I’d be happier to see John Kerry as Majority Leader. He has more seniority than Durbin and deserves recognition for the crap that was heaped on him in 2004 and yet he did everything he could for Obama this year.

John Kerry may have the seniority, but Dick Durbin has more of the right skills to push legislation into action. Kerry may be a OK senator in the way he votes, but his record of sponsoring legislation is not good.

The majority leader needs to have a strong agenda and know how to push it thru the legislative process without making too many compromises. I don’t see Kerry with that kind of drive, ambition, or skills.

Kerry would have no support. Durbin could.

Kerry is Skull&Bones which as far as I’m concerned for the future is reason enough to not vote for them.
I don’t want his election conceding hands on a damn thing.

It’s bad enough the DLC is gonna have someone in the inner sanctum. I’d prefer to see Emanuel out along with Hoyer, Pelosi, Reid, Schumer, and the rest of the old guard.

I too would like to see a better, more perceptive Majority Leader. I won’t pretend to be able to predict which progressive Democrat might be better abled to serve in such a role — Boxer, Feingold, I’d even take Jim Webb.

Yet it’s all hypothetical, as we did NOT make this an issue during the campaign, when we the voters had leverage; now we’ve got to suffer with the internal politics of the Senate, and the historico-sociological fact that Congress-critters don NOT like to make their leadership choices a matter of public record.

So we may well have to suffer some more with Harry. Yet in his favor, I think I have noticed that whenever I call up one of his local offices with my complaints about his leadership, and I always try to hit hard on the theme of “Where is Harry the young boxer, he’s not fighting very hard for us ordinary Democrats” there seems to be a small burst of progressive energy on his part.

So i would really really urge to keep hitting him with that theme if we can’t get a better Maj. Ldr., it does seem to motivate him to better action.

There is quiet, inside movement and discussion to replace Reid. It may or may not happen, but this is not merely idle gaseous fantasy I’m taking up here.

my, my, my

what a world for firedogs to find themselves in – rooting for Emmauel, Durbin, and Biden to be given positions of greater influence and power.

works for me although I expect some posturing from the likes of Schumer hope they can box him out

hope you and yours had a great night Pach – the sweetness of the experience was greatly enhanced by all I have learned from you.

thank you so much

I absolutely agree, but to play devil’s advocate, is the real problem that Reid and Pelosi actually represent the critical mass of the Dem caucus?

Given the presence of numerous Blue Dogs, and the fact that Schumer, Hoyer, and Emanuel pass for liberals, could Ted Kennedy (may he have a long life) or Dennis Kucinich do any better as leaders?

Schumer may actually favor such a change. He understands, I think, the calculus I just laid out, though he would be far more charitable to Reid’s record.

The Prop 8 loss took all the joy from me last night, and I’m surprised how quietly the blogs are accepting the horrible night all across the country for LGBT people and their families. But thanks for your kind words.

Watson, Kucinich has no leadership ability. He’s just a fiasco, and a flake, he does not command enough respect anywhere for such a thing to be remotely possible on this planet in this lifetime. Kennedy could not be the leader, if he had it in him, he would have achieved it earlier in his career, and that career, sadly, is not likely to last much ,longer.

Harry Reid needs to focus, solely, on his own re-election effort in 2010. It’ll be tough — the GOPs will try hard to Daschle him, hang all the liberalism he doesn’t deserve around his neck.

And the Democrats should never, ever have an anti-choice Majority Leader. It’s like the GOPs picking a tax-raiser to lead them in the Senate. Choice is a core value for Democrats. Sure, the tent’s big, Senator Casey and Senators Nelson. But the leadership ranks should be filled with Democrats from safe, blue-state seats who hew to the core values of our party.

And he’s an ineffective schmuck. His attempts to woo the base by calling Bush names, and saying the war was lost, backfired on him badly because he played them wrong. His handly of Lieberman alone shows he has no political acumen — none.

