Liberal Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel thinks Democrats are getting ahead of themselves when they say they are going to retake Congress next year. He suggests they do a better job picking their battles.
Rahm Emanuel to Democrats who think they can win back the House:
— Harlan Z. Hill (@Harlan) February 8, 2017
"It Ain’t Gonna Happen In 2018! Take a chill pill..." pic.twitter.com/SOXdkI5aqq
“Winning’s everything,” Emanuel said at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business in California on Tuesday. “If you don’t win, you can’t make the public policy. I say that because it is hard for people in our party to accept that principle. Sometimes, you’ve just got to win, OK? Our party likes to be right, even if they lose.”
“I don’t go to moral victory speeches," he added. "I can’t stand them."Judging by his remarks, Emanuel was probably not a fan of Democrats' behavior on Capitol Hill this week. Despite all the hemming and hawing from liberal lawmakers, Betsy DeVos was confirmed as our secretary of education. Yet, some social justice warriors chalked it up as a win.The fact that Pence was forced to cast the tie-breaking vote in the DeVos nomination is a big win for the resistance movement pic.twitter.com/jGIXz64ZG2
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) February 7, 2017
He also may not be a fan of Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-MA) antics Tuesday night as she fought against Sen. Jeff Sessions' (R-AL) nomination for attorney general, despite it "galvanizing the left."
It is this kind of mindset that Emanuel says is unproductive. Good results trump good intentions. In the current political environment, instead of preaching a progressive agenda, the mayor suggests that Democrats adopt a more moderate tone.
At least nine Democrats seem to share Emanuel's point of view when it comes to President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. They say he deserves a fair hearing, knowing that they'd have a much better chance to challenge Trump's next possible nominee.
