Schumer on What Sucks

Senator Chuck Schumer doesn't have particularly fond memories of 1994, when the Republicans' Contract with America dumped him and his then-colleagues into the House minority.

"I was in the House for 18 years, and I would have stayed in the House, because I loved it when we were in the majority, but we lost the majority in '94," Mr. Schumer said. "And in the House, when you're in the minority, it's bad. It's the first time I'm telling a reporter this, but I've been in the Senate majority, Senate minority, House majority, House minority. Only one sucks. I got tired of going to the floor and just beating up on the Republicans without any effect. So I said to myself, ‘It's up or out.'"

Mr. Schumer seems to be enjoying himself now. "I love legislating," he reassures Andrew Rice in today's Observer. "And we had to create a majority so we could legislate." The only thing better than sitting in a Senate majority, one would think, might be sitting in it as Senate majority leader.