Leland Vittert’s War Notes: Singing Into Irrelevancy

Gump logic: Forrest Gump’s mama was right – stupid is as stupid does.

• And this weekend, we will spring forward for daylight saving time.
  • There is no “saving” daylight – we are shifting daylight – it’s profoundly stupid.
    • Join us tonight in hope that this idiotic practice may soon stop.

ICYMI: For those that don’t know, ICYMI is how the cool kids say  “In case you missed it.”

• Our interview with DJ Daniel, the 13-year-old cancer survivor and now youngest member of the Secret Service, hit a nerve in America.
  • If you haven’t seen it, and even if you have, click here for a smile heading into your weekend. 

Sibling shoutout: The smarter and more talented Vittert child – aka my sister, Liberty – is out with a must-read in The Hill.

• “Why DOGE is and will remain popular, even if its cuts are small,” she headlines.
• Liberty joins us tonight with what the establishment fails to understand.
  • Hint: The rest of America hates the establishment because they blame the establishment for screwing them. 

Credit due: The exhausting news cycle will miss a major Trump victory for those of us who believe in moral clarity.

• Trump ordered 400 million in federal dollars to be withheld from Columbia University because of their repugnant acceptance and protection of the pro-Hamas types.

Any Hope

This week underscored the Democrats’ problem – not that there isn’t a leader or plan, but that there is no hope for one.

• Problem in 3 acts: 68% of Americans said President Trump’s speech to Congress made them feel hopeful. 78% approved of it.
  • And since the speech on Tuesday, things have gotten better for Trump and worse for Democrats. 
  • More: As CNN reports, nearly 80% of Americans oppose boys in girls sports – it’s pretty simple – yet not a single Democratic senator voted for a bill banning it. 
• Crazy: Maybe delusion is the only answer?
  • House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries just said, “We have the Republicans on the run.”
  • Dear god: My dad told me long ago that I wasn’t funny – someone needs to tell octogenarian Democratic members of Congress they aren’t cool on social media.
    • Watch Rep. Rosa Delauro, D-Conn., in her latest post here. 
• Also – having Bruce Springsteen singing didn’t work – what makes you think Bill Nye or Francis Collins will be better? No seriously, Democrats today held a “Save Science” rally where they sang in protest of Trump. 
• Just think about the recent fights within the Democratic party.
  • CA Gov. Gavin Newsom over saying boys shouldn’t play in girls sports.
  • The bingo paddles and cane waved by Democrats at President Trump’s joint address to Congress.
    • The leadership, see Jeffries above, reportedly confronted the bingo players.
  • Whether or not to try and shut down the government later this month.
• The path forward: I am going to go out on a limb here – Democrats need their own Trump or another Obama.
  • Both were/are transformational leaders of movements that tapped into an emotion that went far beyond their party’s base. 

• Look back: Democrats face some of the same problems that Republicans did after 2012 and some of the same Democrats faced after 2016.
• Learn from the past: Looking back provides Democrats with few answers.
  • 2012: The post-Mitt Romney loss told Republicans to try and build a broad coalition of minorities – they needed to soften their stance on immigration to attract Hispanic voters.
  • 2016: Trump won by promising to build a wall on the southern border. 
  • 2016: Out of Democrats’ 2016 loss came a party built on resisting Trump and competing on who could win the diversity Olympics.
  • 2020: Kamala Harris dropped out before Iowa. Elizabeth Warren and Corey Booker proved terrible candidates. The most centrist among them won by promising not to be Trump – the pandemic helped.
    • Be smart: Biden tapped into a movement against the craziness of Trump during 2020. 
• Look forward: Democrats must now figure out the path forward.
  • Do they listen to Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa.?
    • Fetterman posted on X, criticizing his fellow Democrats for their resistance strategies.
      • Click here to see. 
  • Or the far left that says they should resist Trump and Republicans more.
    • Sunny Hostin earlier today on ABC’s “The View”: “The Democrats are not meeting the moment. It is very clear that Medicaid is on the table, it is very clear that Social Security is on the table, it is very clear that people will die. The Baby Boomers, the civil rights generation, they knew what they had to do. They were willing to fight and die for their rights. This generation of Congress? They are not meeting the moment! This is an existential crisis!”
• Must read: Peggy Noonan writes in The Wall Street Journal, “Stop listening to your consultants. They know the Democratic Party but not America. They’ve always had the media in their pocket, and it’s made them lazy and lacking in insight. Keep going to town halls in small and medium-size towns and listen, listen, listen.”

Must watch: Tonight, former Democratic congressman Dean Phillips and current congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, D-Va., speak about the path forward.

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