I think the biggest problem with Jeffries is that, for the last two years, he and Schumer have been the highest ranking Democrats in elected office. They should have been the ones setting the agenda and putting forth compelling messaging that resonates with voters. Instead, they chose to represent everything that the American public at large sees as wrong with the Dems. Mamdani breaks out as a superstar and establishes the theme for the midterms, and feckless Schumer and Jeffries couldn’t even endorse the Democratic nominee for their own city over a salty sex pest. They’d rather make backroom deals with Republicans and unelected fuckwits like Jared Kushner. It’s not just the left that hates Dem leadership, their approval ratings are below Trump’s.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I personally find his communication skills and political instincts lacking. He’s an absolute void of charisma who recently reaffirmed his opposition to Medicare for All. His tactic in speeches has been to just gesture vaguely at “affordability” without any specifics. I believe that we’re in a moment where people are finally looking for more than just identification of the problem, they want at least a quick shorthand of your proposed solution. The Speaker should at the very least be a skilled orator, since they’re the face of the party for the next two years. There’s already an entire role dedicated to whipping votes for both parties, so I don’t care how effective the party leaders are at it.
As a matter of pragmatism, you really can’t leave the two-party system behind in the US. First-past-the-post elections make it nearly impossible to win outside of the two competitive parties on a statewide/nationwide ticket. There is simply too large of a fundraising and media coverage gap to overcome. I’d love if there were an amendment to switch to something like mixed-member proportional representation, but it would require an amendment, which is just never happening.