Useless Democrats: Schumer, Newsom, Emanuel

You’re not defending democracy if you’re catering to the right.

During the Cold War, people on the right accused liberals of being “useful idiots” who were manipulated into pushing the communist agenda without realizing it.

That accusation was usually unfair. But these days, some Democrats are serving as useful idiots of a different sort, enabling Republican authoritarianism without seemingly realizing it. That was evident last week when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats surrendered to MAGA on federal spending.

Even amid a Republican assault on our democracy, these Democrats crave bipartisanship. Their desire for “decorum” makes them losers in a battle against right-wingers who care nothing about norms. Republicans fight dirty – such as packing the Supreme Court – yet Schumer & Co. won’t take off their velvet gloves. To MAGA, they’re useful idiots. To democracy defenders, they’re useless or worse.

Meanwhile, the behavior of two other Democrats, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, undermines the resistance in other ways. Last week, Newsom hosted MAGA provocateur Steve Bannon on his podcast in an interview that the New York Times called “good-natured” and “friendly sparring.” In recent appearances, Emanuel has urged Democrats to downplay their positions on social issues and be more like Republicans.

These two Democrats are not useful idiots. In fact, they’re darn smart. But their actions bring to mind another Cold War term, “fellow travelers,” which the right-wing used to label opponents as communist sympathizers. Newsom and Emanuel are seeking “common ground” with Republicans in the apparent hope that tacking to the right will be good for their careers.

Newsom’s podcast has been disheartening. He let his guest Bannon repeat the Big Lie about the 2020 election with no pushback. And in an earlier chummy interview with fascist propagandist Charlie Kirk, Newsom told him: “I think people need to understand your success, your influence.”

These are not opportunities for a free exchange of sincere visions for the betterment of all of our citizens. Kirk and Bannon are professional liars promoting dictatorship – and Newsom is giving them yet another platform to do it.

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who was demonized by fellow Republicans for telling the truth about the Jan. 6 coup attempt, expressed his disgust at Newsom’s guest list: “Many of us on the right sacrificed our careers taking these people on, and Newsom is trying to make a career with them.”

Newsom’s calculation isn’t clear. To gain support on the right, he would have to change his positions dramatically. Maybe he’s willing. After all, Donald Trump used to be a pro-choice Democrat.

Rahm Emanuel, on the other hand, has never been much of a liberal. I was metro editor at the Chicago Tribune when he was mayor. I always thought he was better at electoral politics than at government. As chief of staff in the White House, he begged Barack Obama not to push health care reform. Obama did it anyway. In Chicago, Emanuel earned the nickname “Mayor 1%” for catering to business interests at the expense of poor neighborhoods. He even had an Elon Musk connection, flirting with the idea of Musk’s Boring Co. digging a rail tunnel from downtown to O’Hare Airport.

Emanuel is increasingly dismissive of the values that differentiate Democrats from Republicans. And like Newsom, he appears to have presidential ambitions. Politico’s Jonathan Martin wrote last week: “Presidential races are about timing, and if ever there was a period where Emanuel would be viable, it’s now.”

Last month, Emanuel seemed to channel the Moral Majority in a Washington Post column calling the Democrats the “party of permissiveness.” On the issue of crime, he compared Democrats to “substitute teachers unable to control an unruly classroom.”

In a recent speech, Emanuel pushed for education improvements, which we can all get behind. But then he ridiculed Democrats for caring about other issues, such as Trump’s dismantling of foreign aid. “The New York Times put crumbs all the way to the front door of the USAID headquarters and we just walked along back there,” Emanuel said. How silly of Democrats to care about disease and hunger around the world. Or America’s global influence.

In an interview with Bill Maher a few weeks ago, Emanuel embraced a transphobic talking point. “Look,” he said, “in seventh grade, if I had known that I could have said the word ‘they’ and got in the girl’s bathroom, I would have done it.”

I don’t think Emanuel’s shtick will work. In fact, his “tough on crime” rhetoric awakens painful memories of a police scandal when he was mayor.

In October 2014, a Black 17-year-old named Laquan McDonald was carrying a knife and walking away from police when he was gunned down – shot 16 times – by a white officer who had arrived on the scene only seconds earlier. The killing initially attracted little public attention. Officers on the scene gave false accounts of what had happened, and police brass considered the shooting to be justified.

McDonald’s killing occurred at a sensitive time for Emanuel, four months before he stood for re-election in February 2015. The mayor was forced into a runoff, which he won in April. A week after that, the city disclosed a $5 million settlement with McDonald’s family, triggering media interest that had previously been lacking, with few exceptions.

For months, the Emanuel administration resisted the release of video that would expose falsehoods in the police accounts. Finally, an independent journalist won a court order to make the video public.

The officer who killed McDonald was convicted of second-degree murder, serving three years in prison. But would he have even been charged without the release of the video, which the Emanuel administration tried to keep secret?

The case has dogged Emanuel, as it should. When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez objected to his nomination as ambassador to Japan, she said he had “helped cover up the murder of Laquan McDonald.”

Decency is important, not just political savvy. We need Democrats with values, not Democrats who just happen to have a D after their name.

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