Impotent Dems - Part 2

Hours before Brett Kavanaugh arrived for his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Chuck Schumer and frustrated fellow Democratic senators debated staging a mass walkout — or not showing up at all.

For weeks, the party grappled with how to force the release of millions of pages of missing Kavanaugh documents after Republicans spurned their previous attempts. The discussions culminated during a Labor Day conference call: Senators weighed the drastic protest measures but opted against them, worried about what would come next and whether the fallout from a made-for-TV moment would undercut their efforts to defeat the nomination, according to multiple Democratic sources.

The strategy session revealed a divide on the Judiciary Committee between its more aggressive, often younger senators and veterans who prefer to adhere to the chamber’s norms. To bridge that gap, Democrats settled on a middle ground: disruption.

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"If I thought that there was a way that we could stop the hearings from proceeding, I would participate in that. But the hearings are going to proceed. And therefore, we are there to do our job,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).

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Democrats have been essentially steamrolled by Grassley and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for 2½ years: They blocked Merrick Garland from even receiving a hearing, changed Senate rules to confirm Neil Gorsuch and now are pressing to confirm Kavanaugh before the midterms.

But now, for the first time in weeks, the party received some plaudits that it is finally putting up a fight and challenging the norms that liberals argue conservatives have already eviscerated.

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Still, the left of the party is hungry for combat. Kevin de León, who is challenging Senate Judiciary ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) for reelection, criticized Democrats for not joining activists in getting arrested for protesting and said on Twitter that “we have to switch tactics.”

  Politico

Yes, you do.

Asked about the strategy employed by his colleagues, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) replied: “Not the way I was raised.”

Times have changed, Joe. I hope he has a progressive challenger for his own Senate seat.

Democrats haven’t ruled out a boycott or walkout in the future. Late Tuesday, a group of them huddled to hash out strategy in the office of Durbin, a senior member of the Judiciary panel, according to a Democratic aide.

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To win their fight, Democrats need to persuade Republicans such as Murkowski and Susan Collins of Maine to oppose Kavanaugh, and then keep their entire caucus in opposition. A high-profile walkout might have heartened liberals, but it probably wouldn’t have converted any swing voters.

“The way the Senate works, for Democrats to simply not show up was not an option.” said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.). ”So it was important that we lay down a marker that this is not a normal hearing.”

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.