Schumer Flees From Tom Cotton

Politico reports that Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is trying to cut Senator Tom Cotton out of any future immigration negotiations:

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told President Donald Trump this week that there will be no deal on Dreamers if hard-line conservative GOP Sen. Tom Cotton is involved, according to several congressional sources.
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Cotton — and his role in the hugely controversial Jan. 11 Oval Office meeting over a potential Senate bipartisan compromise on Dreamers — has become a focus of particular Senate Democrats’ ire. There seems to be something about the Arkansas Republican that especially angers them, and they’re not shy about letting Trump know.

I think the “something” that Democrats don’t like is that Cotton is extraordinarily talented and effective. Asked about Schumer’s attempt to boycott him, Cotton responded that Schumer doesn’t want him to be part of the negotiations “probably because I would get a good deal, and he wants a bad deal.” Politico continues with this high praise for Senator Cotton:

For a number of Senate Democrats, Cotton — brash, conservative and largely uninterested in compromise — is the personification of what is wrong with the GOP right now.

I agree. Republicans of Cotton’s caliber are responsible for the fact that the GOP controls the House and the Senate, as well as the White House, along with a large majority of governorships and state legislative bodies. This, in the Democrats’ eyes, is “what is wrong with the GOP right now.” Politico, a Democratic Party organ, sees things their way.

Apart from the contentious immigration issue, there is history between Schumer and Cotton–history in which Schumer did not fare well:

Cotton angrily confronted Schumer about his broken promise [relating to the confirmation of CIA Director Mike Pompeo]. … Schumer told Cotton that the Senate had never previously confirmed a CIA director on Inauguration Day and if Cotton had been around eight years earlier, he’d know that Republicans didn’t extend that courtesy for incoming president Barack Obama. “Eight years ago, I was getting my ass shot at in Afghanistan,” Cotton snapped. “So don’t talk to me about where I was 8 years ago.”

Chuck Schumer is a bully, so he naturally avoids those like Tom Cotton, who are not susceptible to being pushed around. I am not sure he will have a lot of success with Donald Trump, either.

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