Great discussion with Senator Chris Murphy about the CR: Watch here

It boils down to this: The Democrats are like watered-down seasoning – there’s a hint of something great, but ultimately, they’re ineffective. Nothing made that clearer than Chuck Schumer’s preemptive surrender to Donald Trump last week. Instead of using his power to stand firm, he caved. And this is the cycle we see over and over again.

For decades, Democrats have positioned themselves as the party of working people, of big, bold governance. But the truth is, they’ve been seduced by corporate interests and have stopped fighting for systemic change. In some ways, that’s even worse than what Republicans do – at least the GOP is upfront about their allegiance to the wealthy and powerful. The Democrats, on the other hand, keep dangling hope in front of us, only to let it slip away. Where was the public option? Why should we accept that as our stretch goal when we should have been fighting for Medicare for All? Why do we keep lowering our expectations instead of demanding what we actually need?

This is what Jon Stewart was getting at: At some point, the Democratic Party stopped being the party of big government solutions. Bill Clinton even said it outright: “The era of big government is over." But why did we accept that? Why did we buy into the conservative framing that government is inherently inefficient, when history tells us the opposite?

The New Deal coalition built the 1950s America that everyone nostalgically worships – when the middle class thrived, unions were strong, and the economy worked for ordinary people. That happened because government took an active role in lifting people up. The Democratic Party of today could reclaim that legacy, but instead, they’re too busy playing a game that’s already rigged.

If Democrats actually governed like Bernie Sanders, they could build an unstoppable coalition in this country. A movement that doesn’t just settle for the least-worst option, but actually demands and delivers change. Because we know what’s possible – we’ve done it before. We can do it again. But first, we need leaders who will actually fight.