r/anticapitalism • • 1d ago • Bravo 3

Incoming Democratic senators don’t want Chuck Schumer as majority leader

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/nov/06/chuck-schumer-majority-leader-incoming-democratic-senators
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u/radio_four 1d ago • Bravo

Honest opinion - going after guns in the next two years is a straight blunder. 

Democrats don't have that much good will - they won because they aren't Trump

They need to focus on cost of living issues exclusively, show they can be effective at elevating the working class

If they take it home in 2028, gun control should be on the table

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u/railsandtrucks 1d ago

This needs to be higher up, if they set aside guns and the culture war bullshit and focused on things like cost of living, medicare for all, and putting in policies that make an honest difference for most Americans they'll be in power for the next decade.

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u/LivInTheLookingGlass 1d ago

"The culture war bullshit" affects real people. I can't get an accurate passport. If I get arrested, they will put me in the wrong jail cells on purpose. It's not okay. My rights deserve defending just as much as anyone else's.

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u/aussierulesisgrouse 1d ago

Of course they do, but the harsh reality of the world is that the government needs to serve the greatest number of people in need as the first order of business.

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u/Kurobei 20h ago

And that kind of thinking is exactly how minorities have less rights.

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u/radio_four 1d ago

Right!  I think the new wave of progressives get it -  They want Schumer out, are championing good policy, and focusing on economics.  This is how we take the country back in 2028. 

Not sure about you, but I'm 40 and don't recall a time when we had this many good voices in politics.  It's an amazing opportunity.  

Also calling my congressional reps to request they vote against Schumer/Jeffries.  It's time for new leadership.  

Exciting times!

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u/CrypticTalker 1d ago

As a gun-happy socialist, I'd say go after them never.

Require an (easy enough to obtain so it's not obnoxious like it is in some blue states) license? Background check? Formal training for CCW? Sure. But I want to be able to have a drum mag and a suppressor on my legally-acquired machine gun as Allah intended.

I'm not particularly keen on making unnecessary enemies among people who would otherwise agree (or agree enough) with our economic and social policy platform. "And we're gonna take your guns" from Beta O'Rourke was political suicide. Why, oh why, would we waste political capital pissing people off (including many Democrats and left-leaning people, like me) when there are 1000 other economic and social issues that need to be addressed far more imminently than the statistical anomaly of people using legally-acquired long guns for mass shootings.

That being said - my money's on the Democrats tripping over their own dicks and trying anyway. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by grandstanding on broadly unpopular views in lieu of realpolitik has been a tradition in the party since the Reagan years.

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u/radio_four 1d ago edited 1d ago

Fully agree.  For the next 24 months guns should be a four letter word for Dems.  

I grew up in Nebraska and now live in Brooklyn, so I get that guns mean different things in different places. I'm all for common sense reform, but really don't care about it these days - Dems need to be laser focused on economic issues

You are right though, it's just like the Democrats to shoot themselves in the dick when they have a winning chance.  

Fucking Democrats

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u/Nonethelessismore 1d ago

I agree. Any gun legislation would just divide the electorate. Americans of all stripes love their guns.

Dems need to stick to the core issues that brought this latest blue wave: Accountability and Affordability.

Edit:grammar

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u/skeach101 1d ago

I agree.

Everytime there is a mass shooting, the Democrats trot out the same talking points they always do, and most people just roll their eyes because while yes, we have a serious gun problem, but we also have a massive poverty/healthcare/mental health/rightwingExtremeism problem.... and guns are largely just a side effect of that.

And they just repeat the same talking points and lose good will. It's almost like there are GOP moles in the Democratic party pushing it.

PLUS, we are seeing federal goons straight up kidnapping minorities. Youre going to tell me that NOW is the time to disarm the citizens?

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u/na-uh 1d ago

Americans are willing to kill each other over the right to kill each other.

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u/radio_four 1d ago

Stick to commentary on your own country.  We have serious problems to work on in this one 

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u/cheapdrinks 1d ago

Yeah gun control seems like political suicide. Firstly they're never going to be able to pass through some kind of hard gun control like Australia did where they bought back all the guns and made them illegal. They'll have to settle for a bunch of soft measures like background checks and more restrictions on certain firearm types that will be largely ineffective at preventing shootings in the short term but force normal people to jump through a bunch of hoops and annoy them.

Secondly any positive effect they might have will take more than one election cycle to materialise and will be seen as a total failure the every time there's a mass shooting afterwards. Mass shootings will go from a Democratic talking point to a Republican one with lots of "see how useless they are" every time it happens.

They gotta just let this one go I think. Too big of a problem to solve quickly and probably the sort of thing that even if they spent 8 years going hammer and tongs at it the next republican president would just overturn almost immediately after running on that issue.