Tight Races Make Better Leaders

First, happy Tesla earnings day to all who celebrate. I believe they’ll be out when the markets close.

I’ve been listening to With Liberty and Justice for Some, the podcast hosted by Mark Pocan (D-WI-2). It’s available on his YouTube channel. The guests and discussion are quite good if you’re interested in thinking about the future of the Democratic Party, as well as pushback to Trump. For example, the episode highlighting Patriotic Millionaires, with their leader Erica Payne, was worth a listen to hear her very clear discussion of the unfairness of the tax code and how a “tax the rich” message would work.

The most recent episode (not posted to YouTube but on the podcast feed) was Pocan speaking with Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul. It was a good discussion, but what really impressed me was the fighting spirit underlying the whole interview. These guys have been in the trenches and won some close races. Wisconsin is always on the knife’s edge and that tends to focus the mind on the task at hand.

That got me thinking about the weakness of Schumer, in particular. Here’s a guy who wins every race 60/40 or 70/30. He advanced by working his way through a party hierarchy. Contrast that with the last few Senate majority/minority leaders:

• Mike Mansfield, Montana

• Robert Byrd, West Virginia (kind of an exception to the rule)

• George Mitchell, Maine

• Tom Daschle, South Dakota

• Harry Reid, Nevada

Every one of these states (except WV) is not a “gimme” for a Democrat. Montana voted for LBJ and Clinton, Maine started flipping Democratic around when Mitchell became majority leader but had a string of Republican wins prior to that. LBJ was the only Democrat who won in SD since 1964. Nevada flipped back-and-forth between GWB and Obama when Reid was leader.

Mansfield retired when he was 74 and lived to 98. Mitchell retired at 62, Daschle got beat, and Reid retired at 77. Byrd, the closest to a “gimme” seat in this crew, died in office at the age of 92.

In other words, these guys had to work to get elected. None of them were perfect, but having Schumer in the lead with Durbin as second-in-charge, both safe-seaters, is a problem that can in part be solved by having someone who knows how to fight in leadership.