How Schumer's kept his Democrats in array -- so far

[brooklynite]

Politico

Chuck Schumer got his progressives to swallow a bipartisan deal that tasted about as good to them as wilted spinach. Now he'll need to bring his leery moderates along for the whole meal.

The Senate majority leader is not known for putting a hard whip on his members, yet Schumer's willingness to dish tough truths to the likes of Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin — not to mention Bernie Sanders — amounts to his recipe for delivery on President Joe Biden's domestic agenda.

It started a few weeks ago, when Democrats’ strategy was in jeopardy. Progressives were hammering the bipartisan infrastructure framework as too meager, while moderates hemmed and hawed over forcing any of Biden’s priorities via party-line votes. The affable majority leader was in a jam.

Behind the scenes, Schumer began to nudge harder than his genial nature suggests. He recalled telling Sanders, the Senate Budget Committee chair and the firmest “no” vote on the bipartisan plan, that “if you want the moderates to vote with the progressive vision, you can't vote no on this. You don't have that luxury.” Then Schumer gathered Manchin and Sinema, his two most critical centrists, and told them of the caucus liberals: “If you won't vote yes on the budget resolution, I can't get them to vote yes” on the bipartisan bill.

[JHB]

1. Even when specifically reporting the opposite, Politico works in a "Dems in disarray" angle

[Wounded Bear]

2. Politicians politiking. Who'd a thunk it?

The Dems in disarray meme is a Politico favorite. Sounds like they're getting it done.