I have been away for a bit, unable to encounter any political discussion without becoming insanely furious about the election, but now I'm back, and wondering what the take is in Kosville about Harry Reid. I did a search and frankly did not find much on this rather momentous decision of minority leader. I frankly don't know that much about Reid, but the little I do know is not good, people. Not good at all. In particular, he is a touted as a conciliator.
I don't want a conciliator. I want a passionate, relentless, cunning, fearless, fire-breathing warrior. Hmmm, I guess I want James Carville. But since he is not available, I want someone who will be on the air, in the news, making the case, every single day...
...that we owe these right-wing fanatics nothing, that we will fight them for every inch, every dollar, every vote, every human need, every court appointment, every last minute of the day.
And then I want someone who will go and fight that fight.
As Kos has pointed out in the past, Dems win when they take a principled stand, and fight for our values and principles. Dems lose when they try to be Thug-lite, because after all, the Thugs will always be better at being Thugs. We need a Dem leader who can instill this spirit in his/her band of 45 fallible souls, and get them to hang together, and take stands together, and work everyday at holding fast on the Senate floor and winning the debate in the public square. These 45 humans, and their tenuous capacity to uphold a filibuster, are pretty much all we have between us and a very dark republican night. I want someone who understands that in their bones. I want someone who understands that the Thugs under W do not want to make peace, so not want to build bridges, do not care what we think or about our welfare ("I have political capital, and intend to spend it..."). The Thugs just want total victory, for their corrupt visions of privileged wealth and empire.
I gave Daschle a lot of slack because, although he did almost nothing else right, he understood the politics of talking to one man. That man was Jim Jeffords, and Daschle's skill (and as I read it then, Daschle really gets a lot of the credit) in breaking Jeffords away from the Thugs was a tremendous achievement. It should have meant more than it did, in stopping the Bush agenda, but it was something. And then there was not even that.
Now one man, one woman, is not enough. We need someone who can talk to 45 people, and to 100 people, and to 300 million.
The choice of many progressives is apparently Durbin. I don't really know that much about him either. Anyone want to make the case?
But let's converge on someone fast. And if it's not Reid, then let us wade into this struggle as if it were the presidency. THERE IS NO DONE DEAL. We have people, and we can generate money too. Let's work to get the person we want. Because they're going to be our most visible and immediate weapon of resistance for awhile.