By John A. Tures, Professor of Political Science, LaGrange College

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was ripped by members of his party and the press for working out a deal to avert a government shutdown.

But it’s another example of how to “fight smarter”: from Grassley and Klobuchar’s tariff policies in the Senate to Booker’s marathon filibuster to massive rallies across the country, those concerned by the policies of DOGE and the crippling effects of jacking up taxes on trade.

To win, those critics of this unprecedented policy direction need to fight smarter, not harder. That means doing the best plan for the situation, not what others in the media or rank-and-file members might prefer.

This is also not an article with only a Democratic Party audience in mind, as plenty of Republican politicians and rank-and-file members are now growing queasy about the economic and political shift this administration is taking.

Senate Minority Leader Schumer of New York took a lot of heat for bringing some of his party over to vote to avert a government shutdown. It’s amazing to realize that he got attacked by some fellow Democrats for making the smart move.

Had he shut down the government, the DOGE team could have laid off all of the people that they did, perhaps even more, and claim it was a fiscally legitimate move, strengthening their case in court. Constitutional law cases aren’t always like a gripping legal thriller, but the stakes and power are even more important, and Schumer was right to keep the strong legal arguments against the firings and budget-slashing in place by funding the government.

Causing the government to shut down would have been poked the GOP in the eye temporarily, while throwing away the best case against DOGE. When I put it that way, Schumer critics change their tune quickly.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota should get an assist for giving Schumer an opening. I am sure Thune can probably see where this country is headed under the current administration’s direction.

Other senators need to be doing their thing as well to try and break Trump’s near-monopoly on media attention. Research of mine from 2016 showed that Trump got more attention than all of the other candidates combined. Breaking that stranglehold on the headlines just ensures a level-playing field for all sides.

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker found a way, with his marathon record-setting filibuster, not an easy task where the average public attention can be managed in nano-seconds. He was able to garner just as much of the spotlight at the current president…maybe. The media coverage made it out to only be about anti-Trump sentiment. Team Booker needs to emphasize the alternate plan the Democrats are putting forth, as well as the benefits of their approach to the American people.

The late Georgia GOP Senator Johnny Isakson told my class back in 2019 that Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar were two of his favorite Democrats, the latter for being able to work across party lines. She and Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley crafted a bipartisan bill to reassert Congressional oversight and influence over tariffs, instead of leaving it in the hands of one person who may not grasp some of the details of international commerce. Nebraska House Republican Don Bacon is looking to introduce a comparable measure in the House. And the number of Republicans backing this bill seems to have grown since the stock market slide.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders are conducting barnstorming rallies across the country, their “Fight Oligarchy” tour. Good for them. Republicans who still support lower taxes on trade need to do a comparable talk-and-listen tour in red state regions. Barack Obama is coming off the sidelines to add his two cents on what’s happening. George W. Bush should do the same. The GOP will have to own the losses if they don’t.

The point is that there’s no one person or one strategy, or even one party, that’s going to save America from the fallout from DOGE and the New Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill. Many politicians and people need to come up with legal and effective means, which don’t involve torching a Tesla, an idea that only plays into the current administration’s hands. Now is not the time for silence and inaction.

John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia. His views are his own. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu. His “X” account is JohnTures2.