Schumer regime promises a sharp break from Reid

[EricMaundry]

Source: Politico

It’s been hard to tell lately that Harry Reid and Joe Manchin even belong to the same party. When Reid attacked Donald Trump after the election, Manchin called his own party leader an “absolute embarrassment”; Reid fired back that Manchin was just “running for a Cabinet spot” in Trump’s White House.

Then there’s Chuck Schumer. He not only tapped Manchin to join his leadership team, but backed the West Virginian's gambit that threatened a government shutdown over coal miners' benefits — a showdown that Reid declined to endorse in his final days as party leader.

“We want to get these beautiful people their due,” Schumer said in his trademark Brooklyn accent as he stood beside retired miners outside the Capitol last month. “And we won’t stop ‘til we do.”

The competing postures toward the most conservative member of their caucus speaks volumes about the leadership styles of the just-departed and rising Democratic Senate leaders. Schumer is predisposed to accommodate the various factions of the Democratic coalition: his actions in the coal miners row demonstrated how seriously he takes the mandate to help his party's withering moderate wing. The approach will be nothing short of a sea change from Reid’s singular style of combative, shoot-from-the-hip politics.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/schumer-kitchen-cabinet-233007

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Mainstreaming is not without benefits

Might be a sound idea for DU itself. Incredible diversity of independent
posts here, maybe the American mainstream will pay more attention?

As for Sen. Schumer ... go for it. Time for new leadership, he's been there
a long time and knows a lot.

[pangaia]

3. Eh, where the rubber meets the road, he's owned by the banksters.

[Hortensis]

28. Chuck Schumer on finding himself opposition leader:

"It's not as fun, but it's much more important."

Go, Chuck! We're with you.

[pangaia]

31. He certainly has the ability, the experience and knows where the skeletons are..

hope he uses all that and nails them to the wall..

[vi5]

4. "beautiful people"

What a dumb fucking thing to say. I don't blame Manchin for fighting for his W VA constituencies. That's his job and good for him. But I hope he's also there on the front lines of raising the minimum wage and similar benefits for service workers and fast food workers and the like, of which there are far more than there are coal miners in this country.

[lark]

19. Pfft, that's not the real story.

He was very against ACA and said he looked forward to working with Repugs to replace it! He was against changing the law to allow no one on the "No Fly List" to get a gun, against banning assault weapons. In fact, I've never heard him support any Dem positions, think he was against same sex marriage and for "conscience exemptions"

[leftynyc]

6. Hate is a strong word

What has Sen Schumer done to make you hate him and which other senators bring such a strong emotional reaction from you?

[Hortensis]

7. This is one of Schumers real strengths. He believes in a big-tent approach,

(That was a quote from the article.)

We need to not be distracted from this reality: This election, what President Obama feared above all came to pass: The center did not hold.

WE the people have become divided, and this has enabled right-wing extremists to breach our lines. This is an existential threat to our republic, which is designed to be run by citizen groups cooperating to reach agreements they can all live with. It cannot function with angry hyperpartisan parties fighting for sufficient supremacy to wrest power and do only what they want.

This election taught us that most conservatives have now been mislead into joining a hyperpartisan culture war against the left. They are being nose-lead by extremists who tell them only Republicans are mainstream and that all liberals and people further left are dangerous extremists. Hardly a new theme.

If we are to survive, and we will, we must rebuild a strong center that will support our republic against extremist forces who would destroy it, no matter the direction they come from.

Schumer is getting ready to take advantage of the extremist right's greatest enemies, themselves, by giving conservative refugees a mainstream party to turn to. We will be aided by those with extremist agendas around Trump and in Congress, who are by definition (mercifully) minority thinkers because they are and always have been incompetent to create healthy, prosperous nations.

Funnily enough, we should also be getting a great deal of help from Russia. After all, Democrats only became the anxious, suspicious right's primary opponent after the end of the cold war left them casting about for their next big threat to fight. Without an existential threat from abroad, they discovered that threat right here at home among themselves. Now Russia has reemerged, and only some on the right will be foolish enough to see Russia as a friend engaged with them in a noble battle against liberalism.

[truebluegreen]

11. There's nothing in the middle of the road

but yellow stripes and dead armadillos ( to Texas for blind squirrel quote).

Hillary (and Schumer) also thought that working class defections wouldn't hurt because the moderates would join us. Plainly, that didn't work.

[Hortensis]

13. If that were true, the great American experiment would

have failed immediately.

That quote may ring strong with those who are not emotionally suited to the demands and discipline required of representative government, but it's just silly demagogic noise to people who have what it takes to actually make republics work.

[truebluegreen]

16. The great American experiment

was wildly leftist radical from the gitgo, and imo it has finally failed because of extreme reactionarys on one side, with go-along-to-get-along on the other.

What is silly is thinking there is any upside to "working" with the right. Obama tried that and I know you couldn't have missed the results of that.

"silly demagogic noise" my left.... nevermind. Enjoy your life.

[Hortensis]

17. Imo, you surrender rather prematurely, to put it mildly.

Depending on your age, this might not be your first go-round with bittersweet proof that Democrats are a liability to the nation. If you're young, though, maybe take this chance to learn to make the most of wallowing in the failure of Democrats?

It's a personality thing, and one that's likely to recur with many elections. No party wins all the time, and many on the anti-Democrat left for their own happiness choose to view our failure as a form of personal victory and self affirmation. Of course, I don't have to tell you that when we win we will also provide these people with all the proof they need that we're still a scourge on democracy.

[Fast Walker 52]

20. please explain

"this might not be your first go-round with bittersweet proof that Democrats are a liability to the nation. If you're young, though, maybe take this chance to learn to make the most of wallowing in the failure of Democrats? "

I'm confused what point you're making.

