Where was the avenue for compromise here? If his grandstanding had set him back in something he wanted that would be a problem, but I don’t know what he lost by doing this.
He may have been a small part, but he was a part of the compromise that at least got $600 checks. An example of grandstanding that would have hurt him would be opposing the package with $600 checks after demanding $1200 or because they shortened the enhanced unemployment period.
It didn’t hurt anything. But that’s because it didn’t do anything. It’s homeopathic legislating.
In this case, “compromise” might mean actually talking to his colleagues, both the Democrats he supposedly caucuses with and Republicans who actually seemed to support the $2000, and coordinating with the leadership of the caucus he’s supposed to be a part of, and with House leadership. Behind closed doors. And then, maybe, step aside to let a more influential Senator take the lead. Or even a Republican who was willing to cross McConnell to stand with Trump (which it seems like there were actually at least a couple of).
Of course, then Bernie Sanders doesn’t get the media spotlight, nor does he get to strike his usual pose as the One Good Man in Washington.
Bernie Sanders is always and forever about promoting Bernie Sanders’ idea of ‘Democratic Socialism’ (even though he has no actual plan to put any of his notions into practice) and shouting about how unfair it is that the party he doesn’t actually belong to used its rules to prevent him from getting the nomination. I kind of like Sanders in his willingness to bluntly call out the hypocrisies of his fellow legislators ad politics in general, and he’s done well as a gadfly agitating for change and new ideas, but in almost three decades of legislative service—a lengthy career for most people—he’s managed to author only three bills that were passed into law, and two of them were for naming post offices. His most productive activity is applying riders and amendments to bills (his Congressional nickname is literally “Amendment King”) often having nothing to do with the core bill itself.
Contrast that with Joe Biden, who is well known for politicking for bilateral support; or Elizabeth Warren, who got the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau established despite opposition from leadership in both parties; or Hillary Clinton, who proved deft at getting cross the aisle support for many bills during her tenure in the Senate. Bernie isn’t trying to actually accomplish anything legislatively and there is little evidence that he has any temperament to compromise or skill at getting others to negotiate with him.
Stranger