misogynistic nations on Earth! And many of our NATO allies have had very strong, very successful female leaders. We have had all the proof any rational person could want that a persons plumbing is just not relevant to their ability to be a good leader.
If the citizens had been more inclined toward the female candidates' policies and less beguiled by con artists and misogyny, maybe the different 'crises' would have been less destructive to our democracy.
I completely agree. But it's because of the policies... not their gender. That was my main point. We voters should care about the policies a candidate offers and our faith that they will actually try to do those things if elected.
No one is saying females are a magic cure. That being said, note that there's less violence in the countries where females lead. Look at New Zealand under its former Prime Minister. Look at how quickly she revamped their gun laws after the terrorist attack. Part of the problem is that too many idolize politicians in general.
I'm embarrassed by my president. I'm embarrassed that he'd propose a new "Board for Peace" to curry favor with the Nobel Committee, and stab the UN and NATO in the back. And then, like a schoolyard bully whose toy truck has been taken away - he cavalierly excludes Canada because Mark Carney gave a speech that was both true and 10x better than any speech Trump could give. I'm mortified. And embarrassed by Thune & Johnson who have to stand behind the bully-in-chief and either lap it up or appear to. Ugh.
Part of the problem is that neither Thune nor Johnson has to stand behind Trumplethinskin, they choose to do so. Whether from cowardice or an overweening desire for some sort of political gain is irrelevant because if they were truly committed to their oaths of office they'd long since have impeached, convicted, and removed from office and the public discourse the greatest threat this country has faced in my lifetime.
I’m embarrassed, but also enraged that these Republican politicians have abandoned their oath to the constitution and instead have allegiance only to Trump.
They should all be thrown out of Congress , I don’t care how many votes they got!
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has signaled that U.S. President Donald Trump to apologize for his false assertion that troops from NATO countries — other than Americans — stayed away from the front line during the war in Afghanistan. "
“Decency” describes these two well, and I wonder if other campaigns can use “decency” as a winning strategy. It’s less snooty than “ethical,” for instance.
Decency and honesty are winning benchmarks. We've had to waste precious time and eneryg countering all of the lies. We could not let them stand uncontested.
If our democratic republic is to survive, I believe that women will be largely responsible. In my life’s experience, I’ve repeatedly witnessed women being more thoughtful, mature, and willing to swim against the current than a lot of their male counterparts.
We have to get the message to women who appear to be MAGA that they can talk MAGA and walk MAGA but when they’re in the voting booth they can to vote Dem. Nobody will know how they voted including their husbands.
Quick thought, Jen. When it comes to words and phrases we can do without, "wannabee" needs to be added to the list. The sociopathic lunatic who is destroying our nation and the world is not a wannabee dictator. HE IS A DICTATOR. A vile, vicious, heartless one at that.
The rousing victories of Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill should give us all hope for the upcoming midterms. Last November, these women proved that polling and pundits just don't know what the hell they are talking about. Their margins of victory are a testament to that.
For quite some time now, I have been opining that the world needs more estrogen and less testosterone especially in the political realm. The wins of these 2 inspiring women is a great start.
Our founding documents, in their broadest reading, layout a vision of Tolerance in America and a legal framework for tolerant governance. It describes how "We the People" should govern ourselves. "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." This is NOT the vision of Kings as Trump so aptly demonstrates every day and as pre-Revolutionary King George did as well.
Increasingly, under our current would be "King", the People are pushing back. Among many issues, the latest polling shows that the People favor Tolerance over Intolerance. The 2025 project is failing. Long live Democracy in America!
Thank you, Jennifer Rubin. It is great to get a more in-depth look at these two remarkable women. They won in landslide victories because so many people came out to VOTE.
For those who may not know, there is a big opportunity overseas to turn out more votes (which lean Democrat in the civilian population). Voting rates abroad are shockingly low: under 4% for the 2022 midterms and under 10% for the 2020 general election (though higher for members of the military serving abroad). A big part of this is that many overseas voters don't realize how easy it is to vote from abroad. I live in Rome and recently sent in my application for my 2026 ballots. It took about ten minutes at my computer.
