Disunity continues to reign supreme in the Democratic Party as progressive activists and politicians alike turn on Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer. Dissatisfaction over Rep. Pelosi’s failure to be “liberal enough” may cause her to lose the chance to become Speaker of the House yet again while anger over Sen. Schumer’s actions and perceived lack of action in some areas could very well cause problems for him in the foreseeable future.
At present, it seems that Rep. Pelosi has the most to lose. She is clearly counting on being elected as Speaker of the House next January; however, there is a very real chance that she will not have enough votes to claim the coveted position.
Because the Democrats will only have a slim majority in the House of Representatives next year and no Republican representatives would consider voting for her, Rep. Pelosi can only lose fourteen votes from her party if she hopes to become speaker. At present, there are eleven Democrat representatives who have publicly stated that they will not vote for her. However, these representatives have not yet put forward an alternative candidate. What is more, not all the Democratic representatives who have committed to voting against her are progressive, left-wing politicians. Some, such as rising Democrat star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are certainly left-leaning progressives; however, there are others who reject Rep. Pelosi not because she isn’t liberal enough, but because she is too liberal for their liking.
At the same time, liberal activists aren’t just taking aim at Rep. Pelosi. In fact, some are decrying the fact that she is a target and Sen. Schumer isn’t and stating that it is sexist to pick on Rep. Pelosi when Democrats have successfully taken back the House while Sen. Schumer gets a free pass.
One of the main reasons why Democrats are incensed at the Democrat Senate Minority Leader is the fact that he worked with Sen. Mitch McConnell to allow over two dozen conservative judicial appointments to go through — even though these judicial appointments are anathema to Democratic activists. Ironically, the primary reason Sen. Schumer did not do everything in his power to block these appointments was that blocking them would have required vulnerable Democratic Senate candidates to remain in Washington during the August recess, rather than campaign in their home states. Given the fact that some of these very same senators wound up losing their competitive races against GOP challengers, activists are naturally incensed that Sen. Schumer made concessions to the GOP and got nothing in return.
While Sen. Schumer, who is from New York, does not face any challengers for his position, that could change in the future unless he does something to placate party members who aren’t willing to forgive him for failing to move to the far left.
It is not hard to understand why liberal activists are so upset with Sen. Schumer and Rep. Pelosi. Both senior Democrat politicians have been hesitant to embrace progressive causes such as abolishing ICE, healthcare for all, housing as a right and a Federal jobs guarantee. However, it is unlikely that these two party leaders will change tack and become more progressive as times goes on.
While leadership is sure to continue pleasing party moderates, many newly elected Democratic politicians are progressives who will be faced with the choice to either actively fight against members of their own party or go back on their election promises and vote for Rep. Pelosi for Speaker of the House. What is more, the divide between progressive and moderate Democrats is sure to become even more pronounced as potential candidates for president embrace far-left causes in an effort to win progressive voters.
~ Liberty Planet
