At the time of the meeting, Ocasio-Cortez was fresh from her beautiful primary victory. She has not even been sworn into office yet. But in the two years since, Schumer has thrown his weight behind a plan to cancel the student loan debt by executive order. He voted against the agreement between the United States and Mexico-Canada. He said ‘nothing is off the table’ when it comes to eliminating the filibuster. And that’s just a fraction of the progressive moves he’s made in recent years. It still has not vaccinated him of the possibility of a pre-election.
‘This is exciting to see how much action Schumer is currently taking, ”said Saikat Chakrabarti, former chief of staff of Ocasio-Cortez. “And I hope that progressive persons continue to press on him and threaten a potential pre-election. ”
With Schumer at the helm of the Senate, the prospect of a left-wing challenge next year will play an important role in shaping the legislation coming out of Washington. This is true regardless of whether Ocasio-Cortez pulls the trigger, at least for the next few months.
The two-term congresswoman is seriously considering running for the seat, but has so far been undecided, according to people familiar with her thinking. Several sources said her decision will depend on how Schumer exercises power with his new Democratic majority in the coming months: will he be pushed around by Mitch McConnell? Or will he work to succeed ambitiously, progressively legislation favored by the left?
“It depends on what Schumer does,” said Waleed Shahid, communications director of Justice Democrats, the left-wing group that recruited Ocasio-Cortez to serve for Congress. It refers to a challenge from her or another progressive candidate. ‘Schumer will have to explain each of his decisions to one of the most prosperous primary voters in the country, and if voters think he’s capitulating to Mitch McConnell and not arranging his caucus to deliver to working families, he’ll be in trouble. ”
So far, Ocasio-Cortez has been careful not to tilt his hand in public.
“The congresswoman is one of the districts most affected by Covid, and it remains her priority and focus,” Lauren Hitt, her spokeswoman, said when asked about a primary challenge.
Some thriving organizations closely associated with Ocasio-Cortez also follow a wait-and-see approach to a primary series, which they say could come from her or another candidate if she decides to quit a campaign .
“Whether it’s worth giving Chuck Schumer a lot of energy left in 2022 definitely depends on what he does in 2021,” said Evan Weber, political director of the Sunrise Movement. ‘We’ve seen a lot of evolution of Schumer on a number of issues, and if he continues to evolve and truly deliver for the Democrats and can be the leader we need now, then that’s the biggest thing he could do. to avoid next year a major effort behind a left-wing primary. ”
For those on the left flank of the party, the idea of ousting Schumer is partly appealing because he is a member of a Democratic congressional leadership that, according to them, is faltering. His record includes a vote in favor of the war in Iraq and support for the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act – two issues that continue to burn on the left. Their desire for a new approach has also become more urgent from time to time – progressive people admit that Schumer is not Joe Manchin, the centric senator in West Virginia, but he is not FDR either, and that is what they think. needed to end Covid, bring about economy and racial justice.
They will be watching Schumer closely to see if he can fetch a massive stimulus package, enforce climate and employment legislation and persuade the positions in his caucus to eliminate the filibuster.
According to Schumer’s allies, his outreach to progressives is part of the relationship building he has always put forward with voters, especially in New York, and that his record is a reflection of the overall shift of the Democratic Party over the past year. They also talk about the idea that his left-wing movements are only political. The politician who once sold himself as a ‘law-and-order democrat’ said last year that ‘the problems that exist, we say in the’ 90s, are different from the problems that exist today. ”
In his first TV interview after becoming Senate Majority Leader – which took place with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, a nod to the liberal base – Schumer called for transformative legislation.
“America must change courageously. We need immediate courageous change, ”he said. ‘We have Covid, the worst healthcare crisis in 100 years since the Spanish pandemic flu. The worst economic crisis since the New Deal, so we need to act quickly. ”
Despite his rhetoric, many progressive people remain skeptical and are intimidated by what they saw as an inadequate response to the recession by Democrats in the Obama era. A group of high-left organizations are considering broadcasting TV commercials this year to pressure them to grow up. Other progressive activists are taking a more aggressive stance and are trying to support a challenge.
