Rachel Maddow: Why Do Senate Dems Keep Trying To Negotiate With Republicans?

Rachel Maddow has been noticing a trend in Congressional negotiations: every time Democrats try to shift their legislation to the right to appeal to Republicans, the moderate Republicans claim they are thinking about voting for it– or, as she put it, “Scott Brown has to put his thinking shorts on”– and then they vote against it. What do Democrats get out of these deals?

“The pattern of Republicans negotiation on big pieces of legislation, winning major concessions and then not voting for it after all has been pretty clear for a while now to people who are paying attention,” Maddow explained, noting that to her it seemed that, on even moderate Democratic bills, “no Republican will vote for it pretty much ever, no matter what.” She had Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein on to discuss, and she was surprised to find him more optimistic on Congressional compromises that she was. He complimented Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for his discipline:

“Mitch McConnell never lets even one more go. That’s really the key. Not one more Republican ever bails. If it happens like that, they tag team, right? They relay race. [Sen. Bob] Corker gives it to [Sen. Rick] Shelby who gives it to Brown. But I don’t know it’s even done like that. They are never allowed to get a friend. And the pressure for the Republican grassroots is so enormous. And the recognition of what is going to happen to you, now that people like Bob Bennett have lost their seats, becomes so overwhelming.”

Video below: