By the six-month mark in Trump’s presidency, he’ll be faced with the filibuster of his Supreme Court nominee (as well as the filibuster of an Obamacare repeal because the reconciliation measure probably can’t be done sooner). He’ll have to get around them, if he can. There’s only one way to do it, and Trump is perfectly positioned to take advantage.
I remember walking the Senate halls in 2007 when the Bush-McCain-Kennedy immigration amnesty bill was being considered. In the offices of senators who opposed it, such as Jeff Sessions (R-AL), all was quiet. The receptionists and other staff were relaxed. Walking past many others — including McCain’s office and his acolyte, Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) — I saw the barrage of angry phone calls being answered by stressed-out staffers. It was a telling moment.
Trump will have to deal with the Senate by stirring up the same outrage among the voters. He’ll never convince Schumer to back off the filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee (and any repeal of Obamacare), but he can get the populist wave of voters who elected him to join those fights.
Trump can and must go directly to the voters in speeches, meeting personally with individual Senate Dems, using Twitter and every other means he can think of. He must persuade McConnell that no other business should be done in the Senate — not even the naming of post offices — before both are dealt with.
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