The right man
won.
Reid and Kerry crossed swords two weeks ago at a closed-door meeting of the Senate Democratic Steering and Coordination Committee with a group of labor leaders, and while accounts vary, there's little doubt that things got tense between the new Senate Democratic leader and the party's 2004 presidential nominee.
Kerry was unhappy with the posture of the Democrats and told Reid that they needed to be far more aggressive in fighting President Bush, needed to set up what amounted to a perpetual campaign and needed a plan to prevent Bush from seizing the middle ground in the Social Security fight.
Reid responded that he had set up a campaign-style war room and taken other steps to put the Democrats in fighting mode and made it clear he wasn't going to change course just because Kerry thought something different was needed [...]
But several of those in the room described it as an awkward and tough exchange that left no one in doubt as to who was in charge of Senate Democrats. "Reid kind of shot him down," said one person privy to the exchange, adding, "You would never have seen [former Senate Democratic Leader] Tom Daschle do that."
It's not surprising for Kerry to pull this power play in the Senate, given he's
still taking steps toward 2008.
Kerry huddled with his top fund-raisers Monday night in his Georgetown mansion, preparing a massive money push aimed at keeping the defeated presidential nominee's ambitions alive.
"He wants to keep his team together," said one member of Kerry's national finance team. "He's looking ahead. He will be a strong voice in the party."
Strategists say Kerry will use his new political action committee, Keeping America's Promise, to promote his agenda, help party causes and keep his army of 2.7 million supporters together.
"It's something that has never been done before - in terms of a nominee coming back,'' said a Kerry source. ``We're trying to stay relevant."
One of the toughest jobs a Senate party leader has must be managing the various egos of presidential aspirants. In the current Senate, Reid has to contend (at minimum) with Clinton, Feingold, Bayh, Biden and Kerry. Good for him for slapping down Kerry.
Update: Since some of you missed the problem with Kerry -- he wants to present a social security "plan" so Democrats can "[seize] the middle ground in the Social Security fight." In reality, we don't have to present shit, since the GOP can't even prove there's any sort of threat requiring imminent attention.