It is not easy being a Democrat these days. They are outnumbered on just about every front, with many of their favorite programs are under assault. Overnight, the Senate Democrats maintained a 24-hour floor fight in hopes of derailing the nomination of Betsy DeVos as secretary of education. Leading the charge was Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the party’s leading progressives. The campaign against DeVos was as close as the Democrats have come to a win. For the first time ever, a vice president had to cast a tie-breaking vote for a cabinet nominee. But the question is – are Democrats hurting themselves more in the court of public opinion when they do things like this? Jim Braude (@jimbraude) talks with former secretary of public safety Andrea Cabral, former aide to Senator Ted Kennedy and CEO of the 2013 Inaugural committee Steve Kerrigan (@stevekerrigan), and former state treasurer and candidate for governor Shannon O’Brien (@shannonpobrien). He gets their takes on whether the party should make a principled, but doomed fight – or stomach unsavory decisions in hopes of salvaging a future deal.