For anyone who lives abroad or knows someone who does that they can pass this info on to, here's how:
Visit https://votefromabroad.org to register and request your overseas ballot. It’s quick, free, and valid for all elections in 2026. Need help? Write to help@votefromabroad.org. Vote from Abroad volunteers are ready to assist you with any questions about requesting or returning your ballot. Don’t wait! Primaries start in March. Request your ballot today and make your voice heard!
Are the local Election Boards up to the job? My son tried to vote from Japan years ago and received the ballot in the mail around March of the following year. Postmarks showed it had been in Tanzania.
Hi, Carol. Thank you for your comment. I am sorry for your son's experience. I am not sure what the situation was years ago, but today under U.S. law overseas voters who have applied for their ballot through the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) program all have the option of having their ballot emailed to them. You must make sure you pick that option when you apply.
Jen, I see the contrasts you describe so well every day here in North Carolina: Phil Berger and Virginia Foxx versus Locals like Roy Cooper, Josh Stein, and Jeff Jackson. The fact that the two new governors of New Jersey and Virginia are women may have less to do with their sex than their commitment to being decent human beings (cf Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Karoline Leavitt are questionable).
Excellent article, Jen. Thank you. I am so proud of Gov. Sherrill and Gov. Spanberger, I could burst! Kudos to New Jersey and Virginia voters for electing these two amazing women. 💙
Sherrill and Spanberger will set the standard for the rest of the country having elections a year in advance. Newly elected governors may look to them for guidance on what they can do better or improve on.
New Jersey is proud of Mikie Sherrill. We need her more than ever during these difficult times.
I was struck by how much she SMILED during the Inaugural events. Almost every photo on nj.com showed her smiling and looking happy and approachable. No scowling! No yammering about an apocalypse. Just smiling and looking like, OK, let's get together and work together!
People have become too cynical and cruel. We could use large doses of Pollyannaish ideas.
The problem is that we Democrats have the monopoly on “pollyanaish” ideas. It hasn’t been a winning strategy.
Then how did they and other surprising Dems win in the last 6 months? Don’t fall into the cynicism Rick.
Rick, I appreciate your very thorough analysis of the situation. I’ve been saying for a while now that we should look at how successful individuals have been in approach every election that way, and not give up any election. That is run in every election even if you think you can’t win. I don’t disagree that overall the messaging hasn’t been great. Except on the local level, where people actually talk to people. But we need to stop letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. I hope we can say we’ll support Democratic candidates even if we don’t agree with every piece of their message.
Zero chance of succeeding if you don't try!
I suggest you go deeper. Trump and his gang are there just because we had a dormant Democratic leadership! This was not a surprise to most of us, as we watched after eight years of a senile Reagan, then four years of Bush! Then the "southern" Democrat Clinton, who worked to create barriers for welfare families, and aided by Republicans, balanced the budget! Then came Bush/Cheney, with a fake war, thousands of lives lost, and a destabilization of the Middle East that continues to this day! And, lest we forget, the illegal use of torture, and the beginning of moving public education back toward segregation!
Then Obama came into office, and the Democrats held the Congress, as well. Most of America was ecstatic, believing that our democracy was about to change for the better! However, even after having eight years to prepare, they had no agenda for day one, or for any other day! The minimum wage was $7.25 the, it is $7.25 today! Obama never prosecuted any of the Guantanamo criminals, much like his disinterest in prosecuting the bankers responsible for the depression in 2008!
So, when we put all of this together in its historical sequence, we should be able to see exactly how Trump and the Republicans were able to overthrow our democracy! To this day, we are searching for a way to get this Party to mount a concerted and planned attack on those currently in charge.
As many of the fine writers like Jen continue to expound what needs to happen and even how it can be achieved, we remain uncertain how the Democratic Party and those supporting the elimination of the dictator and his supporters are up to the task before us.
I like your summary, but it's not really complete. There have been positive events in the past 40 years too. Every President has only limited political capital and they focus on only a few major things each administration. They simply cannot win them all.
Clinton DID balance the budget. That's huge. I did not like some of his compromises either, but he did balance the budget and gave Shrub a surplus... which he instantly turned into a tax cut, of course.
And Obama DID pull the US out of a global financial catastrophe at NASCAR speed compared to the rest of our peers. And he did get the ACA passed, even if it was weak tea by the time they got enough support to pass in the Senate. It's still far better than what we had before.
And Biden oversaw the taming of COVID, the recovery from supply chain inflation and got several major pieces of legislation passed including a trillion dollars of FUNDED infrastructure upgrades!
