Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Schumer's Secret Strength: "Money Changes Everything"
An anonymous e-mailer reminded National Review's excellent Supreme Court blog "Bench Memos" that Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) enjoys a special power over his fellow Senate Democrats:
Not that I would ever by cynical or anything, but could it just be possible that Schumer got to Lieberman [between] last night and this morning to advise Joe that he'd been "misinterpreted"? I'm thinking of two things, (1) Isn't Schumer now the head of the Dems Campaign Committee which recruits candidates and decides how party money is allocated for races (I seem to recall that Schumer had to agree not to run for governor in order to get that high party post in the Senate), and (2) didn't we hear after Lieberman bolted party orthodoxy by voting to confirm Gonzales for AG that the Dems were thinking of a primary challenge against Joe in '06?
The e-mailer is correct. Schumer is chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Seventeen Democratic Senate seats are at stake in 2006. Potential swing votes like Lieberman (CT), Nelson (NB), and Nelson (FL) cannot ignore Schumer's power to ruin their political future if they back a Bush judge he opposes.
|posted by Jim on 3:28 PM|
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