Democrats are coming off a 2024 beating. Will their rising stars block a Republican trifecta?

[Dulcinea]

(USA Today) Coming off a brutal bruising in the 2024 election, Democrats in Washington are poised to play defense for much of the next two years against President-elect Donald Trump and the resurgent GOP.

But before they can try to counter a Republican trifecta, Democrats have an important question to answer: Who's in charge?
-snip-

Who are the rising Democratic stars set to go toe-to-toe with their Republican colleagues and the Trump administration – at least until the 2026 midterms and the start of the 2028 presidential campaign? And how will they work with Republicans to try to avoid government shutdowns and pass pivotal legislation? Here's what to know.

The party at large has a rank of prominent figures, including governors like Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gavin Newsom of California, as well as Biden administration officials such as outgoing Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. They all picked up national attention as potential running mates for Harris – and when they hit the campaign trail after she selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. All are considered potential candidates to run for the White House in another four years when Trump's term expires.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/democrats-coming-off-2024-beating-100427365.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&segment_id=DY_VTO_CONTROL&ncid=crm_19908-1202929-20241116-0&bt_user_id=8DxPVLdgJr0XTBoK7rx7QqD1cFJdscqxiQV8pq1Cy%2FijS7Sg4KwncOy9DlsfFPpo&bt_ts=1731762827910

[gab13by13]

1. Are there going to be midterms?

Will Congress be relevant by then? The Daily Mail is a right wing rag.

We better decide now if we are going to fight or hide.

[kansasobama]

2. I am surprised media is again treating this as normal

When will media learn? Talking about which Dem star will rise is making the assumption Trump is normal. Trump very likely will rig the system in such a way that Dems will never win. Forces of anti-democracy are in . Unless someone calls it as is, we are in trouble. There will never be a free and fair election ever unless a rising Dem disrupts things very early. If Dems let Trump settle, our nation is finished. Look at how Zelensky is ready to throw in the towel. That bodes poorly for NATO.

Yes, a Dem star will rise. That star has to be the leader of resistance and lay the groundwork for a massive failure that hurts people because of Trump policies. It is one of those times where people should really find out what Trump is. If Dems fight some half-hearted battles and win some, it will only mask Trump and lead to more Trump.

Shapiro will have a tough time in a state that voted for Trump. I would rule out all Dems from the states Trump won to lead a real resistance. This rising Dem has to fight like a real combatant and needs to encourage Dems to support him or her. Whitmer is toast because of Michigan going MAGA.

Which Dem has nothing to lose in a fight? It is either some firebrand Dem from a blue state. It could even be Harris.

[lees1975]

3. USA Today is a bland piece of journalism wrapped in commercial advertising.

They're kind of isolated in their perspective on this.

Hakeem Jeffries is still the Democratic minority leader in the House. I see the opposition from the Democratic party forming along two different tracks.

States with strong Democratic majorities will be resistance points. In terms of those who are already stepping up and making it known where they stand and how they will resist, Gavin Newsom, in California, and J. D. Pritzker, in Illinois, have been quite pointed and specific. I expect both of them will be deeply involved in Democratic party politics on the national level. Walz is now in the national limelight, and is in a solidly Democratic state with a lot of liberal policy successes that people like. I think Josh Shapiro and Gretchen Whitmer will also be there at the state level. There was a Democratic majority in Michigan down ballot.

As far as in Washington, and in Congress, Hakeem Jeffries is capable and moving up, and as house minority leader, in a house with a very slim Republican majority that has a speaker who is about as incompetent as they come as far as keeping things together, and he will have two very sharp, estute, and effective supporters in Jasmine Crockett, and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. On the Senate side, I'll be curious to see who steps into the Schumer vacuum. He'll still be there but he's not progressive enough. My guess is that there are some leaders waiting in the wings like Mark Kelly, from Arizona, and I expect to see Jon Ossoff, from Georgia, start moving ahead. Adam Schiff is in there now, too.

Personally, I'm kind of back and forth on how Democrats need to move forward. Part of me wants them to do all the damage they can, resisting, making him angry and then get him into his fits of rage when he makes mistakes and alienates people by the thousands. But then, I have watched this man's support ebb and flow like the tide. He's inept, incompetent and he is mentally deranged and demented. He'll do some damage, but he will undermine his support and leave things in a wreck, pieces to pick up like every other time he's ever done anything like this. He's left every business he's owned in bankruptcy, using the law to evade accountability, and every venture he's started, from steaks to Trump University, has failed. How long do you think this is going to last with the kind of leadership he's surrounding himself with. I'll take bets on how long it takes Republicans in Congress to shut the door and cut him off.