Schumer's Plan To Work With Trump Ensures More Democratic Losses

I've already raised concern about Chuck Schumer's becoming the voice of Democratic opposition in the Senate. And this article in Politico should strike fear into the heart of any Democrat who dreams of being in the majority again. Schumer has always been a deal-maker and, like Trump, that is what he loves to do. He honestly believes that he can work with Trump, or at least maneuver Trump, into getting things done that Democrats want to accomplish. According to the article, Schumer has been trying to "talk himself into the idea that the president-elect isn't really a Republican, but a pragmatist with no apparent ideological mooring". Actually, as many people who have worked with Trump have attested to, Trump is a mentally imbalanced serial abuser whose word means nothing. Schumer sees his ability to get Preet Bharara re-appointed as US Attorney in New York as an indication he can work with Trump, but Trump's rationale for going along with that was that Bharara had aggressively gone after Democratic corruption in the state. I have nothing against Bharara or the fact that he is going after corruption, but Schumer's thinking that is a "win" and indicates you can work with Trump is borderline delusional.

Schumer is taking the well-worn path that history recent history has shown to only appeal to the Washington press corps and their obsession with bipartisanship but always ends in continued failure for the party involved. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, GOP leaders like Bob Dole and Bob Michel continually worked with Democrats to get meaningful legislation accomplished. That strategy also ended up maintaining Republican minority status in the House and providing only rare control of the Senate. It was not until Newt Gingrich came along and decided to destroy the norms of governance and fight every Democratic action tooth and nail that the GOP managed to retake the House. Republicans spent eight years opposing everything Obama, even things like Obamacare that were originally GOP proposals, and their reward is now total control of Congress and the presidency. I'm not saying that this approach is good for the country and a responsible way to run the government but recent history has shown that it may be the only way to win. Jonathan Chait makes this point more emphatically and clearly than I when he describes the reality that we currently live in and the choice Schumer has before him. Says Chait:

"Senate Democrats work with Trump → Voters conclude Trump is doing a good job → Senate Republicans and Trump win reelection

or:

Senate Democrats don’t work with Trump → Voters conclude Trump is doing a bad job → Senate Democrats win reelection"

Schumer's apparent calculus about Trump also would seem to ignore the other elephant in the room, namely that Republicans will control the content of virtually all legislation. I seriously doubt that Trump will have much influence on the extreme legislation that is bound to come out of the House. So Senate Republicans will only be too happy to get a handful of Democrats to help them eliminate some of the rougher edges of that legislation and get it passed. And then the Republicans will go right ahead and say this shows that they can get things done. Meanwhile Schumer will be telling Democrats something like "we made it less bad than it could have been". That sounds like a winning strategy.

Schumer does not seem to understand that most voters barely pay attention to the day-to-day workings in Washington. Heck, even some of the people who voted for Trump did not believe it was possible for the law to be changed and have their health insurance taken away, even though that was clearly what Trump was proposing. So, although the voters are not going to pay attention to the details, they do pay attention to the background noise that Washington creates. When all they hear is how dysfunctional Washington is, they blame the President and his party, probably because they believe the President has far more power than he really does. And, in this environment, the critical thing is to signal that your party is opposed to all this dysfunction, despite the fact that your party may be creating that dysfunction. Schumer already failed his first test on this issue by not shutting down the government, even for just the weekend, over pension benefits for miners. In addition, that step would have been a signal to Democratic voters around the country that their leaders in Washington were going to be united going forward - even Joe Manchin would have been on board. If Schumer does continue down the path laid out in this Politico article, it will ensure dramatic Senate losses in 2018, which is already going to be a difficult year for Democrats, and put the House even farther out of reach.