I was curious who the new Senate Minority Leader will be, and it looks like the Dems have tapped Harry Reid from Nevada. On the face of it, things look promising. He’s a Mormon who is pro-life. This may rankle some folks out there, but the fact that he’s a Mormon and pro-life carries weight with me. I have a high opinion of Mormons, mainly because I’ve worked with quite a few during my career. For me, Mormons tend to be hardworking, religious people who are very very friendly. And based on what I’ve read, Reid looks like a reasonable man. Here are a few articles I read to get up to speed:
EDITORIAL: Sen. Harry Reid, minority leader
Nevada senator in line to assume minority-leader job
Las Vegas SUN: Reid confident in his bid for minority leader
Reid, Durbin May Be Democratic Leaders in Senate, Carper Says
Senate Dems look for new leader
Hopefully he’s not a dual identity Senator like Daschle: country boy at home, ultra leftist in D.C. But with Nevada being a Red State, that should at a minimum keep him in check. But there’s hope. Perhaps the Dem’s will get the message, and make this a part of the their push toward the center.
Maybe the Dems haven’t learned anything, and the ultra left is still driving the party. What would be funny, and the ideal situation for Republicans in 2006, is if the Dems decide that Reid is too soft spoken, and elect a more vocal heir to Daschle. What would be even more funny is if Kerry gets tapped to be the new Minority Leader. He is still a Senator after all.
As a side note, being that Kerry is still a Senator with responsiblity to the American people, shouldn’t he present all the secret plans he had while campaigning? If he did in fact have plans to get us out of Iraq and create 10 million jobs, shouldn’t he present and champion them now as a duty to the American people since he is still a Senator?
Ultimately, the Senate Minority Leader position is what Reid makes of it. The battle next year will be in approving judges, hopefully Reid will be more amenable.
In-cog, I think you are excessively optimisitic about Reid. He is indeed a “dual identity Senator like Daschle: country boy at home, ultra leftist in D.C.” At least that’s how he has behaved so far. Maybe he will act differently now that Daschle has been booted, but I think it’s more likely that his selection indicates that the Democrats expect business-as-usual.
Good point about Kerry and his plans. He really should share them with us, for the good of the country.
That’s a shame. Where have all the good liberals gone?
Let’s give the guy a chance. He will want to maintain his political authority. He may decide that fighting a last-ditch struggle against W was just tried, and failed, and that a different approach is needed.
Also, Durbin would be terrible. He would be a Daschle type. He’d oppose everything Bush did 100% of the time.