(Newser)
–
Chuck Schumer is making enemies in high places among "his wealthiest and most powerful constituents," writes Chris Smith. These Wall Street honchos have long poured money into Schumer's campaign coffers, but now they think he's not doing enough to protect them from regulation attempts. “Chuck says, ‘I’ve been there to help you,’ ” says one lobbyist. “Well, that’s when we were playing stickball. Now we’re in a cage match and he’s hiding under his desk.”
Schumer's critics—who accuse him of adopting a populist streak so he can be the next majority leader—have no hope of unseating him, but they can take revenge in other ways, writes Smith in New York magazine. That includes getting behind Harold Ford Jr. as he tries to oust Kirsten Gillibrand—"a virtual ward of Schumer's"—from her Senate seat. "A lot of what’s fueling the Ford thing is Chuck’s donors, who are furious at him,” says a political consultant. “They feel he’s walked away from them."