A petition calling on House Democrats not to support House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as the next Speaker has hit 500,000 signatures, according to its creator.
It follows the Democratsā dramatic midterm election victory that saw the party flip both the Senate and the House of Representatives, which will lead to a new Senate Majority Leader and Speaker of the House.
The petition, which labels Jeffries part of the āDemocratic establishment,ā suggests Democratic leaders are likely to remain under pressure from their partyās left-wing over both personal and policy choices. It was created by Nicole Whitted, an author and Democratic supporting social media creator with over 210,000 followers on TikTok.
For those who donāt want to give newsweek a click: https://www.change.org/p/house-democrats-choose-a-new-speaker
Currently at 881,098 signatures, including mine now.
Close to a million signatures now!
This is becoming my copy pasta moment. But Hakeem Jeffriesā¦letās start with his charisma. His charisma is more akin to that of a Home Depot bag of paver sand. You search through the poorly stacked pile selecting the one with the least holes. Yet, despite that effort, it still spills itās contents all over the cart on the way to the register. Not a good look. But useful if you are doing what he is good at doing. Laying the foundation for your country to get paved over by corporate donors.
If that does not speak for itself, then consider this. As a potential Speaker, Mr. Jeffries would face the immense challenge of uniting a fractured party that has not managed to maintain a large and diverse tent of voters since Debbie Wasserman Schultz declared Bernie a non-starter. Mr. Jeffries is simply not capable of standing firm in the face of political opposition. Donāt take my word for it. Perhaps, instead, the ever present consumer advocate Ralph Nader may sway you:
More introspection may lead you to ask yourself whether you are up to leading the House Democrats in their immense and immediate tasks of policy and program restorations and adopting our Constitutionās mandated Congressional independence from the Presidency for the protection and advancement of the livelihoods, peace and freedoms of the American people. There is no indication that you are so willing and prepared. Unfortunately.
His record in Congress has not demonstrated the kind of bold, decisive leadership that the position of Speaker demands. Instead, he has often been seen as a cautious, moderate voice. Dare I say, a voice coming from a very real human (I swear) with a spine made of NeeDoh.
Letās be frank. In times of crisis or when tough decisions must be made, the leader of the Democratic Party and Speaker of the House is not merely about personality. I understand that. Such positions require a deep understanding of the legislative process, the ability to negotiate, and the resilience to withstand the political pressures that come with the position. Jeffries has not consistently shown these traits in his career. For any informed observers, this must raise serious questions about his suitability for such a high-stakes role.
Finally, to convey my firm belief that Mr. Jeffries is not the right person for the leadership role come January, I paraphrase the amazing Forest Whitaker in his role as PFC Edward Garlick in āGood Morning Vietnamā
Hakeem Jeffries sucks the sweat off a dead manās balls. I have no idea what that means, sir, but it seems very negative to me.
He made secretive deals with Jared Kushner
Heās a centrist in the hardest left house weāve had in decades
He represents the Democratic elite that lost to Trump in 2024, ushering in the most damaging US presidency in living memory
Yeah, they should tabula rasa all of the old guard before moving forward.
And remember this little thing:
https://vger.to/lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/49344563
27 times different women have come forward and been ignored. The great orange one raped them.
Jeffries says the agenda is not about āgetting evenā, what heās really saying is he wonāt allow any real accountability for criminals because they are fellow politicians. Heās clearly not fit for the job.
There is nothing in the rules that says the speaker has to be a member of the house, so I say we push for a speaker who will bring some accountability to the criminals throughout our government and demand that Democrats elect Jack Smith as Speaker of the House.
Letās have Jon Stewart as Speaker of the House.
Good point! Does the law say that the Speaker has to be a member of the House?
The constitution does not explicitly say that the Speaker must be a member of congress. However, the Speaker always has been one.
As a part the change we need, Democrats need to move beyond the establishment. I signed it.
If youāre going to do one thing, contact your Rep and Senator and tell them to change leadership. Itāll carry more weight than a change.org petition.
(Yes, I know thatās technically two things).
Yep - already sent this to my rep:
Now that the democratic party will have a majority in both houses of Congress, I and your constituents, along with democrats across the country, demand an end to the lackluster democratic leadership currently in place. We require new majority leaders that will actually hold Trump and his allies responsible for the many crimes that they have committed against this country and others worldwide. Please lend your support to candidates that will support action against this criminal behavior. Justice is what will ultimately help our nation to heal, not āmoving onā or ignoring what has happened.
Are you sending it to your current rep, or the one that just got elected? Same for senator?
Iām just not sure the best way to reach out to a politician-elect if they havenāt even taken office yet
No harm in doing both. Sending an email is easy. Could take a little while for Congress freshmen to get their office communication systems set up.
Contact your representatives and sign the Change org petition. It shows public pressure and only takes a few minutes, so why not?
Because nobody cares about change.org petitions except the people who sign them.
Big brain move, convince Democrat members of Congress to sign the petition so they care about it and then they will pick a new speaker.
Now how do we convince them to sign it? Maybe to compel that signature we can put together some kind of petitionā¦
I was initially writing a reply about how my districtās incumbent Republican unfortunately won by less than a percent but that Iām with yāall in spirit, and I looked it up to verify that the difference hadnāt changed. Fuck me, I missed that we elected who will now be my first Democrat House Representative. First Democrat to represent the district covering my hometown since the 30s lmao. So, thanks for the reminder to check the results after the initial disappointment, lol.
Congrats! And put in your name to phone bank for 'em next time!
Iām in Florida. I donāt have anyone I can contact.
(In sorry, we tried.)
I sent angry voicemails to all of my representatives before the midterms. My capacity for action has been met for a bit. I do not have room in my brain for more political action right now.
Plus, I gave my info to the local election people so I could volunteer for elections next go around. Iām doing my part.
Big fan of https://5calls.org/.
Even if Iām calling about something that is not a listed topic. In that case, Iāll
- click on the first topic and get the phone numbers off of it for the House rep
- hit Skip when Iām done instead of Made Contact or Voicemail. This, I think, avoids counting it as a contact on that specific topic, so I donāt mess up their numbers.
- repeat steps 1 and 2 for both Senators.
In other words, I use their site and/or app (Apple here, Android here) to just spoonfeed me the phone numbers of my representatives. So easy, less friction, and the easy habits get kept.
Another option is to write down the numbers in your contacts once, naming them something like
111111 HouseRepName,111111 Senator1,111111 Senator 2to ensure they stay together and at the top of your contact list, and then run down the list calling.(Listing for onlookers, I know you probably know!)
Mine are both Republicans and have no sway in it.
The original concept of change.org was that average folks could petition leaders with the backing of many people. You didnāt earn money from petition-creation efforts.
According to the petition, āNicole Whitted is a Change Ambassador who receives compensation in connection with this petition.ā
I found myself wondering what a āChange Ambassadorā was, search said, "Ambassadors receive a flat advance payment plus performance-based compensationāoften ranging from $0.30 to $0.50 per signature collected over a specified period.
It seems that as of 2024, change.org has become a way to earn a small fortune. If she gets 50 cents for each signature, and this one hit half a million signatures, then she just made $250,000.
I really need to get into grifting. It seems very profitable.
The profiteriest.
So this person made somewhere between $150-250k for posting this? How do I become a Change Ambassador?
e: You have to have a social following of >100k. You get an upfront payment based on audience size, then performance-based payouts for each petition on top of that.
I didnāt know this was a thing, gross.
If someone tells you about something, ask you to do something, gives you anything, talks to you, says hello, looks at you, itās probably because they made a nickle by doing it.
Thatās the world we live in now.
But where does that moeny supposedly come from? Ads arenāt likely to generate that much per person signing.
I dunno. I could see campaigns being willing to pay a fair bit for a list of email addresses of people who care about a specific topic.
ICE or other three letter organizations would also pay for lists of people who care about certain things.
Thatās what I thought too. I decided the petition was more important, and there are lits of right wing people who are sick of AIPAC too.
Thats a pretty good point. That might map out.
Data harvesters.
It straight up asks you for money after you sign
But how many people give money? Very few. And of course I am sure the site takes a cut. Iām not saying there isnāt some payment. But the number seem off. Maybe it was .3 to .5 for paying signatures. That could work out.
What does it say the money is for?
Bribing/lobbying?
Currently 800k signatures and rising, so more then that.
If she gets 50 cents for each signature, and this one hit half a million signatures, then she just made $250,000.
Thatās of course scummy as hell, but you know what?
If it leads to the permanent ouster from leadership of that corrupt demagogue with zero charisma or other redeeming qualities, Iād say she earned it and should get double if she can do the same thing to Schumer too š¤·š»
I havenāt signed it, I have not decided that Jeffries is corrupt. I also find myself wondering about racism, whether thatās at play here. Further, republicans will now change their game, well come Jan 3, theyāre lame duck now. Take down the democratic leadership?