Mind you, I am appalled that neither Obama nor Bush used their clout to get Guantanamo closed. That is an open sore, a bleeding wound in our national image. I cringe every time I consider that it's STILL in use as a political prison.
I'm so tired of the whiners & complainers; the negativity; the pessimism; the ungratefulness!!!
I challenge you to list 10 good, positive specific ideas/actions of how the Democratic Party can improve. (And, no, just listing people who you think should be ousted from their positions/office Does. Not. Count!)
AND, more importantly, how are YOU going to help make these positive actions happen?!
I am sorry to have upset you. Your questions, however, have been listed and answered not just on this site, but on many others. We are not here to whine, although when facing a dictator, I suppose that many people will whine. More importantly, I would suggest, is identifying the issues we face and then convincing those who can initiate actions various ways to proceed.
However, I do agree with your last sentence since it addresses just those "whines" you mention. We all can contribute to helping to motivate our leaders by being honest about what is happening. That means being honest about the foundation of the Heritage Manifesto, and even though it was advertised months before the last election, no one actually believed it to be real. "That could not happen here"!
So, let's just agree to accept others and each present our ideas in the ways that we each feel are needed. We are all different, yet I can assure you that everyone on this and other alternative sites cares, and we all want the same thing: a new and vigorous democracy for the people, and by the people!
The country needs more women in leadership positions. Would we be in this predicament with a President Harris...or Clinton? It's time for the political "dinosaurs" to return to the Cretaceous, where they belong (yes, I know there was the Triassic and Jurassic, too). I am not sure where people like Trump fit, however. He would be at home at every and all levels of Dante's Inferno.
I happily voted for both of them, but female leaders are not a magic cure for anything. If they had been elected we would have just had different crises. I voted for them because they were competent, qualified and better candidates (to me) than any of the others on the ballot.
It does highlight a clear streak of misogyny in America though. I mean, PAKISTAN has elected a female leader! And India, one of the most misogynistic nations on Earth! And many of our NATO allies have had very strong, very successful female leaders. We have had all the proof any rational person could want that a persons plumbing is just not relevant to their ability to be a good leader.
If the citizens had been more inclined toward the female candidates' policies and less beguiled by con artists and misogyny, maybe the different 'crises' would have been less destructive to our democracy.
I completely agree. But it's because of the policies... not their gender. That was my main point. We voters should care about the policies a candidate offers and our faith that they will actually try to do those things if elected.
Agree.
No one is saying females are a magic cure. That being said, note that there's less violence in the countries where females lead. Look at New Zealand under its former Prime Minister. Look at how quickly she revamped their gun laws after the terrorist attack. Part of the problem is that too many idolize politicians in general.
I'm embarrassed by my president. I'm embarrassed that he'd propose a new "Board for Peace" to curry favor with the Nobel Committee, and stab the UN and NATO in the back. And then, like a schoolyard bully whose toy truck has been taken away - he cavalierly excludes Canada because Mark Carney gave a speech that was both true and 10x better than any speech Trump could give. I'm mortified. And embarrassed by Thune & Johnson who have to stand behind the bully-in-chief and either lap it up or appear to. Ugh.
Part of the problem is that neither Thune nor Johnson has to stand behind Trumplethinskin, they choose to do so. Whether from cowardice or an overweening desire for some sort of political gain is irrelevant because if they were truly committed to their oaths of office they'd long since have impeached, convicted, and removed from office and the public discourse the greatest threat this country has faced in my lifetime.
And when wavering is detected - Trump sends out the dogs of war, aka JD Vance. A man for whom ambition is the core driving force
Congrats on Trumplthinskin. Brilliant.
Thanks Cindy.
At least the fool TACOed on attacking Greenland at Davos.
So far.
So true. He changes direction faster than a weather vane - to grab the attention of the moment.
And he never forgets a perceived insult.
I’m embarrassed, but also enraged that these Republican politicians have abandoned their oath to the constitution and instead have allegiance only to Trump.
They should all be thrown out of Congress , I don’t care how many votes they got!