He needs to go, and someone needs to tell him so soon.

Get re-elected from Nevada, Harry — that must be your laser focus right now. Not the Senate Majority. Pass that on to a gifted, safe, pro-choice Democrat. Not you.

We got a majority in the House ans Senate if anyone remembers Congress started to get low approval ratings when they would not end the war.
Congress rolling over for Bush constantly after that did not help. If we want more seats we could try pleasing the 30%ers some more at the expense of our own base.
Or we could tell Harry and Nancy they had their shot its time to try something new..like fighting for what we believe!
Lets let the GOP convince us to be bipartisan on the strength of their ideas and skill at speaking rather than the cash of their lobbyists.
Obama could ban all Lobbyists period and get a huge rise in the polls lets instead have each side of an issue do a presentation on a particular issue.
But no more cash for campaigns by corporations or rich folk instead how about a publicly financed PBS campaign.
It would be cheaper than our current system.

Lets face it. Reid could do himself a lot of good and win himself some goodwill by striping HoJo of his chair.

I didn’t mean Kennedy or Kucinich literally, I meant someone as progressive as they are. In other words, is the real problem that the Dem center of gravity isn’t very progressive?

Prop 8 is an outrage. My take is that it’s time for intellectuals to take a stand against the primary base of homophobia: bigoted, undemocratic, obscurantist organized religion. Religion is fine in the home and in the sanctuary, but it should be kept out of public life. The right of religious assembly should be trumped by the constitutional disestablishment of religion.

And I echo cbl2’s compliment. The blogosphere has come from nowhere to being a major force for good. FDL has been a big part of that, and you’ve been a big part of FDL.

Why is Kucinich a fiasco? He just says things a lot of others probably wish they could but are too afraid of giving voice to.

Organizationally, he’s a fiasco. He can’t run anything. That’s true of pretty much the whole Progressive Caucus in the House, though maybe some freshman talent will help. On the Senate side, our ideological allies have the same problem.

OK I am agreed now how do we get him out?

Sorry about that Prop 8 kabuki in CA, Teddy … here’s hoping the ACLU keeps at it until it is quashed !

…how long do we have to stay in the effing middle?…somebody tell them we want to turn left!
If Harry can’t handle a left turn, throw him out.

Hillary for Senate Majority Leader!

Thanks Pach.

digg

Hey, Teddy, is there any feel for how the challenges to Prop 8 will fare?

I too am heartsick over the outcome of H8.

I believe the constitutional challenges will prevail, but that doesn’t lessen the sorrow I feel that so many of my fellow Californians could vote that way against fundamental human rights.

The tide is turning, the future is on the side of equality, and soon people will look back on this vote with perplexity.

And yet today is still a sad day.

From Matt Taibbi in the Rolling Stone

We were all educated in this culture of blame-the-other-sap, and that’s why we Americans are always whining about getting jobbed by someone: the media, Hollywood, Big Tobacco, anybody. But this year, the more the other side whined and pointed fingers, the higher Obama’s star climbed. It’s reassuring to see that someone in this country is finally doing some growing up. Let’s hope that it says as much about us as it does about the presidency.

“I too would like to see a better, more perceptive Majority Leader.”

Around the time Chris Dodd dropped out of the Prez sweepstakes, there was plenty of talk in these parts touting Dodd as Majority Leader. I’d prefer him to Reid by a country mile, especially for his support for the Constitution. We are in a period where the Balance of Powers has been seriously compromised, and Congress needs to re-assert its Constitutional role in that Balance. Dodd understands that better than most.

Bob in HI

Dodd should be the Majority leader…!

Great Hawaiians minds, eh?

I think the 2X record filibusters was way too much to let the republicans get away with.

Agreed 100% pach. I’ve been saying this for years, and now there’s an opportunity.

I think one strategy would be to tie him to Lieberman, who he’s speaking with later this week or next.

