Democratic Senate debates merits of passion vs. pragmatism

By ALAN FRAM
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats have conflicting views of what they’re accomplishing in the 50-50 Senate and of how to take advantage of their control on the chamber. It’s the latest snapshot of how the party is coping with the realities of running the Senate with no votes to spare. Congressional elections are coming up in November, and many progressives want to draw contrasts with Republicans by forcing votes on proposals to curb pharmaceutical prices and other popular pieces of a stalled social and environmental bill. Pragmatists see a chance to revive that bill and they don’t want to roil moderate Democratic holdouts whose support they’ll need to succeed.