Hickenlooper to testify in ethics complaint

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Turns it from Likely D to Lean D.

No. Safe D with or without Hickenlooper. The worst legal outcome is a small fine and that is not going to blow a D+15-20 lead.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

This won't have much of an effect, but Durbin needs to challenge Schumer for the leadership position in the senate. Practically begging Hick to get in the race and pushing Jackson out in NC is just a joke.

Durbin might well be a better majority leader, but didn't have the political will to attempt a campaign to avoid being leapfrogged by Schumer before. I don't see why he'd be well-positioned to lead a revolt soon unless Senate Democrats significantly underperform House Democrats or the presidential ticket, and even then, I suspect it would take several cycles of failure.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Sanctions are to be decided tomorrow.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Durbin is too much of a nice guy to be Democratic leader. He would have been perfect 50-60 years ago but in today's polarized environment Democrats are better off with someone as ruthless as Schumer.

Schumer neglected rural Democratic interests too much and that contributed to a political divide which has been especially damaging to Senate Dems. Perhaps Durbin isn't forceful enough, but the caucus could do better than its current Majority Leader (Patty Muray, perhaps?).