I disagree that it would be madness especially given Democrats are coming in with such a sizable lead where it could be used. Imo they can use it in 2027 and in 2029.

Playing it too safe and visibly accomplishing nothing for two years has a real chance of stopping the wave which I think is a valid concern given how 2024 went.

They won’t if they’re not pressed to do so. Contacting your Senators can have an impact to show it’s what we the people want at the least.

Their ‘No’ votes in the House and Senate will still be on record in either case so we can still bring that up come 2028.

So Trump, the figurehead of the Republicans whether in office or out, can try to field the blame but the rest of the party still looks bad since the ‘No’ votes go on record as well. Especially so if Democrats attempt to overturn any of the vetoes directly as they can point to both Trump and the Republicans in Congress as the hold-up.

The Republican politicians are already motivated as are their donors. The American people currently, at large, are much more motivated for the Democrats because they’re trusting we will try to implement changes. If we fail to deliver then that’s where Republicans will be motivated to turn up to vote for Republicans and Democrats could be frustrated and not turn up.

The benefit now is the headlines of “X bill passes House and Senate by Democrats in record time and number” for the next two years. Let them have to veto the bills, but passing them does matter to show Democrats are showing up to work everyday for these next two years. If we get even something helpful passed because we got rid of the filibuster it’ll help motivate Democrats to turn out again in record numbers.

We can easily pick up another handful of Senate seats if we’re passing helpful legislation these next two years.

If it gets vetoed they can still attempt to overturn the veto and show a count of how many Republicans did not try to overturn the veto.

Trump still has a hold on some of his base, but that base has shrunk significantly.

Even if everything gets vetoed and we fail to overturn the vetoes, it still matters because say Trump/Vance get impeached pre-2028, then the House Majority leader becomes President and the Senate Majority leader becomes VP. With the filibuster gone, they can start signing legislation into law at a quick speed with no filibuster holdups.

We need to ride the laurels of the win. If legislation sits in the Senate, and only a bill or two goes through after months of reconciliation only to get vetoed, which then causes a government shutdown because it’s a spending bill, then Dems make concessions that get us a nothing-burger for two years and they lose their momentum.

Meanwhile if the legislature passed bills back to back but they’re getting vetoed then they can point to Trump and Republicans as standing in the way of what the American people want. There’s a chance Trump doesn’t veto but just doesn’t sign the bills, which make them go into law anyways after 10 days. There’s no way we get 60 or more Senate seats in 2028 if we don’t push tooth and nail now.

We’ve seen what happens when a Senate doesn’t pass anything before. That’s what killed all our momentum back during the Obama era because the public sees it more as a failure of politicians to work things out between themselves.

Sen. Schumer can make it clear if he intends to drop the filibuster. But both he and Rep. Jeffries have not set a clear message that they are for Medicare For All which would be a huge for the American people yet alone some of the other things I mentioned. Dems have a shot to actually pick up seats this go-around if they have ambition. Similarly, a strong Dem candidate running for President in 2028 will help seal the deal as well, assuming Dems have shown they have done everything they can for the American people over these next two years.

Wins on implementing these policies now could create progressive changes lasting a generation and likely give Democrats a supermajority for years as well.

If the full documents come up as well as the handling of Iran, then there could be 10 Republican Senators that vote that way. If not, at least they’ll be on record for how they voted which is also something many of them would want to avoid.

I expect they’ll pull from Mitch’s playbook at the minimum, so shutting down the filibuster option has to be one of the first focus points. Once the Senate rules are in place we can’t retroactively get rid of the filibuster, and they stay in place for two years.

At this point, surely many of them must have something on each other. I think you’re onto something with many congresspeople being implicated to some degree or another.

There’s a chance he could get impeached as well - should investigations become the core focus, assuming he’s not rubber stamping legislation.

We need a new Senate majority leader. We need someone not afraid to drop the filibuster day one.

If we keep the filibuster in place we waste our House and Senate majorities.

We can pass Medicare For All, federally protect access to abortion, undo Citizens United, pass legislation to allow states to have Citizens Ballot initiatives, bring back a broader version of the Fairness Doctrine, expand the court with term limits, uncap the House, give D.C. and Puerto Rico the option for statehood, and much more.

If Democrats are afraid of losing their lead in 2028, then the surest way to ensure they gain more seats in the House and Senate is by actually passing positive change now in this rare moment where they actually can. The surest way they can do that is not wasting two years getting blocked by the filibuster with only one or two bills passing through reconciliation only to then get vetoed.

A veto’s not a big deal since you can amend the bill slightly and it’s suddenly a new bill. If the veto gets used on say Medicare For All, then put more time into investigations since they will have shown they don’t care about what the American people care about and it will be on record.

I have some doubts that he even considers a possibility of investigations leading to any convictions for him. His ego wouldn’t allow him to worry about that I feel.

Trump almost seems like the type that would flip his principles in a heartbeat if he personally felt that he’d look more popular because of it. Given their whole shtick fell so hard now in 2026 I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts trying to spin being “for” some more popular issues.

Although he cares about personal enrichment over perceived popularity as well. So who knows what happens next.

I think I can see the incentive to have lawyers present, since Mississippi specifically has no laws on the books to initiate a formal recount. Any attempt from either party could be dismissed by a judge - if without cause - due to there being no formal process to initiate a recount.

California is its own beast.

Peoples lives have not really been getting better because of federal politics, but moreso Newsom shutting the door on progressive legislation.

Blue voters haven’t had a strong urgency to show up since the state is already blue, so people feel that showing up to vote has less impact. Big tech companies are spending millions on ads to confuse voters. Many of the measures also were seemingly written in a confusing way.

What doesn’t get mentioned more is culturally it feels like people have been fending more for themselves with all these cost of living increases. People drive and act selfishly constantly. There’s a noticeable difference in the way people from SoCal or NorCal are living compared to say Oregon or Washington. I would say people I’ve interacted with living in the later two seem much happier on average compared to the slog of the freeway ‘go, go, go’ atmosphere plaguing California.

I think the national wave of blue will do a lot of good for reminding Californians that there is hope out there. Plus, the new governor may be a bit more likely than Newsom to let some progressive legislation pass.

So many people feel hopeless in California right now. The prospects of owning a home, starting a family, and/or retiring becomes less possible by the day even if you have a good job as a young person. People still are voting, but without the progressive policies that are desperately needed it’s becoming tough. Hopefully we see progressive federal policies make it through since that could do a lot of good at making life better for Californians.

Also, California desperately needs a Mamdani style person to come to light. Someone that can motivate sweeping progressive changes through passion and care.

The industry I do have a strong distaste for, but there is a culture around it I’m wary of as well. There’s times I’ll join a discord for games and the pastime of many college age guys is to start up a game of gambling between rounds of video games.

The industry makes it easy, but culture plays in a bit as well since you might not want to be missing out. You hear more of the stories of win streaks or big payouts, but the losses in between get swept under the rug. The industry does change it from something fun to something with actual consequences though, especially with those higher buy-ins these days.

If you have self-control it’s fine like most other potential vices.

I’d personally rather avoid it to not promote the culture around it and because I know people that lost everything they owned from doing it.

Maybe opting in for the types of targeted ads you are okay with being exposed to but not personally targeted ads?

So maybe I’m okay with opting in for ads about video games or movies in my primary language, but I personally would not opt-in for ads for gambling sites. Also, I’m okay with advertiser knowing their ad went to someone that opted in to see that genre of ads, but not tying that ad data to specific individuals because that’s weird.