This is a beginning. Chuck Schumer is not the right man for the job as it stands in the era of Trump. If we had a Mitt Romney presidency or something more normal, Schumer might be fine. But we don’t have that. Schumer was groomed by Harry Reid to be his successor for a long time and the Nevada senator had no way to foresee the advent of Donald Trump. Nobody did. So Harry Reid can’t be blamed for backing the wrong horse. He wasn’t psychic. But enough time has passed now and Schumer is clearly not the right man for the job and so he needs to go. Axios:
The progressive grassroots group MoveOn is calling on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to step down from his powerful role after moderate Democrats joined with Republicans to work to end the government shutdown.
Why it matters: The falling-out, first shared with Axios, is the latest sign that Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) popularity with the Democratic base is eroding.
- MoveOn and other liberal organizations worked closely with Schumer and his aides earlier this year on the party’s shutdown strategy.
- But Democratic lawmakers and activists have erupted at the news that eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus folded after the party over-performed in last Tuesday’s elections.
What they’re saying:Â “With Donald Trump and the Republican Party doubling healthcare premiums, weaponizing our military against us, and ripping food away from children, MoveOn members cannot accept weak leadership at the helm of the Democratic Party,” said Katie Bethell, MoveOn’s political action executive director, in a statement.
- “Americans showed a growing surge of support for Democrats who fought back — both at the ballot box last week and peacefully in the streets last month. Inexplicably, some Senate Democrats, under Leader Schumer’s watch, decided to surrender,” she added. “It is time for Senator Schumer to step aside.”
- Around 80% of MoveOn members that the group surveyed said that Schumer should quit his leadership position, according to the organization.
Zoom in:Â Schumer voted against moving forward the proposal to end the shutdown, but that hasn’t stopped progressives and House Democrats from lashing out at him.
- “Everywhere I go, people say there’s a leadership vacuum right now in the Democratic Party,” said Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), who is running for the Senate. “We need new leadership.”
- Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.)Â said, “Senator Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced.”
We’re getting mixed messages as to what took place last night. All that we do know for a fact is that some of the senators are reluctant to discuss private discussions so that tells us in and of itself that there’s a schism in the party.
What happened, in essence, is that the issue of the ACA subsidies got kicked down the road for 42 days. And we’re used to playing kick the can. That’s on one level and actually that’s the level that is the most handleable. The other level is that there is a vacuum of leadership in the Senate and hopefully some moral compunction will convince Schumer to stand down.
Or, lacking that, enough influential Democrats will make him see the light. Let’s hope that hppens sooner rather than later. Everybody was more than ready to run in and hang Joe Biden. I don’t think these things get better the more time goes by and they hang there in the air.
Hakeem Jeffries did the proper thing today, he endorsed Schumer, but the time for solidarity is not now. The time for making a change in Senate leadership is.
Schumer has in my opinion rarely displayed strength in his leadership role. To me his default position has been milquetoast at best, and he’s been feckless to the point of damaging more often than he’s provided strong, kick-ass leadership. I think Harry Reid would be appalled. Reid was a boxer in his youth, and at times that spirit showed. My guess is that he thought Schumer, grilled in the fires of NY politics would one he settled into the job become a lot more forceful and willing to fight than has turned out to be the case.
FYI, i’ve lived in various states and as readers know am now a (north) Carolinian. However I didn’t leave southern Illinois for the Marines until I was 25 and in my heart I’ll always be more of an Illinoisian than anything else. I’ve NEVER been impressed by Durbin. If I’d succumbed to my sister’s pleading and moved back home (it would have been a mistake to do so and becomes more apparent with each passing year, if not month) I’d have seen Durbin as someone who was qualified for the job of Senator but only voted for him because he’s a Democrat. Even a modestly qualified Democrat would be better than any Republican.
I was disappointed as hell that he both went to Schumer and insisted on becoming Democrats Chair/Ranking member of Judiciary. I was downright pissed that Schumer followed the ‘seniority’ crap and let Durbin have the post. He’s been even more ineffective there than Schumer has been a our Leader in the Senate. My phone was charging when I read your earlier article with phone numbers of the ‘Awful Eight” and Durbin’s office was my first call.
He bascially has cut off contact with the public. When the call was ‘answered’ it was with a call back another time message. Not even a sorry no one’s available to take your call or even a statement saying the mailbox was full! Clearly he’d been flooded with angry messages already and gone into hiding mode. Knowing he had an Illinois office over in Carbondale (six miles from my hometown) I tried calling there. They weren’t taking calls either but at least I was able to leave a message. I gave my name and where I was from including the street I grew up on and that I’d gone to school with the older sister (and named her) of P.O.S. Chair of the House Armed Services Committee Mike Bost. I’m sure that will have been enough to get the staffer’s attention.
I then registered my objection to what Durbin had done, AND that he should make up for it by doing what he SHOULD do and since he intends to serve out his term step aside as ranking member of Judiciary and insist on Sheldon Whitehouse taking over. I’ll guarantee you GOPers on that committee fear the thought of Whitehouse taking over!
One question for everyone calling for Schumer to step aside as Minority Leader:
Who do you want to replace him? Perhaps more importantly, who do you think has the votes to replace him?
I get the outrage but I also notice there’s NO talk about who should step up. It’s all “we need someone stronger” but no names are being offered. (Sanders is a non-starter as he–once more, I remind you–is NOT A DEMOCRAT. He merely caucuses with the group but the man won’t commit to being part of the party for which he sought the Presidential nomination TWICE and went back on his 2016 pre-convention promise to run “in all future elections as a Democrat.”)
As for MoveOn, well, they can shove it. They really have not been relevant to the political scene in over two decades. And they lost me back in 2007 when they chose to endorse Obama because of his “opposition to the invasion of Iraq” without noting he was in no position to have an effect on the issue (he was serving in the Illinois Legislature in 2002/2003 and cast a vote in a meaningless resolution). They also kind of willingly opted to ignore Obama’s acceptance of an anti-LGBT minister’s support (just a few months prior to MoveOn’s endorsement) because–in Obama’s words–the man was “popular” with African-American evangelicals and Obama CLAIMED he didn’t know the man’s positions on LGBT issues (but, yeah, let’s endorse a man who doesn’t properly vet someone who’s “popular” with a certain demographic he wants to win). Also, MoveOn wasn’t quite as critical of other candidates who’d “supported” the Resolution that authorized the war (well, the MALE candidates) and they certainly had NO significant problem (beyond “some disappointment”) when Obama picked Biden (who’d voted for the Resolution just as did Hillary) as his VP but it wasn’t enough for the group to withdraw its support for Obama.
schumer=tRump’s biggest enabler.
they’re not really kicking the can dow the road they’re crushing it and tossing it in the trash not even re ycli g. the end of aca subsidies is already a done deal. they can have a vote to restore them but they woul have to find the money to do that. and find enough republicans to get to 60 votes. trump has been screaming this week about emding obamacare so that is what they will do and they don’t even need a direct vote to do it. and the talk of just giving people the money directly to buy their own insurance is bs. there isn’t any money to give.