The good and the bad in Mitch McConnell's big surrender

[Nevilledog]

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Greg Sargent
@ThePlumLineGS
1) Just before Mitch McConnell caved and allowed Dems to assume the majority, @SenSchumer gave an important interview to @maddow.

Schumer said some things that have been overlooked. They suggest a crucial shift in thinking among Democrats about power.

Opinion | The good and the bad in Mitch McConnell’s big surrender
How Democrats are girding for a new era of GOP procedural warfare.
washingtonpost.com
8:51 AM · Jan 26, 2021

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https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1354094517826301955.html

1) Just before Mitch McConnell caved and allowed Dems to assume the majority, @SenSchumer gave an important interview to @maddow.

Schumer said some things that have been overlooked. They suggest a crucial shift in thinking among Democrats about power.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…

@mentions
2) Schumer vowed that this time, Dems won't get snookered by GOP bad faith.

But Schumer also framed the stakes in a good way. He said Dems are united behind the idea that *delivering in a big way* is key to restoring faith in government and democracy:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
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@mentions
3) Schumer also said a failure to go big will risk disillusionment and another Trumpist demagogue.

If so, restoring faith in government/democracy isn't about achieving bipartisanship for its own sake. It's about the scale of the program Dems deliver on:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
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@mentions

4) The possibilities for civic renewal after Trump appear real, as has argued.

But by the lights of Schumer's own analysis, the stakes *require* being prepared to *genuinely* reform or end the filibuster if McConnell stymies Biden's agenda:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
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@mentions
5) A big item Dems will pursue is a package of major pro-democracy reforms, broadening voting access and limiting counter-majoritarian tactics.

Republicans will filibuster *that,* too. You'd think the consequences of this would be intolerable to Dems:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
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@mentions
6) Here's the bad news. If Democrats believe all this, that makes the risks of Manchin and Sinema taking filibuster reform off the table and depriving Dems of leverage against McConnell obstructionism a lot worse -- by the lights of Democrats themselves:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
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@mentions

7) Bottom line: If Democrats believe delivering in a big way, rather than achieving bipartisan unity for its own sake, is the route to avoiding a resurgence of Trumpism, then they have to be genuinely prepared to end the filibuster.

Full argument here:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/26/mitch-mcconnell-caves-power-sharing-filibuster/

[FM123]

1. McConnell went over Chuck Schumer's head directly to Sinema

to get her assurance that she would not vote to end the filibuster. We can never for one second take our eyes off of that snake, McConnell.

[gab13by13]

2. According to McConnell,

Sinnema and Manchin both promised McConnell to vote no to the filibuster removal.

This doesn't look so much like a cave to me if that's the case. Democrats could have changed the rules that were allowing McConnell to hold Dems hostage without giving away the filibuster removal.

[Bradshaw3]

3. I agree with this

People are celebrating a big win but that is contingent on BOTH of those two changing their minds, which some think will happen fairly easily. I have followed both closely and don't think that is a given at all.

[wnylib]

4. But if the democratic agenda

would benefit and appeal to the constituents of those 2 Senators, the Senators would come across badly and have their Re-elections jeopardized.

And how could McConnell get promises from them? How he did it might bear some looking into. How does a promise to McConnell benefit the Senators in going against their party? A threat from the turtle? A bribe?

[Bradshaw3]

5. The Democratic agenda has benefited constituents of many red states

Yet the voters in the red states keep electing repub senators. I don't think either Sinema or Manchin were compromised by McConnell.

[wnylib]

6. The Democratic agenda has not often

been achieved because of obstructionism from McTurtle. But things are different since the combination of the pandemic, economic downturn, and Republican sponsored violence at the Capitol. The Senators might not be compromised, but they could be vulnerable to their constituents. People who don't care about the well being of others begin to care when their own lives are affected. So if it becomes clear to the constituents of Manchin and. Sinema that the filibuster is blocking relief, the Senators might suffer from not supporting an end to the filibuster. This would be clear if they are the lone holdouts on it among Dems.

[Demsrule86]

7. It is off the table for now...and we will use reconciliation I expect.

McConnell was not able to put it in the rules...and that is a good thing.