Earlier this month, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her retirement after nearly four decades of public service. As Democrats say goodbye to one of their last remaining operatives to actually effectuate change, the party is left directionless.

The extent of Democratic leadership has now been reduced to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Both figures have repeatedly struggled to balance the progressives and the establishment moderates, with the most recent shutdown fiasco serving as a prime example.

'We all need to take a very big dose of humility.'

Onlookers on both sides of the aisle largely agree that the undisciplined messaging and disorganized strategy would never have taken place when Pelosi held the gavel.

With no obvious leader to follow in Pelosi's footsteps, the Democratic Party has become more undisciplined and rudderless than ever before.

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

“She's an all-time great speaker because all other tools that speakers had to discipline or motivate legislators were not available to her," said Dheeraj Chand, a Democratic strategist and pollster with Siege Analytics, of Pelosi.

"She has no whip. She has no carrot. All that she has left is persuasive power, and she held that entire group of imbeciles together using nothing but persuasive power," Chand told Blaze News. "No small feat."

The latest instance of intraparty insubordination took place when 23 House Democrats chose to rebuke one of their own. The unusual reprimand came after Democratic Rep. Chuy Garcia of Illinois was censured by nearly all Republicans and several Democrats, with Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington authoring the condemnation.

Garcia, a retiring Democrat, was censured after he set up his chief of staff to be the lone Democrat on the primary ballot to succeed him in his deep-blue district, a move which Gluesenkamp Perez called "election subversion."

"Both parties are finding it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to lead their respective caucuses in the traditional hierarchical manner," Len Foxwell, a Democratic strategist based in Maryland, told Blaze News. "We see the example with Representative Garcia as emblematic of the challenges that Democrats face with breakaway members, and we saw during the attenuated leadership tenure of Kevin McCarthy how virtually impossible it is for establishment Republicans to contain the Freedom Caucus."

"When there's no leader, it's not only that there's no opinion, but there's nobody calling the shots," Chand told Blaze News. "When there's nobody calling the shots, it's hard to feel like you are playing for a team that can protect you."

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

In both cases, neither party had a political north star to follow. With former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, President Donald Trump's command of the party slipped away after former President Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election. In the case of Democrats today, the party is still on the back foot following the colossal electoral rebuke they endured in November 2024 after Kamala Harris stepped in to replace Biden at the top of the ticket.

Some party moderates still believe that "a lot of Democratic voters didn't come out because they were appalled at the vice president just getting to step in for the president, even though that was her job! Another perceived coronation, from her eyes, is just going to exacerbate the brand problem," Chand suggested.

"Without a leader, every legislator is responding to what they think is the reason for the loss," he told Blaze News.

“The Republican leadership chain is much more vertical and much more linear because the party is still led by Donald Trump," Foxwell told Blaze News. "It is still absolutely Donald Trump's party, and Mike Johnson toes the Donald Trump line, period full stop. It's easy when you have an outsized leader at the top to set the substance, the tone, and the stylistic direction of the party."

"We don't have that, and we haven't had it in more than a decade, even with the four-year interim with Joe Biden," Foxwell added. "He was not what one would consider a strong party leader.”

Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The shortcomings of the directionless Democratic Party culminated on November 4, 2024, when Trump swept all seven swing states and secured impressive electoral gains across nearly every demographic.

"Exit polls are something like tabular tarot cards — you see what you want to see in them. They reveal more about you than they do the world," Chand told Blaze News. "It's unreasonable to rely on them too much, but post-election surveys are very, very revealing. This kind of loss is a catastrophe that is decades in the making. It's bigger than one candidate in 100 days or one term. We lost share with everyone except affluent white people. That's a Reagan-level defeat [over Walter Mondale], for similar reasons."

"Right now our party is in the midst of one of its periodic transitions in which the establishment wing is in a battle for primacy with its progressive insurgent wing. It's taking on philosophical overtones, but also generational ones," Foxwell told Blaze News. "It's not just that the old-school leadership represented by Pelosi was perhaps philosophically out of sync with some of these younger, more progressive insurgents, but she also came from a different generation."

While Republicans comfortably dominate the political landscape, Democrats are trying to find their own identity. New York progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani have emerged as rising stars in their party and as a rebuke to establishment figures like Schumer and even Pelosi. Other figures, like Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and even failed candidate Kamala Harris, seem to be scoping out the competition.

Even with a range of politicians to choose from, the first step Democrats need to take is zoom out and understand their electoral failures.

"Nobody sees this coming," Chand told Blaze News. "I think we're going to lose until we win. And when people figure out what it takes, we will win. I think we all need to take a very big dose of humility."