Given her national profile, Ocasio-Cortez’s allies are confident she would raise a huge amount of money if she acted for the Senate, perhaps as much as $ 100 million. She raised nearly $ 20 million during her re-election campaign, which she easily won. Many are also clumsy about her chances.
“They think she’s going to win,” said a Democratic House source.
Progressive people know that she has to do work outside of New York City when she’s busy. During the presidential election, her staff spoke to her about the possible build-up of her appeal in the state by campaigning there for Senator Bernie Sanders if he were to eventually be competitive in New York, a person familiar with the talks said. (Sanders eventually announced that he would endorse Joe Biden before the state’s primary election.)
Although some in Schumer’s job believe that Ocasio-Cortez is more likely to pursue a campaign for governor or lieutenant governor, her allies have said she is more interested in continuing on the legislative track than in being an executive. career to follow.
As Ocasio-Cortez run, Schumer will not be caught off guard like Joe Crowley or Eliot Engel, two powerful House Democrats led by Ocasio-Cortez and now-Rep. Jamaal Bowman, respectively.
Adapted to the political currents in New York, Schumer indicated he was not worried.
‘During my career, I do the best work for my constituents and for my country, and it always works. I did not have a big plan like, ‘I’m going to be here in ten years, here in 20 years.’ I do my job well and then the next thing falls into place, ‘Schumer told POLITICO.
Schumer also made notable moves to reach to the left. He regularly spoke to the grassroots Indivisible. He wrote openly for the progressive think tank Data for Progress. Before coming up to Congress, Ocasio-Cortez placed Senator Elizabeth Warren of Sanders and Massachusetts on his leadership team.
His willingness to work with progressives also extended to the congresswoman herself. The two politicians pressed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide financial assistance to families to bury loved ones who lose Covid.
Schumer’s allies claim that an important point of discussion used by leftists against Crowley and Engel – that it was DC creatures who were absent in New York – would not stick to it. Schumer is widely regarded as a hard worker, known for his legendary Sunday press conferences in the state, where he is zero on hyperlocal issues. Even very progressive people admit that he is a constant presence in New York.
“The arguments that Congressman Bowman made against Engel were not ideological … but that he is not here,” said Stu Loeser, Schumer’s former communications director. “This is not an argument you can make against Chuck Schumer.”
Schumer’s allies also believe that the left is no different than the Democratic lawmakers who were ousted in 2018 after being sly and leading with Republicans: he is conservative: He is a liberal in the middle of his caucus which, according to them, voted against NAFTA as a NA member in the 1990s and has been running for the right-wing member of the left-wing Working Families Party for many years.
Some progressive people see Schumer as a partner, especially after his recent move to the left. Rep. Ro Khanna, California’s former co-chair of Sanders, who proposed a $ 100 billion scientific research bill with Schumer, said he was “an ally of daring progressive legislation.” ‘
In some corners on the left, this led to a reluctance to challenge him.
‘We really need to ask ourselves what the obstacle is to liberal things happening in the Senate, and that is in my opinion largely the thinness of the majority and the nature of the people who occupy our marginal seats, ”said Sean McElwee, co-founder of Data for Progress. “And the progressive movement as a whole is limited in the media space it can occupy and in the staff space it has.”
Some on the left doubt whether Ocasio-Cortez will eventually run partially because, according to them, they did not take concrete steps to launch a campaign. And there are different schools of thought among her allies about whether Schumer is coming up to majority leader makes it more likely or less likely to tackle him.
However, Ocasio-Cortez is not the only candidate whose name is being driven in progressive circles as a potential challenger to Schumer. Others include first-term representatives Bowman and Mondaire Jones, Public Defender Jumaane Williams, and State Senator Alessandra Biaggi.
A Bowman spokesman said he was not considering a Senate candidate in 2022. Jones and Williams did not comment.
Biaggi, the granddaughter of a former congressman in New York, said that although she is not thinking about running at the moment, “I should definitely revisit it.”
“There must be unequivocal action,” she added. “If that does not happen, then we need to get serious about who we are leading right now.”