Cory Booker’s latest overwrought display seems to have added a number of Democrats to his detractors’ ranks.

Senator Cory Booker is a theatrical guy. So much so that some might accuse him of occasionally chewing the scenery. Still others could claim that the senator’s penchant for melodramatic histrionics borders on neurosis — or, at least, barely repressed thespianism.

For most of Booker’s political career, those criticisms were exclusive to the American right. With his latest overwrought display, however, the senator seems to have added a number of Democrats to his detractors’ ranks.

What was supposed to be a pro forma session in the Senate over bipartisan and uncontroversial policing legislation “quickly went off the rails” on Tuesday, according to the New York Times, when Booker rose to make a spectacle of himself.

In a somewhat off-topic rant, the senator exploded with visible outrage over the various abuses of the public trust of which he alleged the Trump administration was guilty. That wasn’t what irritated Booker’s Democratic colleagues. What got under their skin was Booker’s accusation that his fellow Democrats — all but himself, apparently — were collaborators in Trump’s schemes.

Traditionally, this is the point at which I would assemble some select quotes from Booker’s floor speech that convey his colleagues’ objections. But the diatribe was so fueled by pique, so disjointed and emotive, that it doesn’t lend itself to transcription. It was a litany of complaints — some real, some imagined — and it was replete with accusations and indictments of all and sundry in Booker’s immediate vicinity. But it was not coherent.

The best I can do is pull some of Booker’s more inflammatory calumnies. “There’s too much going on in this country,” he declared at a volume that Times reporter Annie Karni observed “could be heard outside the Senate chamber.” He accused his allies of lacking a “backbone,” of not having “the will to fight,” and of questioning his motive and commitment to democratic values when it is they who are guilty of “complicity with an authoritarian leader.”

Those among his colleagues who had supported the bill at issue were “enabling Donald Trump to do a broadside attack on my state.” Many in the Democratic caucus “want to f***ing fight,” the senator added from the well of the upper chamber. But “we don’t see enough fight in this caucus.”

“This, to me, is the problem with Democrats in America right now,” Booker exclaimed. “We’re willing to be complicit with Donald Trump to let this pass through, when we have all the leverage right now there is.”

The senator’s outburst enlivened online engagement chasers, who repackaged his passionate prattle into monetizable nuggets for consumption by scrolling addicts. But Booker’s fellow Democrats were not nearly so impressed.

“This is an attempt to kill all of these bills. I don’t know why,” said Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, who had sought unanimous consent for the anodyne legislation at issue (which would only reauthorize support for law enforcement’s access to mental-health services and increase the number of recruits eligible for training programs). “These bills passed unanimously out of committee weeks ago,” she continued.

“Things got personal and nasty,” Karni added, when “longtime rival” Senator Amy Klobuchar pointedly observed that Booker failed to attend the committee meeting where the legislation on offer was debated and passed unanimously. “I can’t help it if someone couldn’t change their schedule to be there,” Klobuchar sneered. “I think these hearings should mean something.” To this, Booker exploded. “Don’t question my integrity, don’t question my motives,” Booker barked. “If we don’t stand up as Democrats, we deserve to lose.”

But Booker didn’t stand up for anything. As Axios reported, “Booker withdrew his objection and the legislation ultimately passed, but he made his point.” Did he, though? If his point was to reveal the extent to which Cory Booker had not received enough attention of late, well, mission accomplished. That pyrrhic victory will prove ephemeral if it comes at the cost of collegiality and, thus, efficacy as a lawmaker.

There isn’t one Democrat in high office who doesn’t understand the incentive structure encouraged by the party’s base voters. The Democratic activist class want to see recalcitrance, obstructionism, high dudgeon, and even bloodshed — so long as they themselves are not caught in the crossfire. And Democrats are responding to those incentives, albeit in calibrated ways that sate the party’s desire for passion without setting themselves on fire in the process. That’s a tender balance, and the party is struggling to strike it. Many have overshot the mark. Booker is only the latest.