The Search for the Senate Democrats’ Spine Continues

Posted on October 14, 2009 by Michael Froomkin

Daily Kos: Harry Reid abdicates his leadership role.

Seems the X-rays emerging from the Majority (q.v.) Leader's Office are not encouraging.

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3 Responses to The Search for the Senate Democrats’ Spine Continues

  1. Rhodo Zeb says:
    October 14, 2009 at 11:15 pm

    We just gotta keep beating on them.

    I suggest supporting those organizations which plan to help candidates run against the so-called centrists.

    There have to be consequences for some of these votes.

    Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys.

  2. Patrick (G) says:
    October 15, 2009 at 10:54 pm

    I’m less than impressed with Kos’s sloppy and revisionist whining.

    Yes, under the rules that Reid is operating under, the magic number is 60. But despite what Kos writes, voters didn’t deliver 59 Democratic senators and Lieberman, they delivered 56 Democratic votes, two independents including turncoat Lieberman, and one toss-up (Franken) that took most of the year to resolve. Sen. Specter delivered himself from the Republican Party in the spring. But then Kennedy died this summer, with a state law that promised no replacement until January. Getting that expedited took us up to the magic number 60 (has anybody checked recently to see how Sen. Byrd is doing these days?) … a whole three weeks ago?

    If either Lieberman (or Byrd) is iffy, then yes, it makes good sense to not close off an alternate strategy involving the moderate wing of the republican party (i.e. the lady senators from Maine), just in case.

    For another thing, getting the Baucus Bill out of committee is the furthest that any democratic congress has ever gone towards bringing about universal healthcare.

  3. Rhodo Zeb says:
    October 16, 2009 at 12:58 am

    I think (not being able to read Kos on this) that writers often paint things as if the latest failing is just the worst thing in the whole world to ever happen, and how one can never wipe off the sin of this injustice.

    I mean, I commented above and then some time later came across other recent news that had Reid doing something relatively bold and being congratulated for it by Steven Benen or Josh Marshall or whoever (which reminds me, I still haven’t gotten in the habit of reading Dan at his new locale).

    The whole point is to put enormous pressure on these guys, as we well know the industries at risk are doing everything they can to maintain their own interests. Hopefully the corps will continue overplaying their hand, and even more hopefully the electorate will be ready to punish those who get in the way of true reform.

    Reid knows he needs to come up with something that is pretty good. He is going to face the voters soon, and he must have some idea of the way people are leaning these days.

    All of these organizations on he left that have gotten set up and started getting things done have, together, changed the political environment to some extent, but it is still early on and there are entrenched interests that will be difficult to eradicate.

    I dunno, is a bad reform worse than no reform?

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