I’m not sure what Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) thought he was going to get by pushing a vote on the Democratic effort to federalize elections (which they call ‘voting rights’) and on the filibuster.
Schumer knew that he was likely to get a “no” on the filibuster from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). They’ve only been holding fast on the subject for months. Both also were very firm on the subject in speeches — Sinema earlier in the week and Manchin earlier on Wednesday. It wasn’t happening, they said.
But Schumer decided to commit electoral suicide anyway, and he got it tonight.
Here’s the vote.
Manchin and Sinema voted with the Republicans to keep the filibuster.
Here are some of the political reactions to the news.
Schumer doesn’t seem to get that he just lost, and that’s it.
Joe Biden was similarly in fantasy land.
Perhaps the angriest person was Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). This is lunacy on parade. Throw away your principles to get what we want, Sanders essentially railed. Even though everyone has the right to vote and the Democrats’ bills aren’t about that at all.
It’s a very good day when this kind of mania doesn’t prevail, and sanity prevails. Democrats don’t even get how this will help them because they are going to lose the Senate and be in the minority after the November election. Then you will see them flip one more time, talking about the importance of preserving the filibuster.