Comments on: Reid on Lieberman

By: readerOfTeaLeaves

readerOfTeaLeaves — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:25:54 +0000

Feingold and Reid appear to be very different temperaments.
But Reid is a Mormon Dem from a state (Nevada) that like all Western states has a lot of ownership and money by ‘red’ interests. That probably makes probably makes Reid better at counting votes.

Leen - if you come back, note:
I see at TPM that the Senate Repubs are holding up Climate Change related nominations. Part of me just marvels at this level of stupidity — I mean, did they not see 2,000,000 people in freezing weather on Tuesday desperate for c-h-a-n-g-e?!
More evidence that the GOP is as bankrupt and insolvent as Wall Street.

And Reid has to cut deals with this class of fools, day in, day out. He badly needs just one more vote.

By: Leen

Leen — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:02:52 +0000

Thanks for that take. “sometimes involves having dinner with the devil” What a balancing act.

“one vote short of telling HoJo what he thinks” Sure hope so .

# 11 I find Senator Feingold one of the most consistent honorable above the partisanship hogwash Reps going. During the Holder hearing he asked some tough questions of Holder and pushed for a real commitment to uphold the law.

By: Leen

Leen — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:56:01 +0000

Yeah like pushing a military confrontation with Iran. Lieberman told more lies on the floor about Iran than one could count. On the mall during the Inauguration Lieberman received more boo’s than Bush and Cheney.

By: readerOfTeaLeaves

readerOfTeaLeaves — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:37:52 +0000

There are definitely times to act on conscience and the number of votes be damned. And I don’t mean to excuse Reid, but wow, how bizarre would it be to been in the Senate when Frist and Cheney were running the show for those years and the Dems went years without Chairmanships. Gack.

By: joejoejoe

joejoejoe — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:29:52 +0000

I think Reid gets it wrong when he says it’s all about votes. That’s like saying a sports car is all about horsepower. Having less horsepower but better steering sometimes gives you a much better performance vehicle. Lieberman may very well give you more horsepower (votes) but he also screws up your steering (messaging) and shocks (trust). The Senate Democratic leadership continually underestimates the value of speaking with one strong voice on issues. I used to think the Senate Dem leadership was hamstrung by Senate rules but since they conveniently ignored the rules for weeks when they tried to block Roland Burris now I just think they are weak.

The best vote any Senator cast in my lifetime was Russ Feingold’s vote against the Patriot Act and he didn’t bother counting the votes before casting it. It’s better to lose well sometimes, that’s something Reid, Durbin, and Schumer will never understand.

By: readerOfTeaLeaves

readerOfTeaLeaves — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 01:59:04 +0000

One more point: Reid’s job is to count the votes and keep the pathways clear so that the Carl Levins, Ted Kennedys, Sheldon Whitehouses, and Barbara Boxer can do the heavy lifting that makes things happen.

If Reid screws up the vote counts, then the rest of them are screwed.
It’s not a glamorous job, and as is quite evident, sometimes involves having dinner with the devil. But none of that makes Reid a weenie or a dolt. He’s one vote short of telling HoJo what he thinks, and he’s smart enough to recognize that shitty fact of life.

By: readerOfTeaLeaves

readerOfTeaLeaves — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 01:54:51 +0000

I’m always at odds with almost all commenters when I defend Reid, but if I had to pick between HoJo and health care for kids, I’d hold my nose and keep HoJo on my list of ‘yea’s’.

On a smaller level, I’ve counted votes. It’s shitty work, but it’s gotta get done.
I figure it’s better than Stalinism or Maoism, but that doesn’t mean that you have to like, respect, or spend time with your ‘yea’s’. It can, however, be powerful incentive to be sure you get better candidates to run for office.

One Jim Webb is worth 20 HoJo’s.

I don’t view Reid as unprincipled; I see him as a pragmatist stuck in a shitty situation.
He doesn’t kid himself about that fact. But he also doesn’t whine about it.
Only more and better Dems are going to fix that, and the last two elections have produced some really promising electeds.

By: freepatriot

freepatriot — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:58:55 +0000

what are they putting in the Senate water coolers ???

By: perris

perris — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:03:37 +0000

reid has been “with us” only when that vote did not count, if the democrats had the vote count without him, lieberman voted with the democrats, if the democrats needed lieberman he voted with the republicans

see roberts and alito

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:35:44 +0000

I guess we’ll see if he’s with them on everything but the war, won’t we?

Prosecutions?
Reparations to innocent victims of our “war” on terror?
Cluster bombs?
Aid?
Accountability?

… and the beat goes on.