Open Thread - Schumer Goes For The Win Edition

by Steve

Instead of staying out of the race, or endorsing local party favorite and former corporate lobbyist Harris Miller in tomorrow's Democratic primary to see who will challenge Virginia's GOP senator and 2008 presidential candidate George "Dixie" Allen, Senator Chuck Schumer did a risky thing as head of the DSCC this year: he endorsed former Reagan Navy Secretary Jim Webb for the Democratic nomination. Why? Because Schumer thinks, correctly, that Webb stands a better chance than Miller running against Allen as an anti-war candidate and tying Allen down in a dogfight this November. John Kerry agrees with Schumer, who paid a price today when Virginia Democratic fundraisers withdrew their support for the DSCC in protest of the DSCC siding with a former Republican against a Democrat.

Yes, this is a legitimate risk when the national committee inserts itself in decisions that the local parties feel they should control. But Schumer's job is to do whatever is necessary to run the best candidates against high-priority GOP incumbents, and Allen is one of those.

OK, your turn.