The liberal campaign organization Indivisible announced Tuesday it plans to launch its largest primary initiative ever because Senate Democrats capitulated to end the government shutdown without re-upping Obamacare premium subsidies.
Eight Senate Democrats voted Sunday night with 52 Republicans to end the Democratic Party’s filibuster that has kept the government shut down for 42 days and counting. Liberal activists now want accountability, and Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer of New York is at the top of their list for not keeping his caucus in line.
Mr. Schumer, however, cast his vote against the spending bill.
The organization is calling on Mr. Schumer to step down from his post as minority leader, a demand they previously made in March when Senate Republicans passed a funding measure in the upper chamber.
“Chuck Schumer and a critical mass of Senate Democrats surrendered. For nearly six weeks, Republicans held the government hostage while threatening health care, food assistance, and basic services for millions of Americans,” said Ezra Levin, co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible.
“In these six weeks of the shutdown, Democrats had their best election night in over a decade, polls showed Republicans were losing this shutdown fight, and their base turned out for the largest protest in modern U.S. history with a resounding rejection of Trump and Republicans,” he said.
SEE ALSO: What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal to reopen the government
Mr. Levin said that Senate Democrats turned their back on their base and, instead of using the momentum of their recent electoral wins, they surrendered, which is why they are launching their “largest primary program yet.”
The primary program, according to Indivisible, will be guided by its national grassroots network, which is already identifying and supporting candidates who can challenge Democratic incumbents they aim to oust.
In a recent movement survey, 98.67% of Indivisible’s base said they wanted Senate Democrats to keep fighting.
Senate primary candidates wishing to capture support from the organization must firmly oppose Mr. Schumer as the next leader of the party.
Additionally, Indivisible seeks out Democratic primary candidates who will “abandon the status quo of feckless leadership and use every tool available to fight MAGA attacks on our communities, our health, and our democracy.”
Indivisible is expected to begin endorsing candidates in the coming months and instruct their network of activists to focus on helping elect challengers through phone calls, texts and canvases.
SEE ALSO: Schumer is now the most unpopular Senate Democratic leader on record, say polls
The organization says it has reached “millions of voters” that way in the past.
“A key faction of Senate Democrats have, once again, shown us they have no fight left in them,” said Leah Greenberg, co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible.
“They ended this shutdown in exchange for nothing but empty promises from the same Republicans who lied their way into this crisis in the first place — in direct opposition to public sentiment generally, and from Democratic voters specifically,” she said.
