Top Senate Democrat Tacitly Acknowledges He Has Angus King’s Vote In His Back Pocket. State Democrats Question King’s Record, While Washington Democrats Stand Ready To Welcome Him With Open Arms
WASHINGTON – Even as Democrats in Maine question “Independent” Angus King’s record, with the State Party telling Politico recently that they intend to support the Democratic nominee while saying that King never really had to make tough decisions as Governor, it remains clear that Democrats in Washington believe they have King’s vote firmly in their back pocket.
As top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer tells The Hill newspaper today:
- SCHUMER: “There’s only one state where the strong likelihood is there’s a pick-up. That’s Maine and that’s ours.”
Yet as one publication reported recently, national Democrats have yet to even pick up the phone and speak with Democrat State Senator Cynthia Dill who is running for the Democratic nomination. Interestingly, however, the DSCC’s website includes the following about the Maine Senate race: “Expect Democrats to choose a strong candidate and flip this seat in November.”
In contrast, Politico astutely observed in March that Schumer, a former two-time Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, does not deny that he’s already had private conversations with Angus King.
“Given Senator Schumer’s certainty about this race, it’s time for Angus King to step forward and be honest about the worst kept secret in Washington – that he’s cut a backroom deal,”National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Brian Walsh said today. “It’s simply insulting to voters in Maine and to the candidates running for the Democratic nomination that King is playing this dishonest, cat-and-mouse game. Chuck Schumer clearly believes he has King’s vote in his back pocket and it’s time for King to tell voters in Maine why that is.”
