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Opinion: Have Democrats finally stopped wimping out?

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Opinion: Have Democrats finally stopped wimping out?

For years now, the single most common complaint I’ve heard from Democrats is that their party doesn’t fight as hard, and never dirty, like Republicans do — they don’t bring guns to a gunfight. Since 2016, I’ve heard that rap from Republicans too: Never-Trump types express surprise and exasperation that their Democratic comrades in arms against the former president don’t, well, take up arms politically.

Democratic pols will concede as much: They worry about how they might come off to the poli-sci profs, pundits and civic-minded idealists. Their good-government bent is commendable. But getting bested repeatedly by the likes of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is not.

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Jackie Calmes

Jackie Calmes brings a critical eye to the national political scene. She has decades of experience covering the White House and Congress.

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”One of us is playing with a rolling pin, and the other is fighting with a gun,” an aide to Senate leaders once told me, frustrated that Democrats were adhering to Marquess of Queensberry rules as Republicans busted norms to pack the federal courts. “We always bring a butter knife to a gunfight,” longtime Democratic strategist Brian Fallon similarly groused not long ago.

Fallon felt that so strongly that Democrats were wimping out that in 2017 he co-founded a liberal activist group, Demand Justice, to give the left a more combative approach in judicial confirmation contests. He recently left the group for a job in the Biden campaign, as the communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris. That’s good: Democrats need scrappers, lots of ’em, and the ever-cautious Harris in particular needs communications firepower.

Even better signs of a more fired-up Democratic Party have emerged lately, just as Biden and Trump each secured their respective parties’ nominations Tuesday with wins in several states’ primary contests.

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One sign was Biden’s plucky State of the Union address last week, in which he took a baker’s dozen shots at “my predecessor” and parried House Republicans’ taunts like a smiling Dark Brandon come to life, shooting red lasers from his eyes. To hear Republicans carp afterward that Biden was too partisan gave new meaning to the pot calling the kettle black.

Another indication of an amped-up Democratic offense was news of a big $30-million Biden campaign ad buy, along with the president’s busy stumping schedule in battleground states and the campaign’s plans to hire hundreds of aides. The first ad was a good one, too, featuring a lively Biden poking fun at his age, noting his achievements, drawing contrasts with Trump and, appropriately, promising “to fight for you.”

And on Tuesday came some evidence that other Democrats will have Biden’s back. Those on the House Judiciary Committee came loaded for bear to the hearing that the majority Republicans held showcasing Robert Hur, a Republican and the former special counsel whose recent report on Biden’s handling of classified materials included damaging commentary about the president’s age and alleged “diminished faculties.”

The committee’s Democrats, notably California Reps. Ted Lieu, Adam B. Schiff and Eric Swalwell, appropriately focused less on Hur’s asides about mental lapses and more on his report’s conclusions that “no criminal charges are warranted” against Biden (compared to 41 felony counts against Trump). And that despite Republicans’ claims to the contrary, what Biden did with top-secret documents was in no way comparable to the far more serious allegations against Trump for conspiracy and false statements.

The committee Democrats didn’t ignore the issue of age and mental acuity; they simply turned it against Trump. Several of them came, yes, armed — with video montages of the former president’s verbal flubs, slurred words and non sequiturs at recent MAGA rallies.

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But Democrats’ more typical lack of fight explains why Hur, a former Trump Justice Department official, was tapped as special counsel — by Biden’s Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland — in the first place. Democrats, wanting to be seen as fair, keep giving Republicans a virtual monopoly on independent counsel jobs each time Washington decides it needs another high-profile investigation. Whether the person being investigated is a Democrat (Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton) or a Republican (Donald Trump), Democrats have supported having a Republican prosecutor.

Republicans don’t reciprocate.

David Brock, now a Democratic operative but notorious in the 1990s as a ruthless, right-wing scourge of the Clintons, a few years ago confessed to me his occasional irritation with his new party for its punch-pulling, say, by rejecting a line of attack as somehow unfair.

“Now, that’s nothing that I ever experienced as a young conservative,” he told me. “There’s a different ethic.”

“Republicans just want the result, they just want to get there, they want the win,” Brock added. Democrats, on the other hand, “do a lot of hand-wringing about how to get there,” about whether they are being respectful of the “process.”

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And yet, ask most Republican voters and they’ll tell you that it’s Democrats who are the dirty fighters, cheating in elections and weaponizing the government against their foes, chiefly Trump. Because that is what Trump tells them.

That’s Republicans’ dirtiest play of all. Lying to their own voters.

This election year will likely be as mean as any in memory. Here’s hoping I’m correct that Biden and the Democrats have sheathed the butter knives and shelved the rolling pins. It’s not like Trump hasn’t given them the ammunition for a gunfight.

@jackiekcalmes

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Video: Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows

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Video: Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows

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Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows

Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota abandoned his re-election bid to focus on handling a scandal over fraud in social service programs that grew under his administration.

“I’ve decided to step out of this race, and I’ll let others worry about the election while I focus on the work that’s in front of me for the next year.” “All right, so this is Quality Learing Center — meant to say Quality ‘Learning’ Center.” “Right now we have around 56 kids enrolled. If the children are not here, we mark absence.”

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Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota abandoned his re-election bid to focus on handling a scandal over fraud in social service programs that grew under his administration.

By Shawn Paik

January 6, 2026

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Pelosi heir-apparent calls Trump’s Venezuela move a ‘lawless coup,’ urges impeachment, slams Netanyahu

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Pelosi heir-apparent calls Trump’s Venezuela move a ‘lawless coup,’ urges impeachment, slams Netanyahu

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A San Francisco Democrat demanded the impeachment of President Donald Trump, accusing him of carrying out a “coup” against Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.

California state Sen. Scott Wiener, seen as the likely congressional successor to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, also took a swipe at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Wiener has frequently drawn national attention for his progressive positions, including his legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom designating California as a “refuge” for transgender children and remarks at a San Francisco Pride Month event referring to California children as “our kids.”

In a lengthy public statement following the Trump administration’s arrest and extradition of Maduro to New York, Wiener said the move shows the president only cares about “enriching his public donors” and “cares nothing for the human or economic cost of conquering another country.”

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KAMALA HARRIS BLASTS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S CAPTURE OF VENEZUELA’S MADURO AS ‘UNLAWFUL AND UNWISE’

California State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, speaks at a rally. (John Sciulli/Getty Images)

“This lawless coup is an invitation for China to invade Taiwan, for Russia to escalate its conquest in Ukraine, and for Netanyahu to expand the destruction of Gaza and annex the West Bank,” said Wiener, who originally hails from South Jersey.

He suggested that the Maduro operation was meant to distract from purportedly slumping poll numbers, the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents, and to essentially seize another country’s oil reserves.

“Trump is a total failure,” Wiener said. “By engaging in this reckless act, Trump is also making the entire world less safe … Trump is making clear yet again that, under this regime, there are no rules, there are no laws, there are no norms – there is only whatever Trump thinks is best for himself and his cronies at a given moment in time.”

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GREENE HITS TRUMP OVER VENEZUELA STRIKES, ARGUES ACTION ‘DOESN’T SERVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE’

In response, the White House said the administration’s actions against Maduro were “lawfully executed” and included a federal arrest warrant.”

“While Democrats take twisted stands in support of indicted drug smugglers, President Trump will always stand with victims and families who can finally receive closure thanks to this historic action,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.

Supporters of the operation have pushed back on claims of “regime change” – an accusation Wiener also made – pointing to actions by Maduro-aligned courts that barred top opposition leader María Corina Machado from running, even as publicly reported results indicated her proxy, Edmundo González Urrutia, won the vote.

“Trump’s illegal invasion of Venezuela isn’t about drugs, and it isn’t about helping the people of Venezuela or restoring Venezuelan democracy,” Wiener added. “Yes, Maduro is awful, but that’s not what the invasion is about. It’s all about oil and Trump’s collapsing support at home.”

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EX-ESPN STAR KEITH OLBERMANN CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT OF TRUMP OVER VENEZUELA STRIKES THAT CAPTURED MADURO

Around the country, a handful of other Democrats referenced impeachment or impeachable offenses, but did not go as far as Wiener in demanding such proceedings.

Rep. April McClain-Delaney, D-Md., who represents otherwise conservative “Mountain Maryland” in the state’s panhandle, said Monday that Democrats should “imminently consider impeachment proceedings,” according to TIME.

McClain-Delaney said Trump acted without constitutionally-prescribed congressional authorization and wrongly voiced “intention to ‘run’ the country.”

SCHUMER BLASTED TRUMP FOR FAILING TO OUST MADURO — NOW WARNS ARREST COULD LEAD TO ‘ENDLESS WAR’

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One frequent Trump foil, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., cited in a statement that she has called for Trump’s impeachment in the past; blaming Republicans for letting the president “escape accountability.”

“Today, many Democrats have understandably questioned whether impeachment is possible again under the current political reality. I am reconsidering that view,” Waters said. 

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“What we are witnessing is an unprecedented escalation of an unlawful invasion, the detention of foreign leaders, and a president openly asserting power far beyond what the Constitution allows,” she said, while appearing to agree with Trump that Maduro was involved in drug trafficking and “collaborat[ion] with… terrorists.”