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Grand Obama ‘conspiracy’: The truth NYT tried to bury

Obama’s deep state tried to destroy Donald Trump, and in a recent New York Times article titled, “Trump Loyalists Push ‘Grand Conspiracy’ as New Subpoenas Land,” the publication is clearly trying to lie — claiming there’s no proof of that.

“Their theory of the case, still unsupported by the evidence: A cabal of Democrats and ‘deep state’ operatives, possibly led by former President Barack Obama, has worked to destroy Mr. Trump in a years-long plot spanning the inquiry into his 2016 campaign to the charge he faced after leaving office,” the article reads.

BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales, however, has the receipts.

“The New York Times actually spent time and money on this to try to rewrite the narrative of what actually happened — what we watched happen. Multiple years, multiple years — hard evidence of what this actually was.”

“So here’s what actually happened, New York Times,” she continues. “Obama, and his deep state operatives — which very much are still alive and well, actually — did conspire to try and undermine Trump at every step the second he announced his candidacy.”

Gonzales points to the disproven Russiagate hoax and the surveillance for President Trump’s campaign — which Obama “knew about.”

“They abused the FISA court system to tap his phones. Remember when President Trump was like, ‘They’re spying on me. President Obama’s spying on me.’ And they were like, ‘What a crazy right-wing nutjob.’ No, I mean, it turns out he was right. It was happening,” she explains.

“And on top of that, Tulsi Gabbard just this year released a report proving that not only do we know that Russiagate was a total hoax, not only do we know that they literally spent, like, what, two years, millions of taxpayer dollars, to investigate the thing that they already knew wasn’t true,” she says.

“And when I say ‘they,’ I mean from the very top, the president of the United States at that time, Barack Obama, was in on the whole thing,” she adds.

“There is irrefutable evidence that details how President Obama and his national security team directed the creation of an intelligence community assessment that they knew was false. They knew it would promote this contrived narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help President Trump win, selling it to the American people as though it were true,” Gabbard said at a White House press conference.

“It wasn’t. The report that we released today shows in great detail how they carried this out. They manufactured findings from shoddy sources. They suppressed evidence and credible intelligence that disproved their false claims. They disobeyed traditional tradecraft intelligence community standards and withheld the truth from the American people,” she continued.

“In doing so, they conspired to subvert the will of the American people who elected Donald Trump in that election in November of 2016. They worked with their partners in the media to promote this lie, ultimately to undermine the legitimacy of President Trump and launching what would be a years-long coup against him and his administration,” she added.

“Like, how much more evidence do you need, New York Times?” Gonzales asks, adding, “These are official documents.”

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Sorry, Ladies, Radical Politicians Such As Mamdani Are No Substitute For A Husband

The young feminists who helped elect Zohran Mamdani would rather have apartments and pets than houses and families.

Woman Who Harassed Stephen Miller’s Family at Their Home Is Harmless Academic ‘In the Field of Peace Studies,’ Her Lawyer Argues

The woman who posted flyers exposing White House adviser Stephen Miller’s address and calling for "NO NAZIS" in Northern Virginia is a harmless academic "in the field of peace studies," her lawyer claimed.

The post Woman Who Harassed Stephen Miller’s Family at Their Home Is Harmless Academic ‘In the Field of Peace Studies,’ Her Lawyer Argues appeared first on .

Michelle Obama claims to wield fashion against ‘angry, bitter, black woman’ stereotype

Former first lady Michelle Obama has published a new book called “The Look,” which details her fashion choices throughout Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate campaign, her time in the White House, and today.

“American culture is part of our soft power, and fashion is part of our culture. How did you wield it?” Stephen Colbert asked Obama while promoting her new book on “The Late Show.”

“Carefully, thoughtfully, strategically,” Obama replied.

“When did you realize it was something to wield?” Colbert asked.

“I think right away. I mean, the campaign was beautiful, but you know, I felt the politics of it fast. I learned a lot of lessons about what I had to look out for and how quickly people were willing to take my story and distort it. So I knew very quickly that I had to control every aspect of how I showed up in the world,” she replied.

“It was a race to let the country learn me from me before they learned this other crazy woman that they were talking about, the angry, bitter, black woman that was a terrorist and a danger to her country and didn’t love her country,” she continued.

BlazeTV host Pat Gray isn’t having it, playing an old audio clip of Obama saying, “For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country.”

“For the first time in her adult life, because her husband was nominated for president of the United States, she was then finally proud of her country,” Gray says, annoyed, before playing another audio clip.

“Stereotypes and misconceptions. It makes you feel justified in your ignorance. That’s America,” she said in the old clip.