Another would be the re-election in Nevada. It’s my understanding harry is not well-loved there:

And things aren’t much easier back home. Reid, who will turn 68 in December, has also seen his personal approval ratings slump in Nevada, according to a recent poll by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Only 32 percent of Nevadans now approve of the job he’s doing, and 51 percent disapprove. This is a stark reversal from the previous poll in May, when 46 percent approved of Reid and 42 disapproved.

Hi, Spidey. Long time no see. Hope you are well.

Based on the past two years, I can’t see them getting rid of Reid OR liarman but I *do* so hope any “quiet movement” becomes a tidal wave of raging noise. Neither Pelosi or Reid would be the butt of derision on both the left and right if they were anything other than two useless bags of hot air.

I’d love to see Hillary get the job, I think she’d be fantastic.

But then, I don’t know about how the process works. Is it all about seniority? Does Obama have any input? Does the Dem caucus simply vote for their leader?

Either Durbin or Clinton would be much better than Reid. It isn’t just that Reid is hopeless and ineffective but that he actively enabled some of the worst excesses of the Bush Presidency like the MCA or the FISA Amendments Act or the financial bailout or his coddling of Lieberman.

I think as the euphoria of the Obama win fades we are going to find mostly the same old same old. Pelosi is if anything worse than Reid. She is up to her eyes in Bush’s torture program. Today we had Rahm Emanuel floated as Chief of Staff. Lawrence Summers looks like he will go to Treasury. Dennis Ross is likely to be the one calling the shots on Mideast policy. Obama is a fan of Petraeus. These are really horrendous people. If Obama sticks with them he won’t do what needs to be done and he will be a one term President.

Pach,
I feel for you and Teddy and the whole of the GBLT community. I find it even sadder that the black and latino voters in CA that came out for Obama are the ones that put this over the top. That said, the fight continues. We are in this for the long haul.

As for majority leader, it is unconscionable for him to have let Joe LIE off all of this time with a slap on the wrist. Joe should have been kicked out of the caucus long ago and any other dem who aspires to be majority leader needs to pledge to do so with no hesitation. Period.

I liked Dodd until his championing the financial bailout. That was one stinking pile of and he shepherded it through the Senate.

What about Jack Reed from RI? (Harry kind of came out of nowhere) or Pat Leahy?

TAKE IT EASY!!

Harry Reed has done his job in really odd and difficult circumstances. With a strong president and strong congress, I’d expect a different performance.

Reid actively colluded with Bill Frist to pass the MCA before the November 2006 elections.

Harry Reid is the epitome of the too-dumb-to-live wing of the D party.

Reid insured FISA fell… as much as anyone.

Despite his “give ‘em hell, Harry” Reid has no fire. He speaks as if he is teaching kindergarten – softly, to small children. I want someone who can get up and really thunder at these dumb Dems who won’t do their jobs for the country.

reid, dropping the ball, or hiding the ball, let me count the wAys……

and i guess i can state the obvious, outsmarted by dumb-as-a-rock mcconnell, one track mind and repeats the same things to the press over and over- bill after bill, and reid still doesn’t have a ‘comeback’ for it.

now’s the time to call congresscritters to say what should be done with lieberman and his committees…let them know we didn’t go anywhere and reid said he would be dealing with him after he had more than 49–well, he has more than 49 now. he needs to get on it.

Ditto that thought. At least until a Supreme Court vacancy opens up.

howard dean on msnbc

Teddy! (((big hugs))) i’m so sorry prop 8 passed – but be not dismayed – it should be overturned. From Minstrel Boy over at The Group News Blog

Asked if Tuesday’s election results give his party a mandate, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just told Politico: “This is a mandate to get along, to get something done in a bipartisan way. This is not a mandate for a political party or an ideology.”

the man takes lessons from lieberman

Spiderpaws!! how’s things looking celestially for Obama?