I am seeing this petition being posted in a lot of threads Iām reading this morning. With 50 cents per signature, thatās a good incentive to spam it all over the place.
Well, corrupt or not, he has said he doesnāt support going after the corrupt individuals in the current administration. That is enough of a reason for me to not want him in that job.
He has also said medicare for all is not possible.
if you havenāt made a decision yet about him being corrupted, you are either not paying attention or you are paying attention. either way your call that this is based on racism AND that we should not bother because republicans lost power anyways scream you are not being honest about your intentions.
I have not decided that Jeffries is corrupt
You havenāt decided that the Pacific Ocean is large either.
I also find myself wondering about racism, whether thatās at play here.
Fuck off with that bullshit. Jeffries is the hand picked protƩgƩ of Pelosi and in many ways is even more awful than her. His skin color and/or ethnicity has nothing to do with it.
republicans will now change their game
Bullshit. Itās not like they were passing much even WITH majorities in both chambers. Their main function was to not stop their Mango Messiah from constantly breaking the law.
In that aspect, ineffective and corrupt leaders like Jeffries and Schumer who havenāt ever met a fascist they donāt yearn to give concessions are not that different from the current fascists doing the same nothing because they support the crimes.
Take down the democratic leadership?
No. Replace them with others who actually represent the needs and wants of the majority of their constituency rather than the majority of donation dollars.
I am seeing this petition being posted in a lot of threads Iām reading this morning
Because a shitload of people agree that heās an embarrassment in desperate need for replacement.
With 50 cents per signature, thatās a good incentive to spam it all over the place.
Thatās only for the one who first posted it. Unless sheās illegally giving some posters a cut, nobody but she and the site are making any money from it being shared.
I was polite and respectful to you, and you tell me Iām full of bullshit, and donāt know the Pacific Ocean is large. Thatās all I need to know I donāt ever want to see another post of yours. Adios.
I was polite and respectful to you
Not really, no.
you tell me Iām full of bullshit
Because you are.
and donāt know the Pacific Ocean is large
No, that was just my way of illustrating how obviously corrupt Jeffries is regardless of whether youāve decided that itās true.
Thatās all I need to know I donāt ever want to see another post of yours. Adios.
I think I might manage to survive without your attention š
To be fair the only reason you were told that is because itās true.
Despite the downvotes, it sounds like you are responding in good faith. So Iāll say, Iāve been watching Jeffries for a long time, and he is not a fighter. He just makes tepid speeches for even more tepid action still.
I can say with rare confidence thereās no racism at play for me or the movement to oust him from leadership - everything I say about him is interchangeable with Schumer.
The bottom line is we need a wartime consigliere to seize this moment or weāll backslide in two years, and Jeffries aināt it.
You also may not have realized that you would be on their email list for the rest of your life.
Filters and blocking takes care of 99% of my junk
If itās truly a new political era, like the pundits have all claimed, then it stands to reason that we should embrace new leadership. I have very little faith in Schumer and Jefferies.
They let MAGA rise and re-rise, and theyāve done NOTHING since to demonstrate that theyāve earned or deserve a THIRD chance to fuck it up. Itās time for some competence in our government, and these two losers aināt it.
This really should be the nail in the coffin for them. Even if you donāt think theyāre corrupt factional warriors whose purpose is to stymie change, theyāve been in their positions forever and had no real successes to show for it.
At least Pelosi had the myth that she was a great vote counter and could wrangle representatives well. These two assholes are just incompetent losers.
I have very little faith in Schumer and Jefferies.
Thatās still a little too much
Get rid of him and get rid of Schumer. Get rid of anyone who supports Israel in their genocide and their apartheid state.
Get rid
Every two years there is a vote for leadershipā¦
Mainstream media immediately jumped on those two shitbirds as the default, but they have absolutely zero claim.
They donāt reflect the values of Dem voters, and theyāre both shitty leaders. There is zero reason to give them leadership, or to keep determining committee chairs based solely off seniority.
People are so used to how neoliberals ran shit for 30 years, they forget there is absolutely nothing making the next congress follow those bullshit traditions.
800,000 now
The House Speaker should be AOC. Jeffries will hinder the Democrats for 2028.
These soft democratic leaders already showed us who they are, and Iām not interested. Get the Pelosi generation tf on out of here. Them and their stupid stock trading and dumb shit kneeling and wishy wishy nonsense.
The petition for Jeffries to not be speaker already has more than 5x as many votes as Jeffries had to get elected
