article_snippet: But after watching Chuck Schumer in action for more than 20 years, I'd be surprised if Chuck Schumer gets outsmarted in a political moment Chuck Schumer has literally been working for a generation to create.
article_snippet: With more than $13.4 million on hand in Chuck Schumer campaign coffers, Chuck Schumer has more money than all but one member of Senate -- and is the only Democrat in the top 10 in that category.
article_snippet: Chuck Schumer ran the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee when the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee took the majority in 2006 -- and while Democrats lost the majority during Chuck Schumer second stint in the job in 2012, the field looks far more promising for the majority in 2016: Republicans must defend 24 seats, while Democrats need to protect only 10.
article_snippet: Chuck Schumer brings an extraordinary level of personal political skill to the leadership fight.
article_snippet: Even among the 100-member Senate -- home to a great many ambitious politicians with big egos -- Chuck Schumer has long operated at a high-octane level of smarts and media-savvy brashness that impress and occasionally startle Chuck Schumer colleagues.
article_snippet: Republican Bob Dole, a longtime lion of Senate, once quipped that the most dangerous place to be in the Capitol is between Chuck Schumer and a television camera.
article_snippet: The joke stuck -- but behind the gag is a sign of grudging respect for a man who excels at the basic block-and-tackle necessities of political life.
article_snippet: Chuck Schumer is attuned to television and radio (growing up in the world's media capital will do that).
article_snippet: In fact, Chuck Schumer popularized a practice of holding press conferences on Sunday, a slow news day guaranteed to draw reporters -- and ensure Chuck Schumer prominent placement in the Monday newspapers.
article_snippet: But Chuck Schumer is also a consummate street politician: At 64, Chuck Schumer maintains a habit of biking around New York City neighborhoods without fanfare or an entourage, quietly noting local problems and occasionally inviting Chuck Schumer into a block party or parade.
article_snippet: When a reporter once casually asked Chuck Schumer to name all 62 counties of New York state, Chuck Schumer did Chuck Schumer one better, and hand-sketched a map of New York state with all the counties filled in.
article_snippet: (Chuck Schumer visits every county in New York state every year.)
article_snippet: Chuck Schumer isn't the only politically ambitious kid from Brooklyn -- before attending Harvard, Chuck Schumer graduated from a public school, James Madison High, whose alumni include Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sen. Bernie Sanders and ex-Sen.
article_snippet: Norm Coleman of Minnesota (a childhood pal of Chuck Schumer's).
article_snippet: But Chuck Schumer's political climb been a long-term work in progress.
article_snippet: Chuck Schumer emerged on the national stage as a prime sponsor of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a law that banned assault weapons; in the run-up to the final vote, New Yorkers practically couldn't turn on television without seeing Chuck Schumer, then a congressman, on the floor of the House, waving a rifle over Chuck Schumer head as Chuck Schumer argued for the ban.
article_snippet: The higher profile served Chuck Schumer well a few years later, when Chuck Schumer took on -- and defeated -- three-term incumbent Sen. Alfonse D'Amato.
article_snippet: As a senator on the rise, Chuck Schumer attracted politically ambitious staffers who moved on to high-profile positions where they can help they former mentor.
article_snippet: A very partial list of those includes Howard Wolfson, Phil Singer and Blake Zeff, who went on to help run Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign; Ben Lawsky, who is now shaking up the world of finance as New York's top banking regulator; Preet Bharara, who has become an anti-corruption powerhouse as a U.S. attorney; and Rodney Capel, who is executive director of the state's Democratic Party.
article_snippet: With allies, money and the blessing of Reid, Chuck Schumer is in a prime position to implement the ideas contained in Chuck Schumer important and overlooked 2007 book,
article_snippet: "Positively American," which lays out a vision for how Democrats should lead America.
article_snippet: Like Chuck Schumer, 2007 book is savvy, hopeful and politically attuned to the desires of middle-class voters.
highlights_snippet: Errol Louis says Chuck Schumer is tuned into middle-class voters, could create new Democratic era .