The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

p> SIMMERING SCHUMER br> Some Democratic Senators may want to see Hillary Clinton in the leadership, but not all. That's because the simmering war between Clinton and the senior senator from New York, Chuck Schumer continues. /p>

Schumer, who is not a popular member of the Senate Democratic Caucus due to his love of the spotlight, has worked quietly and not so quietly behind the scenes during Clinton's first two years in the Senate to undercut her push for a higher profile role among her Democratic colleagues. His staff has leaked embarrassing anecdotes about the junior senator, the most widely circulated being that Clinton made a point of not attending funerals and memorial services held for victims of the September 11 terror attacks in New York.

Later, at the height of the New York gubernatorial primary battle between Democrats Carl McCall and Andrew Cuomo, Schumer stepped up to endorse McCall in an effort to force Clinton's hand. "The two have been sniping since Senator Clinton showed up," says a Clinton staffer in New York. "He just can't stand the fact that he has to share the spotlight with someone else."

Now Clinton is poised to move into a leadership position, albeit a lower level one, as chairman of the Democratic Steering and Coordination Committee. Depending on how she uses the seat, it could allow her to become one of Senate's most visible Democrats. "Part of what she's going to be expected to do is shape a message for the Democratic caucus," says a staffer on Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "Depending on how she wants to do that and put it out, she could be the voice for the Democrats in the Senate if Daschle allows it."

That's a big if. Daschle has yet to officially announce who will be taking the reins of the steering committee, though it's expected that current chairman Sen. John Kerry won't remain. And Schumer, according to a Democratic leadership staffer, while not interested in the job himself, has complained to his colleagues that a junior senator like Clinton shouldn't be given that much influence. Never mind that he's just four years into his first term as a senator himself.

"It does bother him that he hasn't been considered for a leadership slot the way other senators have," says a Democratic leadership staffer. "But he hasn't made a lot of noise about wanting one -- after all, he's viewed as a leader on the Judiciary Committee. He makes a lot of noise about a lot of other things. Clinton obviously gets under his skin. He better get used to it. He's going to have to take orders from her soon enough."

p> OLD HABITS DIE HARD

topics:
John McCain, NATO