Our Capitol Hill sources are telling us that Democratic Senators are infuriated that Chuck Schumer, their majority leader, has selfishly put his own political fortunes ahead of those of his fellow caucus members. The strong suspicion is that Schumer is so nervous about a primary challenge from House member AOC, that he is leading the party over a progressive cliff this coming November.
Two monumentally stupid tactical blunders stand out. First, Schumer forced Senate Democrats to walk the plank on a politically unpopular maneuver to kill the filibuster even though he could only muster 48 votes. This was a BAD vote that will be used against those 48 souls in the elections to come.
Second, Schumer took to the warpath against Dem Senators Manchin and Sinema — which only further pulled them away from the radicalism of the party.
Liberal blogger Matthew Yglesias says Schumer apparently chose to guard his left flank against a possible primary challenge from AOC and thus was focused on “making sure that he does not personally get blamed by progressive groups” for legislative failures. This has made any deal on A scaled back Build Back Better bill on the more unlikely.
Of course, we’re pleased as punch over Chuck’s looney tactics and hope he keeps it up. He keeps raising the odds of a GOP-controlled Senate come January 2023.