Interesting timing by politico, coming on the heels of the senate finance health care debacle and the fact that is becoming clearer each day that the senate is run by a spineless wimp. more on the flip.
Here is his latest piece of wimpy work, greatly undermining the schumer public option vote today (and it was close, it might have passed otherwise):
http://www.dailykos.com/...
a good diary by bagof health.
Back to the article:
http://www.politico.com/...
Politico ominously asks: Harry situation, What if Reid loses?
Most of his fellow Democrats believe the Nevadan will pull out a win, avoiding the humiliation of ousted Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota in 2004. But privately, they’re looking ahead with some trepidation, imagining a Reid-less Senate that could be more chaotic and even more partisan that it is today.
The two men who would almost certainly battle to succeed Reid — Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Chuck Schumer of New York — are both more liberal and more forcefully partisan figures who would alter the Senate’s equilibrium in significant and unpredictable ways.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/...
yea imagine that! more partisan, more forceful.. it must be REALLY bad if that happens in politicoland. After-all how can sell out shills get their way if the dem senate "leader" is not as wishy washy anymore? it will be a disaster!
"You’ve got people who ask, ‘What does Harry actually do around here?’ I say, ‘Just wait till he’s gone. You’ll see just what he did; how he held things together,’" says a Democratic insider with ties to the leader. "On the surface, it appears that all these guys have friendly relationships. But under the surface, there are people who really don’t like each other in the conference, and Harry keeps a lid on all of that."
That's right, it will be a disaster I tells you. Harry is working his kinks & magic all behind the scenes(so he is REALLY working the staffer implies!) so things can fall into place. where those things fall into place is another matter... things in his senate so far either fell into garbage-can, the stallometer or the wateredcooler. Just where the shills like it in other-words.
To outsiders, the archetypal majority leader is Lyndon B. Johnson, the brilliant, bullying, lapel-clutching colossus who somehow managed to ram the 1957 Civil Rights Bill down the throats of his fellow Southerners.
But there has never been another majority leader like Johnson in the 48 years since he left the chamber — and with good reason.
For senators, the ideal majority leader is more of a majority follower — a hybrid of sounding board, shrink, concierge and wing man.
Wonder why the dems haven't done much the leat 40 years (like the civil Rights act for example)? because they chose to go with WIMPS and Dino's as their leaders that's why. no balls, no principle. Appeasers and "Get alongers"
But a former aide says he(Reid) frequently tells his staffers: "The most important thing is getting along with people."
Pathetic. Harry is symptomatic what is wrong with some parts of the democratic party right now. We have good leaders right now in the house IMO, some good committee chairs in the senate but we are REALLY lacking a good majority leader in the senate. In fact we have been lacking that for 40 years (as the article notes). I say we sink Harry with whatever electoral measures we can, primary, vote against him, stay home, fundraiser against him. 2010 is the date for some pay back. Harry fucking Reid has to go.
Here is who we will get if we successfully sink him, either choice would be FAR superior.
Moreover, either of Reid’s possible successors would greatly raise the profile of the majority leader’s office, with hard-to-reckon consequences.
Durbin, with his signature habit of staring at the C-SPAN camera when delivering a speech on the Senate floor, is one of the most articulate liberals in the chamber, passionately advocating causes — like mortgage modifications for poor homeowners — to the left of other Democrats.
And if there are concerns that Schumer may have his share of Johnsonian tendencies, his forceful personality appeals to those in the Senate eager for someone "to really exert some leadership," said a top Democratic staffer.
Time to get theses guys at the helm. If we do Politico is damn right to be nervous.