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When it comes to Democrats, “disarray” trips off the fingertips more freely in major newsrooms. Democrats have a talent for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. But while Joe Biden’s margin of victory last November was clear to everyone not besotted on Trump kool aid, his party’s margins in Congress are not in clear victory territory. With a 50-50 Senate, moving any legislation to Biden’s desk will take real finesse. Do they have what it takes?
Democrats seem at least to understand (somewhat) what is at stake not only for Biden’s agenda, their own political fortunes, and the fate of the planet. Enough to huddle at the White House on Wednesday. News coverage settles (naturally) on disagreements within the caucus at a time raising the debt limit faces a time limit (New York Times):
“We are on schedule — that’s all I will say,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters after meeting with Mr. Biden for more than an hour. “We’re calm, and everybody’s good, and our work’s almost done.”
Of course, she would say that. But then again, she is Nancy Pelosi and not to be underestimated. Sen. Bernie Sanders was singing from the same hymnal.
“When you’ve got 50 votes and none to lose, and you’ve got three to spare in the House, there’s a lot of give and take — that’s just the way it is,” said Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who is chairman of the Budget Committee. “It’s tough. But I think at the end of the day, we’re going to be fine.”
At the crux of the stalemate is a leadership commitment to a group of moderate Democrats that the House would take up the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill by Monday. Liberal House Democrats say they will vote down the measure until their priority legislation first clears both the House and Senate.
Those Democrats say the infrastructure bill, which omitted most of their top priorities including major provisions to combat climate change, cannot be separated from the $3.5 trillion package, which contains many of those elements, such as a shift to electric power. Beyond the climate portions, the social policy measure would, among many other things, extend child care and child tax credits, expand free prekindergarten and community college and fortify Medicare.
Might this effort fail like the Clinton health plan? Or might it squeak past the goal line like Obamacare? Hell if I know. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes does not either:
And of course, saboteurs gonna saboteur.
From the activist bubble, it is hard to read how the rest of the country sees this legislative struggle. It is exhausting to watch. Failure may not be an option. But it still could be the outcome. Premature capitulation is what Republicans count on. One can only hope there is as much “array” in the caucus as Pelosi and Sanders want us to believe.