Spineless In the Face Of Authoritarianism: The Curse of the Corporate, Careerist Democrat

When Will The Dems Learn You Can’t Fight Authoritarianism with AIPAC Talking Points & Means Testing?

More of this & less of Elissa Slotkin & Laura Gillen

“Even when Trump has stripped their power,” wrote Philip Bump yesterday, “Republicans in the House in particular have responded— like so many of history’s most infamous lackeys— with meekness and sycophancy. That Trump has been blessed with such a pliant Congress has a number of obvious causes. One is that Trump enforces that spinelessness by leveraging the power he holds over voters ensnared in his personality cult. Another is that Trump emerged into a national political landscape that was already deeply polarized. And then there’s the polarization within the House itself. This is often attributed to gerrymandering, but that doesn’t quite capture what’s happened. While it is the case that Democrats and Republicans from safe seats have moved to the ideological poles, so have Republicans in close or swing seats... [There has been] a bigger shift right among Republicans who won by five to 15 points than any shift left among Democrats, no matter how comfortably they won. In fact, not only have Republicans from these more contested districts moved more to the ideological extreme over the past 40 years, but also they are now more extreme than Democrats from the safest districts.” 

The result is that Republicans have a hard time getting anything done other than nonsense and that Democrats have drifted away from their progressive— as in New Deal and working class— roots and stand less and less for anything voters can identify with. Congressional Republicans have become more ideological and congressional Democrats have become more corporate and more careerist. 

Right now Republicans are fighting over Trump’s “one big beautiful” tax and spend bill. Republicans from swing districts— who the media identifies, incorrectly, as “moderates”— are standing up to leadership over “excessive” Medicaid and food stamps cuts and over SALT deductions for blue state tax payers and mortgage holders. With a razor-thin GOP majority, they say they’ll tank the reconciliation bill if they don’t get their way, while the far more numerous right-wing extremists, like Chip Roy (TX) say they’ll tank it if the swing state Republicans do get their way. They’re all counting on Trump coming in to rescue them from themselves. The "moderates" always give in at the last minute... and they will on this as well. This rebellion of theirs is purely performative.

Democrats have largely failed to embrace a clear, bold moral vision and instead, too many so-called moderate Democrats— conservatives in all but name— have clung to a cautious, donor-friendly centrism that alienates their base while doing nothing to counteract the GOP’s descent into authoritarianism. These conservative Democraps fancy themselves pragmatists, but their “pragmatism” consists mostly of punching left, triangulating toward corporate interests and watering down any legislation that might actually inspire working-class enthusiasm. They fetishize bipartisanship in a political era where one party has openly embraced fascism. In doing so, they weaken the Democratic brand, demoralize the base and fuel the very polarization they claim to oppose. While Republicans consolidate around extremism and power, conservative Democrats cling to a fantasy of 1990s politics—refusing to recognize that the center they’re chasing no longer exists. They are not a moderating force. They are an anchor, dragging the party down, preventing it from becoming the clear, moral alternative this moment demands.

The Democraps have responded to the rise of Trumpism with cowardice, triangulation and a pathological fear of upsetting the donor class— and their own career trajectories. While the GOP barrels toward full-blown fascism, these New Dems and Blue Dogs are still playing a Beltway parlor game, obsessed with “bipartisanship” and “norms” while the constitution, our most cherished institutions and the whole world burns. They’re doing immense damage to the Democratic brand fighting harder to crush the party’s progressive, New Deal wing than they do to stop the nation's slide into authoritarianism. On Gaza, they parrot AIPAC talking points while ignoring the cries of their own constituents demanding an end to complicity in the genocidal slaughter. On the economy, they block popular initiatives like Medicare-for-All, student debt cancellation, livable wages and taxing the ultra-rich— policies that could actually win elections and materially improve lives. They kneecap bold climate action, hollow out social programs and then wonder why young people are disillusioned.

The Chuck Schumers of the Democratic Party don’t defend democracy— they negotiate with those destroying it. They don’t inspire— they condescend. And in doing so, they drain the party of its soul, its energy and its future. In 2026, as we face down an unhinged, vengeful Trump and a Republican Party fully in his grip, the last thing we need are Democrats who are afraid of being called “divisive.” What’s truly divisive is letting fascism rise while pretending your biggest enemy is the left flank of your own party and choosing appeasement, corporate loyalty and a relentless war against their own base.

Take Hakeem Jeffries, whose leadership strategy seems to consist of undermining progressives while fundraising off Trumpism. Or, worse, Josh Gottheimer, who leads the corporatist Problem Solvers Caucus and routinely guts progressive legislation to protect the wealthy. Or Elissa Slotkin, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Adam Gray, Laura Gillen and Jared Golden, who vote like Republicans on war and economics but still expect progressive voters to turn out for them. And don’t forget Henry Cuellar— a forced-birth reactionary currently under indictment, whom Democratic leadership has actively protected from primary challenges. These aren’t moderates. They’re obstructionists who serve capital, undermining any attempt to re-build a party that actually fights for justice. On Gaza, they toe AIPAC’s genocidal line. On labor and healthcare, they block the very policies that could re-energize the base and win back working-class voters. Instead of countering GOP extremism with moral clarity, they triangulate endlessly, hoping that playing nice with fascists will save their seats and please their donors. The result is a demoralized electorate, a disillusioned youth vote and a party afraid to stand for anything. If Democrats stumble in 2026, it won’t be because of Trump’s cult— it’ll be because of the spineless centrists who refuse to fight back when it matters most.