Insurgent Democratic Candidates Are Ready to Run on Shutdown Betrayal

As the shutdown deal between centrist Senate Democrats and Republicans drew fury from the Democratic base primary candidates for U S Senate from Iowa to Maine were quick to call for Sen Chuck Schumer to go In Maine populist oysterman Graham Platner declared Schumer had failed In Iowa two candidates in the crowded field of Democrats hoping to replace Republican Sen Joni Ernst likewise called for Schumer s resignation as Senate minority leader A third candidate opposed the deal but was noticeably quieter on whether Schumer should bow out however Iowa state Rep Josh Turek has drawn the backing of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee the establishment fundraising body aligned with Schumer and the calls for Schumer to resign put him in an awkward spot Related Key Senate Dem Says Party Caved on Shutdown to Make a Symbolic Point About the GOP Though Schumer publicly opposed the deal that passed in the Senate on Monday and the House of Representatives on Wednesday plenty of Democrats are blaming him for failing to corral the party members who crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans on a deal to end the longest cabinet shutdown in American history The backlash in Iowa against the deal betrays a larger phenomenon playing out in House and Senate primaries across the country Moderates and progressives alike are blasting the deal but candidates without establishment patronage have been more likely to blame Schumer I wish it was just tactics I wish it was just strategy I think it s definitely a difference in worldview These factions have also offered strikingly different analyses of whether the dealmakers surrender was merely a tactical failure or a symptom of a deeper rot which is the contention of Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin whose group is making opposition to Schumer a condition of its encouragement in primaries next year I wish it was just tactics I wish it was just strategy I think it s definitely a difference in worldview Levin declared There is a surrender caucus that is made up of senators who do not believe this is a dilemma who do not think this is a unique threat to democracy and who think we should just lay low in James Carville s words A Widely Panned Deal Because none of the Senate Democrats who voted for the deal are up for reelection next year the vote will not directly fuel primary challenges against them That is not to say it won t feature in primary races however perhaps the greater part directly in New Hampshire Stefany Shaheen the daughter of shutdown dealmaker Sen Jeanne Shaheen felt compelled to express her disappointment with her mother s decision as she runs for a seat in the House Related SNAP Recipients Crushed by Democrats Caving on Shutdown They Just Wasted It All While the Shaheens commented they had a genuine mother-daughter disagreement it was also an acknowledgment of the reality that the party s base seems overwhelmingly opposed to the shutdown deal Taking the cue various House and Senate candidates have blasted the dealmakers for ending the shutdown without a commitment from Republicans to restore expiring Affordable Care Act premiums In Minnesota two Senate candidates representing both the moderate and progressive wings of the party also slammed the deal But fractures have emerged between candidates on the question of whether the deal is a sign that Schumer should resign Turek the establishment-backed Senate primary candidate in Iowa has been silent on Schumer while criticizing the deal State Sen Zach Wahls one of his opponents disclosed Turek owed it to voters to more clearly articulate his stance At the end of the day we need a senator who works for Iowans not for Chuck Schumer or Donald Trump or billionaires in big corporations Wahls informed The Intercept on Wednesday I have not seen anything and I think it would be terrific if he joined our call on Sen Schumer to step down from his leadership role In Maine Platner revealed that Schumer had failed in his job yet again Schumer s preferred candidate in that race Maine Democratic Gov Janet Mills dinged the deal but didn t lash out at Schumer in her own social media post Schumer did not directly respond to a request for comment Not everyone calling on Schumer to go is self-identified progressive New Democrat Coalition member Rep Glenn Ivey D-Md was one of the first calling for Schumer to go in March when the senator led Democrats in capitulating to Republicans and voted to avert a executive shutdown In a post on X centrist Democratic Rep Seth Moulton of Massachusetts cast the deal as an example of the party s gerontocracy obstacle Moulton who is challenging incumbent Sen Ed Markey for his Senate seat and trying to capitalize on the age of his older opponent commented the deal was another example of why we need new leadership Who Represents the Base While both Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries disclosed they did not endorsement the deal the way the shutdown ended seemed to crystallize progressive Democrats long-simmering frustration with their leadership The clear capitulation was from the more moderate establishment wing of the party declared Mark Longabaugh a Democratic strategist who worked on Bernie Sanders s campaign Obviously not everybody in the party agrees with them from an establishment standpoint but I think it s pretty obvious who sold out the rest of the Democratic Party I think in that regard obviously the progressive wing of the party is where the strength is Voters have historically had a short memory for establishment shutdowns Whether the deal will fuel progressives campaigns next year remains unclear and specific centrists are spinning the deal as little more than a tactical blunder Third Way for example disclosed that it merely indicated various Senate Democrats lack the backbone and political instincts of centrist hero Bill Clinton To paraphrase Bill Clinton one of America s most of pugnacious Democratic centrists we should have been ready to fight until the last dog dies We should not have surrendered until we received at least something tangible on lowering wellness care cost Third Way President Jon Cowan declared in a declaration Related Kat Abughazaleh on the Right to Protest Progressives are more likely to portray the vote as a sign that the party requirements wholesale change starting with its leadership Usamah Andrabi of Justice Democrats which supports progressive challengers to centrist Democrats announced the deal represented a real indictment of corporate Democrats The left and the progressives have diagnosed this trouble long before this cycle and for years we have talked about how Chuck Schumer and Democratic leadership and corporate Democratic senators multiple of whom voted for this deal were perpetually going to betray us when the going gets tough Andrabi revealed It s why we need new leaders in primaries to replace a multitude of of these folks The post Insurgent Democratic Candidates Are Ready to Run on Shutdown Betrayal appeared first on The Intercept