Is anyone else getting the feeling that with Emanuel so quiet during the campaign. totally away from Obama so as not to taint him with the dreaded DLC scent, it’s a bit of a slap in the face to people who DID NOT VOTE FOR THE DLC wing of the party to get the head manipulator of the DLC and an unregistered foreign agent ofr Israel to boot, as chief of staff??

WTF?

I’m not at all happy with this choice. It reminds me of James Baker being put in as Reagan’s chief of staff so he could make sure the memory impaired prez/line reader didn’t stray too far from the reservation without Bush knowing about it.

Agreed. Reid’s gotta go for a lot of reasons. Also, Hilary mite make a good leader too.

But I went back and watched Durbin cuz he’s my Senator and I’m an admitted fan. I think you were a little unfair on him. (I’m a former journalist as well who did some investigative reporting back in the day.)

I wouldn’t characterize it as “lost his shit” altho, admittedly, I wasn’t there. He was just pointing out that it’s a little unreal to ask him for a specific vote when there’s been so many of them.

Durbin’s a decent guy. I almost got the idea he was kidding or teasing you. He didn’t seem angry, really. But, I wasn’t there.

Brilliant choice – the steward of Obama’s Change agenda as Chief of Staff will be Rahm Emmanuel, a long time favourite of the Progressive Blogosphere, as the record clearly indicates!

He’s the guy who will work to make sure Change comes down hard on those corporate crony capitalists, that’s for sure!

Reid has been around for a while, knows his people, and knows where the votes are. I think he is probably thinking about reaching out to the Senator from Nebraska and the two senators from Maine, but no further. That puts the Dems in filibuster-proof territory on crucial votes. I don’t read much more than that into his statement.

On the other hand, I don’t see why he just doesn’t force the Republiks to filibuster. Most of them can’t hold their pee more than two hours anyway, and they are so undisciplined, they couldn’t filibuster their way out of a wet paper bag. This courtesy filibuster stuff has got to stop. Now.

Question—
Why would they put the word out that Rahm has been asked to be CoS without already knowing his answer to the offer? That seems rather odd.

Agreed. Also, this whole deal was being floated and lapped up immediately by BigMedia (seems coordinated) even before the election!

Here’s one the most disciplined campaigns and candidates we’ve probably ever had, and we’re supposed to think they’re horribly botching the first decision out of the gate, even before leaving the gate!?! Highly unlikely, and considering Emmanuelle is at the center, this reeks of DLC positioning to try to stay relevant.

What’s funny, I actually believed it was real at first for a variety of reasons, but now this back and forth, and confirmations then denials, and anonymous sources and such makes me think it’s some strong-arm move by Rahm.

Doesn’t fit the NoDramaObama M.O. at all. Seem to remember similar stories when all the V.P. speculation was happening.

Thank you! Kucinich does stand for Liberal positions more clearly than anyone. The Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush years had everyone thinking that core Democratic values went out with Neanderthals. But those were the values we all GREW UP WITH. That there happened to be 3 or 4 of them left, while the rest of the Party pretended to be GOP-Lite, made them look like crazies, but the rest had lost their way. We need Kucinich around to keep those values in front of us.

I like this thread. Reid and Pelosi caved too many times to BushCo.

Up until locking up the nomination, Obama was just another Senator. Now he is the most powerful man in Washington. His voice WILL be heard in the Senate, and also in the House.

Reid has to go. I like the suggestions of Dodd and Durbin. Durbin being from IL I see as a problem (even though I am from IL, too, and he has my highest respect – I am VERY proud of my Senators!). Having too many IL people in high places, though, is not healthy for the Party – usually. I agree that Durbin can push things through quite well, and he really stands for the right values/things. He would be my first choice, with the concern I have expressed here. If that is a problem, Chris Dodd has my vote.

Reid is a wuss, and if he is pro-life – WTF? I didn’t like him being Dem Senate Leader when Dems were in the minority. I liked him even less when he has had the power the Congress gives him and he still had a gelatinous spine. Sorry, Harry, but you have to go. You caved WAY too many times.