“We are going to have to make sacrifices. We are going to have to change our conversation. We’re going to have to change our traditions, our history. We’re going to have to move into a different place,” Obama said in another other clip.

“She’s never said one nice thing about this country, nor any kind of self-awareness on her part of anything. She is absolutely — just don’t run for president," executive producer Keith Malinak chimes in.

“She’s not going to,” Gray says, adding, “she hates the country too much.”

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Leftism Unleashed? Obama Tells Democrats 'Not To Impose Litmus Tests' for Candidates After Mamdani's Win.

Former president Barack Obama on Thursday told Democrats "not to impose litmus tests" for candidates as he encouraged his party to embrace socialist Zohran Mamdani's mayoral win in New York City.

The post Leftism Unleashed? Obama Tells Democrats 'Not To Impose Litmus Tests' for Candidates After Mamdani's Win. appeared first on .

Democrat senator makes stunning admission about Obamacare failures

Democratic Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont made a shocking admission on the Senate floor while trying to defend the Democrat shutdown.

Congress is now well into a record-long government shutdown, and it all started when Democrats demanded an extension on Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Even though this Obamacare extension is at the core of Democrats' professed opposition to reopening the government, even Welch acknowledged the failures of the very system they want to uphold.

'Only three Democrats have crossed the aisle.'

"I owe you an answer on why it is I'm standing here today asking to extend something that was temporary," Welch said. "Here's the reason."

"We did fail to bring down the cost of health care."

The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, was signed into law in 2010 and began to be implemented a few years later.

Photo by Eric Lee/Getty Images

In addition to propping up a flawed health care system, Democrats have also insisted on passing their own $1.5 trillion spending bill that would reverse every legislative accomplishment from President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act as soon as they reopened the government.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans have held over a dozen votes on their clean continuing resolution that would reopen and fund the government at Biden-era spending levels that Democrats overwhelmingly voted for in the past.

Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Despite Republicans' attempt to pass a clean nonpartisan funding bill, only three Democrats have crossed the aisle and voted to reopen the government. Because of the 60-vote threshold, Republicans need at least five more Senate Democrats to vote in favor of their bill, which seems less and less likely as the shutdown continues.

Because of this stalemate, Trump has repeatedly called for Senate Majority Leader John Thune to eliminate the filibuster, which would allow Republicans to pass their funding bill with a simple majority. Thune, a longtime institutionalist, has always defended the filibuster and has been firm about keeping it.

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Nancy Pelosi announces retirement after nearly 4 decades in Congress

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Thursday that she will not seek re-election after nearly four decades serving in Congress.

Pelosi was first elected to the House in 1987 to represent California and eventually became the first female speaker of the House. Pelosi served as speaker from 2007 to 2011 under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and again from 2019 to 2023 under Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

A successor has not been named.

"For decades, I've cherished the privilege of representing our magnificent city in the United States Congress," Pelosi said in a video posted on X.

"That is why I want you, my fellow San Franciscans, to be the first to know," Pelosi said. "I will not be seeking re-election to Congress."

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Although she has announced she will step aside after this term, a successor has not been named to run to represent California's 11th District.

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

"With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative," Pelosi said.

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Obama-endorsed Democrat wins NJ governor race amid polling station bomb threats

Democrat candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill was elected to serve as New Jersey governor Tuesday night, defeating Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli.

Sherrill narrowly won with 56.9% of the vote, while Ciattarellisecured 42.5%, according to the Associated Press. Although Trump made strides in New Jersey during the 2024 election, his popularity did not translate to other Republican candidates in the state.

The morning of the election, multiple bomb threats were made.

Leading up to the election, Ciattarelli managed to close a nearly double-digit polling Democrat advantage into low-single-digit race. Despite Ciattarelli's growing momentum in the final weeks of his campaign, the Republican lost his third bid for governor of the Garden State.

Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The morning of the election, multiple bomb threats were made across seven counties, disrupting voters at various poll sites, including five counties with the largest numbers of registered voters. Despite the threats, law enforcement did not find any devices, and an arrest was made in connection with the threats.

Voting resumed safely in the state following the threats, and residents eventually elected the New Jersey Democrat to helm the state.

While Ciattarelli ran with a key endorsement from President Donald Trump, the Republican also secured the support of many local Democrats, including Garfield Mayor Everett Garnto, who changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in the same announcement.

Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images

“It’s not just Republicans who are crying out for change,” Ciattarelli told a crowd following Garnto's endorsement. “It’s unaffiliated, independent voters and, yes, even moderate Democrats who’ve come to the realization that this current administration has failed.”

Sherill also secured a high-profile endorsement from former President Barack Obama, who praised her "integrity, grit, and commitment to service."

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