As Democrats, we have to do a better job of showing that we are in the cultural mainstream

of this country.

Dems in disarray.

It's a phrase we've heard about a bazillion times, sometimes seriously, sometimes in jest.

While this week, it's pretty damn apt.

The divide in the party over how to fight Trump 2.0

is once again spilling out into the open. Earlier this week, Democrats were criticized

from all directions for not bringing their A-game to Trump's joint address to Congress.

Folks on the left widely mocked progressive Democrats for what they deemed feckless heckling

and protesting. Actions, they said feckless heckling and protesting.

Actions, they said, don't actually go far enough.

Centrist Democrats, meanwhile, said those actions distract from Trump's controversial message,

which the party should have kept front and center.

Then, on Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom, jolted the Democratic establishment by publicly denouncing trans

athletes in sports, a major retreat on a cultural lightning rod issue that Trump has weaponized

against Democrats on the campaign trail.

As someone who has never been a culture warrior and primarily talks about the economic

issues throughout my career.

I think the main takeaway is anytime you're hit, you have to respond.

It has to be immediate and it has to be that you were hitting the other side harder than they just hit you.

And now we're facing a potential government shutdown,

with House Democrats privately considering allowing the government to shudder unless Republicans handcuff hacker-in-chief Elon Musk.

...