Chuck Schumer ‘Whiffs’ On Senate Candidate Recruitment

Chuck Schumer’s recruiting efforts failed once again as Steve Bullock officially announced his candidacy for President. Bullock is part of a long list of Democrats who have rejected the recruiting advances of Senate Democrats.

The inability for Senate Democrats to recruit top-flight candidates has become a story of its own.

The Daily Beast: “Democrats Don’t Want To Run For The Senate – And It Will Screw Them”

FiveThirtyEight: “Who Wants To Be A Senator? Not These High-Profile Democrats”

• “Some potentially strong Democratic candidates have passed on runs for the Senate, dashing Democratic hopes in several GOP-leaning states, including Georgia, Texas and Montana. However, it’s not that surprising that they and other Democrats don’t want to wage Senate campaigns in red states. And that’s because there’s a really good chance they might lose.”
  

The New York Times: “As Democrats Eye Flipping Senate, Top-Tier Candidates Decide To Pass”

• “Democrats, hungry for a sweep of power in Washington, are confronting a harsh reality: Top-tier candidates are refusing to run for the Senate.”
• Former Iowa Democratic Campaign Operative: “You can’t beat a somebody with a nobody…Unfortunately, all the somebodys we have in Iowa have largely passed on this race. People here are very concerned.”
• “And in some Republican-leaning states crucial to the Democrats’ Senate ambitions — North Carolina, Iowa and Georgia — credible challengers have yet to emerge, forcing Democrats to sift through thin benches for little-known candidates.”

Fox News: “Senate Democrats face recruitment setback in bid to reclaim majority”

• “It’s been a rough week for Senate Democrats as they try to lay the groundwork to reclaim the chamber’s majority in next year’s elections – with some of their most coveted recruits announcing they’ll pass on 2020 runs.”
• “Stacy Abrams…said no to launching a senate bid…Her decision was a setback to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who personally met with Abrams multiple times as he tried to recruit her.”
• “The early recruiting failures of Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) chair Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada could be an early barometer of the likely steep climb ahead as their party tries to take back the majority in the chamber”

Bloomberg: Democrats Short on Recruits for Bid to Retake Senate in 2020

• “Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer’s attempt to wrest the chamber from Republicans in 2020 is growing harder as he and the party confront early recruiting disappointments”
• “If they want any shot at the majority, Democrats have to expand the playing field,” said Jennifer Duffy, Senate editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. “And that’s what they’re struggling with right now.”

CBS News: Democrats struggle to attract top-tier Senate candidates

Politico: Democrats’ hopes of Senate takeover damaged by recruiting whiffs

• “Senate Democrats’ bid to take back the majority is running into a big roadblock: Some of their most coveted recruiting targets are refusing to run.”
• Former Harry Reid Aide Adam Jentleson: “What’s the pitch? ‘Come here, do nothing and let Mitch McConnell eat your lunch every day?’”
• “But privately, some Democrats are alarmed by the lack of candidates.”