MoveOn rips Schumer on Iran, says Dems should find ‘a new leader’

The liberal activist group MoveOn is assailing Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) for his decision, announced late Thursday night, to oppose the nuclear deal with Iran.

“Our country doesn’t need another Joe Lieberman in the Senate, and it certainly doesn’t need him as Democratic leader,” MoveOn political action executive director Ilya Sheyman said in a statement about Schumer, who is next to line to be the Senate’s top Democrat.

{mosads}“No real Democratic leader does this,” he added. “If this is what counts as ‘leadership’ among Democrats in the Senate, Senate Democrats should be prepared to find a new leader or few followers.”

“In response to Senator Schumer’s decision to side with partisan war hawks, MoveOn.org’s 8 million members are immediately launching a Democratic Party donor strike,” Sheyman declared.

As part of that strike, MoveOn is urging its members to withhold campaign contributions to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Sheyman said. Within 72 hours after Schumer’s Thursday evening announcement, the liberal group is hoping to withhold $10 million in campaign contributions.

The action is a swift and aggressive response to Schumer’s announcement late on Thursday that he would vote to kill the nuclear deal with Iran, in a major break with the White House.

“To me, the very real risk that Iran will not moderate and will, instead, use the agreement to pursue its nefarious goals is too great,” Schumer said in a statement posted on Medium.

The liberal ire at Schumer — who had been a prime target for both sides in the debate over the Iran agreement — is only likely to increase in coming days. Schumer is expected to provide cover for other Democrats to follow his lead, and his announced opposition to the deal is a serious setback for President Obama and other supporters of the Iran deal.

Dan Pfeiffer, a former top aide to Obama, tweeted his apparent support for MoveOn’s protest.

“The base won’t support a leader who thought Obamacare was a mistake and wants War with Iran,” he said.