Liberals worry about the consequences of cutting deals with a divisive, mercurial president.
The Democratic base is growing anxious as its leaders order Chinese food and make deals with the president who many in their ranks would prefer to see impeached.
For some liberal activists and lawmakers, the burgeoning partnership between President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi amounts to dancing with the devil. As long as the Democrats keep leading — driving a wedge between Trump and the fractured GOP — no one will bust up the dance.
But the sudden burst of bipartisanship could be perilous for Democrats. Already, immigration activists and Hispanic lawmakers are worried Democratic leaders will give too much ground in any deal to protect Dreamers. Progressives are also chiding Schumer and Pelosi for “normalizing” Trump, a man the party intends to run against hard in 2018 and 2020.
“Nothing Trump has done should change the fact that he’s pursuing a toxic agenda, that he has been and continues to be divisive and disastrous,” said Justin Krebs, campaign director at MoveOn.org. “The American people at large know that, and Democratic leaders should not forget that.”
Even within Schumer and Pelosi’s own caucuses, some Democrats are rattled.
“I am asserting that our base — our rank-and-file base — and a lot of us in the caucus, want to see … or hear, periodically, that parameters are being set” in discussions with Trump, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said in an interview. “And we get alarmed at the speculation that this might be a new day dawning.”
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Does Schumer/Pelosi dealing with Trump make a second term more likely? https://t.co/MOI5Gp4jI0
— James Wallner (@jiwallner) September 16, 2017
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