[Hortensis]

21. To make lemonade out of the reality that liberals,

plain old normal, mostly mainstream liberals, the kind who supported either Sanders or Clinton but then solidified serenely behind Clinton, are the overwhelmingly large base of the Democratic Party--and the originators of the liberal principles this nation was founded on. And there are a whole, whole lot of us. We, in fact, are close to half of all humans on the planet. No one can get away from the reality of us, in this nation or any other, no matter what party name we might have formed under. Like conservatives and gravity, we will always be.

And, yes, being a bleeding heart-type liberal, my withers are slightly wrung by the plight of "others" who can't stand Democrats or Republicans and are doomed to lives of electoral frustration and anger. But not much since we know too well what happens when radicals on either left or right get control of a nation. At our worst, better us by far. (As it is, radicals highjacked and got control of the Republican Party in this election. A real opportunity for learning.)

[Fast Walker 52]

24. Ah yes. I hear you. The next few years will be a great learning opportunity

even though we should have learned them back in the early 2000s.

[Hortensis]

25. Some of us are slow learners and many just weren't

paying attention.

I was saying on another thread that this would be a great time to be a political scientist. Fascinated observation and objective analysis instead of subjective worry.

[Alice11111]

26. Agree...worked so well with Obama

It worked so well with our recent Dem Party. It worked so well in the recent election. We need to strengthen the base. We don't need to cave to Republicans, hoping they will reciprocate and be reasonable. They never will. That is like expecting DT to change his personality and intellect to BO. As the saying goes, if you keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results....

[global1]

8. So Now When The Coal Miners Don't Get Their Jobs Back...

Trump & the Repugs can blame Schumer and Manchin. Nice move boys!!!

[Historic NY]

10. +1 when will they stop pandering...

the miners will come to their own conclusions, that COAL ain't happening. Donald promised them so let him take the heat.

[Hortensis]

14. They know why their jobs left and that they're not returning.

Sure, they have some hope that getting rid of the EPA and repealing regulations will create a few. For someone.

But they voted conservative because that's what they do. That is what they always intended to do, no matter what alternatives the liberal party promised. 2016 was a real show of the power of overweaning partisanship and cultural divide. Hillary had huge plans for creating prosperity in Coal Country, and these people literally chose continued poverty to voting for liberal government.

Btw, many of these people also remember what really bad smog is, some have children and grandchildren with asthma. They voted to dismantle the EPA anyway--because it's a Democrat creation.

[bluescribbler]

30. Not a Democrat creation

Richard Nixon signed the legislation creating the EPA. You can look it up.

[Hortensis]

32. Doesn't matter. At all. Totally irrelevant.

I knew that, of course. But, understand: the assignment of us as the source of most of their problems comes FIRST, then come the rationalizations, which creative sources like Infowars (check the name!) and Breitbart are so obliging to help them with. Which is why some are calling this the post-truth era.

We're not only talking for god's sake about people who argue about whether Hillary's murdered 8 or 80 people, many of those don't actually believe she murdered more than 1 or 2 at most--but don't care.

[flamingdem]

12. At least he listens to Bernie

and Bernie has also been preaching tolerance of the white working class.

Let's hope they understand the numbers

[Me.]

33. Ahem

When was the wwc not tolerated? Pitchforks? The whole thing is nonsense when the Dems are the ones who always stand for the working class, white or otherwise, though the working class doesn't always stand with them.

[Javaman]

15. yeah, okay.

we'll see. we've been down this road before.

[lark]

18. In other words, "woe unto us"!

Dems will not be united against Drumpf under Schumer, he will fold at the slightest hint of opposition and go along with the Repugs. Filibusters will be rare, watch and see. He totally makes me sick, he's the reason we have Alito and Roberts in SCOTUS, he totally undercut any resistance to them and said Dems should vote for both of them. He's just another Senate 1%er, and that means more to him than the actual policies. WTF, Senate so-called Democrats? Why did you let this jerk be the minority leader when he's so worthless? Then they wonder why I won't contribute to their Senate and Congressional fund raising appeals. This is why, Dems going along with Repugs to the detriment of the country and 99% of the people.

[Alice11111]

27. Yep.

He always opposes anything that could allow for a 2 state solution. He is not a savvy, but humble, Harry Reid. I gave a lot, considering my finances, and raised a fair amount, for the Senate elections, but I'm done. Schumer is OK as a Sen, but NOT as Minority leader. Full of himself and wants to be liked by Republicans

[RonniePudding]

22. Obstruct. Obstruct. Obstruct.

Then obstruct some more.

[angrychair]

23. Yep, that strategy seems to have worked so far

We've lost control of the the vast majority of states (legislatures and governorships-the seriousness of this cannot be understated,), House, Senate and presidency. Compromising and accommodating middle-right and republicans has worked great...for republicans.

Republicans have a defacto supermajority in our country and have gerrymandered districts so aggressively that there is very little chance for Democrats to get a majority back in ANY state they no longer hold. More importantly, after the 2020 census, these supermajorities will seal their control after redrawing the district line even more in their favor.

Our complete lack of focus on state governments will allow republicans to rewrite the Constitution at will.

[Alice11111]

29. I agree.Just not sure how to turn it around, or if it can be

It isn't going to be with appeasing Republicans though. We have tried that for 17 years, and it has gotten worse BIGLY over time.

[Me.]

34. Schumer Will Learn What's To Be What Or He Won't Last As Monority Leader

It's not a lifetime appointment. And he, as well as the cons, should pay attention to the backlash that made itself apparent today. People are in no mood to go along to get along and appease the very people who are attempting to steal the very food from the mouths of their children.

Schumer felt the burn here in NY when he stood with Netanyahu against PBO and he will feel it again if he stands against dem principles.