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The same year, 2013, a bipartisan gun background check measure, sponsored by Manchin and Pennsylvania RepublicanPatrick J. Toomey, won a majority but failed to get past the Senates filibuster threshold partly because four Democrats voted against it. Last year, the Senate fell five votes short of 60 on a policing measure sponsored by South Carolina RepublicanTim Scott.

That Schumer would choose to test McConnell rather than pursue these past bipartisan efforts indicates just how inflexible politics has become on Capitol Hill, and how Democrats see political gain in taking a stand on the filibuster.

Democrats see their best shot at beating the odds in the 2022 midterm elections, and either maintaining or expanding their majorities, by keeping their coalition of progressive whites and minority voters engaged.

While Democrats share of the former grew in the 2020 presidential race, their share of the minority vote shrank. Donald Trump took 12 percent of African American ballots, up from 8 percent in 2016, and 32 percent of the Latino vote, also 4 points higher than he did in his victory over Hillary Clinton.

Democrats plan to use their elections bill, which would require states to permit early and mail-in voting and, for states with voter ID laws, to accept a sworn statement in lieu of an ID card, and the coming fight over the filibuster, to appeal to minority voters.

Read more:
Democrats pushing to weaken the filibuster say it enables racism - Roll Call