Everything I said about Harry I think is true about Nancy, too.

Get some dynamic people in there! If Obama wants to pass the things he wants to push through, Pelosi and Reid are NOT the people to do it.

Even if Reid were the fighter he claims to be (and he’s not) and even if he supported all the Demo party positions (and he doesn’t), he would still be totally unfit to be the majority leader, simply because of where he’s from.

Being from a swing state, he’s structurally unable to support all Demo positions, because he’s afraid of losing his next election. He is, in a very fundamental way, differently-abled than senators from strong Demo states.

He was sort of OK when Dems were the minority, worse during the time of the Demo-Lieberman coalition. He’s definitely gotta go now. How the hell can you have a supposed “leader” who isn’t even able to vote on the bills he’s telling other Democrats to vote for.

This may have been mentioned somewhere else on some FDL tab but just when I thought I had seen the last of Palin for a while we haven’t and I don’t mean her absurd delusion she can get the nomination in 2012. I mention this because I associate Reid with the Senate. I’ve always thought that a much better person for the job would have been any of these:

Dick Durbin
Carl Levin
Russ Feingold

Something interesting is going to happen–Palin’s going to run for Stevens’ seat in a special election, and the media hasn’t really picked up on it–print or MSNBCers or the worst political team in TV CNN.

Here’s how I think it will go down. Stevens will win over Mark Begetch. A counting of all the votes is projected to take weeks-I dunno how long–just as in Al Franken’s recount. His appeal doesn’t impact anything. The revision of the 23(b) rules on losing a juror a couple years ago was more liberal and gave a judge more discretion and when the juror lied about her dead father and went to watch the ponies, Judge Sullivan could not have acted more appropriately. There is a stonger appellate issue for prosecutorial misconduct, but it’s going nowhere because it doesn’t arise to the high level any circuit requires to get a remand let alone a reversal. Stevens ain’t no Siegelman anyway. None of this will impact the Senate but here’s what will probably happen and be interesting.

I predict Reid will move quickly to out Stevens and he’ll get the votes to do it. Palin can’t appoint herself legally although she’s dumb enough to try, but there will be a special runoff and you betcha goshdarnit she will jump in with both Blahniks or Jimmy Choos depending on the day.

Fortunately though, I think that Mark Begetch will run and has the backing of the Alaska and other media and the DNC and Howard Dean will have to focus on this election and fund it and try to help him beat Palin in this red state.

This has been alluded to in WaPo today here:

Is Sarah Palin Nipping at Ted Stevens’ Heels [You Betcha!]

Dodd for his principles. Does he have all the other skills, organization, strategy, smart deal maker?

Why not give the Senate majority leader to Hillary Clinton ?

Dear Pach, thanks for the reply (@6, to mine @5). I’m delighted to know that there may be movements under the surface, and I too think you are one of the most perceptive writers at FDL.

In general, I would like to stress to the blogosphere once more, the high value, when you want to move a Congress-critter, of going to their website, looking up their local office phone numbers, and placing your calls to the Congress-critter — preferably hard-hitting and scripted in advance, highly civil and polite in manner — to those local office numbers, some senators might have 4 or more local offices and if you have the time and money I would repeat the message to all.

You’re getting right into the center of their power, and into the mind of their staffers. One phone call to a local office is worth 10,000 rantings on any blog. I’ve probably made over 80 calls a year like this, average over the last five years.

clearly it’s time for a lot of phone calls to Congress-critters. During the most crucial votes on domestic surveillance, all phone circuits to DC would be slammed for hours on end, so I know they’re hearing us when we actually can roar.

Reid and Pelosi should BOTH be sent back to their regular duties – leadership does not suit them!

I could’nt agree with you more,I am tired of that caught in the headlight look that pelosi has and tired of reid not having the fire in the belly.