Wiener’s upcoming primary is considered the deciding election in the D+36 district, while a handful of other lesser-known candidates have reportedly either filed FEC paperwork or declared their candidacy, including San Francisco Councilwoman Connie Chan.

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California Congressman Doug LaMalfa dies, further narrowing GOP margin in Congress

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California Congressman Doug LaMalfa dies, further narrowing GOP margin in Congress

California Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) has died, GOP leadership and President Trump confirmed Tuesday morning.

“Jacquie and I are devastated about the sudden loss of our friend, Congressman Doug LaMalfa. Doug was a loving father and husband, and staunch advocate for his constituents and rural America,” said Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the House majority whip, in a post on X. “Our prayers are with Doug’s wife, Jill, and their children.”

LaMalfa, 65, was a fourth-generation rice farmer from Oroville and staunch Trump supporter who had represented his Northern California district for the past 12 years. His seat was one of several that was in jeopardy under the state’s redrawn districts approved by voters with Proposition 50.

Emergency personnel responded to a 911 call from LaMalfa’s residence at 6:50 p.m. Monday, according to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. The congressman was taken to the Enloe Medical Center in Chico, where he died while undergoing emergency surgery, authorities said.

An autopsy to determine the cause of death is planned, according to the sheriff’s office.

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LaMalfa’s district — which stretches from the northern outskirts of Sacramento, through Redding at the northern end of the Central Valley and Alturas in the state’s northeast corner — is largely rural, and constituents have long said they felt underrepresented in liberal California.

LaMalfa put much of his focus on boosting federal water supplies to farmers, and seeking to reduce environmental restrictions on logging and extraction of other natural resources.

One LaMalfa’s final acts in the U.S. House was to successfully push for the reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools Act, a long-standing financial aid program for schools surrounded by untaxed federal forest land, whose budgets could not depend upon property taxes, as most public schools do. Despite broad bipartisan support, Congress let it lapse in 2023.

In an interview with The Times as he was walking onto the House floor in mid-December, LaMalfa said he was frustrated with Congress’s inability to pass even a popular bill like that reauthorization.

The Secure Rural Schools Act, he said, was a victim of a Congress in which “it’s still an eternal fight over anything fiscal.” It is “annoying,” LaMalfa said, “how hard it is to get basic things done around here.”

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In a statement posted on X, California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said he considered LaMalfa “a friend and partner” and that the congressman was “deeply committed to his community and constituents, working to make life better for those he represented.”

“Doug’s life was one of great service and he will be deeply missed,” Schiff wrote.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement called LaMalfa a “devoted public servant who deeply loved his country, his state, and the communities he represented.”

“While we often approached issues from different perspectives, he fought every day for the people of California with conviction and care,” Newsom said.

Flags at the California State Capitol in Sacramento will be flown at half-staff in honor of the congressman, according to the governor.

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Before his death, LaMalfa was facing a difficult reelection bid to hold his seat. After voters approved Proposition 50 in November — aimed at giving California Democrats more seats in Congress — LaMalfa was drawn into a new district that heavily favored his likely opponent, State Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat who represents the state’s northwest coast.

LaMalfa’s death puts the Republican majority in Congress in further jeopardy, with a margin of just two votes to secure passage of any bill along party lines after the resignation of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday evening.

Adding to the party’s troubles, Rep. Jim Baird, a Republican from Indiana, was hospitalized on Tuesday for a car crash described by the White House as serious. While Baird is said to be stable, the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson from Louisiana, will not be able to rely on his attendance. And he has one additional caucus member – Thomas Massie of Kentucky – who has made a habit of voting against the president, bringing their margin for error down effectively to zero.

President Trump, addressing a gathering of GOP House members at the Kennedy Center, addressed the news at the start of his remarks, expressing “tremendous sorrow at the loss of a great member” and stating his speech would be made in LaMalfa’s honor.

“He was the leader of the Western caucus – a fierce champion on California water issues. He was great on water. ‘Release the water!’ he’d scream out. And a true defender of American children.”

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“You know, he voted with me 100% of the time,” Trump added.

A native of Oroville, LaMalfa attended Butte College and then earned an ag-business degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He served in the California Assembly from 2002 to 2008 and the California State Senate from 2010 to 2012. Staunchly conservative, he was an early supporter of Proposition 209, which ended affirmative action in California, and he also pushed for passage of the Protection of Marriage Act, Proposition 22, which banned same-sex marriage in California.

While representing California’s 1st District, LaMalfa focused largely on issues affecting rural California and other western states. In 2025, Congressman he was elected as Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, which focuses on legislation affected rural areas.

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