A political analyst I respect confirms what I've been thinking for some time: that Pelosi's glitch in handling the Majority Leader nom is just that: a glitch. It is not the beginning of a losing streak for Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi made a strong pick for the important Intelligence Committee. Meet Silvestre Reyes.
**UPDATE**Ollieb knocks this one out of the park regarding Harman.
More below the fold.
Sandalow states on his blog:
Incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi's support for John Murtha over Steny Hoyer to be House Majority Leader two weeks ago confused many veteran lawmakes, and raised questions about her loyalties.
Her decision to select Silvestre Reyes to chair the House Intelligence Committee will prompt no such confusion.
Reyes is a respected moderate, who served 26 years as a border patrol agent, 10-years in Congress, and the past five on the intelligence committee. Unlike Murtha, no one doubts Reyes' ability to handle the prominent post.
The inside-the-beltway controversy which has surrounded the intelligence chair stems from Pelosi's decision to choose the No. 3 ranking Democrat on the committee, and pass up No. 1 and No. 2.
Jane Harman, the committee's senior Democrat, was passed up for her vigorous defense of the war in Iraq and Bush's intelligence policies, including his warrantless surveillance program. Alcee Hastings, the second senior Democrat, was passed up because he was impeached and removed from his post as a federal judge.
Other, more sinister explanations have been put forward (some argue that Pelosi let a personal bias against Harman cloud her judgment and was not strong enough to push the deserving Hastings past his critics.)
But Capitol Hill veterans, including most members of Pelosi's caucus, will accept her logic. If she has angered members of the conservative Blue Dog Caucus by passing over Harman, or the Congressional Black Caucus by passing over Hastings, they have kept quiet.
Pelosi's devotion to Murtha two weeks ago raised questions. Her selection of Reyes will likely win praise.
Reyes is on record with the following positions:
- Opposition to posting troops on our southern border
- Voted NO on the notorious Military Commissions Act (S. 3930)
- Voted NO on the odious Secure Fence Act of 2006 (HR 6061)
- Noted NO on repealing the Estate Tax (HR 5970)
This is a guy I can live with.
In any case, I'm very pleased with the following outcomes:
- Harman is not running this committee. Pelosi clearly sees her, as does Glenn Greenwald, as someone who is unreliable and outside the party mainstream regarding dealing with Bush.
- A Hispanic is in charge of an important committee. This may help the Dems solidify their strengthening hold on the Latino consituency.
- Reyes is a Democrat who sticks with the party on all the key issues.
That he voted against the hideous Military Commissions Act tells me all I need to know about him.
The sunlight feels good, doesn't it? The light that will soon be cast upon the scoundrels in the Bush Administration. Now, we do not have an ethically challenged Alcee Hastings or a turncoat Jane Harman running this committee.
I call this a good outcome. Reyes may not be a firebrand, but he also does not strike me at first glance as someone who can be intimidated.
***UPDATE***One of the posters below raises a good point. There's not a lot of information about how Reyes would deal with the issues of oversight and investigations in this critical committee.
However, I think he's reachable.
His site is in Spanish and in English so anyone visiting this diary should go ping their site and let them know the Netroots are watching.