Another reason to be embarrassed and chagrined: "UK's Starmer slams Trump remarks on non-US NATO troops in Afghanistan as 'insulting' and 'appalling'
https://apnews.com/article/trump-nato-uk-afghanistan-denmark-greenland-f5975e87928696edf41085821f7d0b01?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=share
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has signaled that U.S. President Donald Trump to apologize for his false assertion that troops from NATO countries — other than Americans — stayed away from the front line during the war in Afghanistan. "
“Decency” describes these two well, and I wonder if other campaigns can use “decency” as a winning strategy. It’s less snooty than “ethical,” for instance.
Decency and honesty are winning benchmarks. We've had to waste precious time and eneryg countering all of the lies. We could not let them stand uncontested.
If our democratic republic is to survive, I believe that women will be largely responsible. In my life’s experience, I’ve repeatedly witnessed women being more thoughtful, mature, and willing to swim against the current than a lot of their male counterparts.
We have to get the message to women who appear to be MAGA that they can talk MAGA and walk MAGA but when they’re in the voting booth they can to vote Dem. Nobody will know how they voted including their husbands.
Quick thought, Jen. When it comes to words and phrases we can do without, "wannabee" needs to be added to the list. The sociopathic lunatic who is destroying our nation and the world is not a wannabee dictator. HE IS A DICTATOR. A vile, vicious, heartless one at that.
The rousing victories of Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill should give us all hope for the upcoming midterms. Last November, these women proved that polling and pundits just don't know what the hell they are talking about. Their margins of victory are a testament to that.
For quite some time now, I have been opining that the world needs more estrogen and less testosterone especially in the political realm. The wins of these 2 inspiring women is a great start.
Thank you for this piece today. I’m proud and grateful to be in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Our founding documents, in their broadest reading, layout a vision of Tolerance in America and a legal framework for tolerant governance. It describes how "We the People" should govern ourselves. "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." This is NOT the vision of Kings as Trump so aptly demonstrates every day and as pre-Revolutionary King George did as well.
Increasingly, under our current would be "King", the People are pushing back. Among many issues, the latest polling shows that the People favor Tolerance over Intolerance. The 2025 project is failing. Long live Democracy in America!
May each of these new governors also inspire tolerance, decency, truth-telling (that's a biggie), transparency in governing, sharing with the needy.
Thank you, Jennifer Rubin. It is great to get a more in-depth look at these two remarkable women. They won in landslide victories because so many people came out to VOTE.
For those who may not know, there is a big opportunity overseas to turn out more votes (which lean Democrat in the civilian population). Voting rates abroad are shockingly low: under 4% for the 2022 midterms and under 10% for the 2020 general election (though higher for members of the military serving abroad). A big part of this is that many overseas voters don't realize how easy it is to vote from abroad. I live in Rome and recently sent in my application for my 2026 ballots. It took about ten minutes at my computer.
For anyone who lives abroad or knows someone who does that they can pass this info on to, here's how:
Visit https://votefromabroad.org to register and request your overseas ballot. It’s quick, free, and valid for all elections in 2026. Need help? Write to help@votefromabroad.org. Vote from Abroad volunteers are ready to assist you with any questions about requesting or returning your ballot. Don’t wait! Primaries start in March. Request your ballot today and make your voice heard!
Are the local Election Boards up to the job? My son tried to vote from Japan years ago and received the ballot in the mail around March of the following year. Postmarks showed it had been in Tanzania.
Hi, Carol. Thank you for your comment. I am sorry for your son's experience. I am not sure what the situation was years ago, but today under U.S. law overseas voters who have applied for their ballot through the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) program all have the option of having their ballot emailed to them. You must make sure you pick that option when you apply.
Thank you for these positive words. We must celebrate these successful women and keep our faith in our democracy. We are not alone.
Jen, I see the contrasts you describe so well every day here in North Carolina: Phil Berger and Virginia Foxx versus Locals like Roy Cooper, Josh Stein, and Jeff Jackson. The fact that the two new governors of New Jersey and Virginia are women may have less to do with their sex than their commitment to being decent human beings (cf Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Karoline Leavitt are questionable).
Excellent article, Jen. Thank you. I am so proud of Gov. Sherrill and Gov. Spanberger, I could burst! Kudos to New Jersey and Virginia voters for electing these two amazing women. 💙
Sherrill and Spanberger will set the standard for the rest of the country having elections a year in advance. Newly elected governors may look to them for guidance on what they can do better or improve on.
Women that 'rock that cradle' of the, world!