| Harry Reid is in trouble. He is a top target of the Republicans this year, and may become the second Democrat to hold the Senate Majority Leader's spot and be defeated at the polls.
It's time we learned a lesson.
Reid, like his most recent Democratic predecessor Tom Daschle hails from a moderate state and is thought of as a moderate Democrat. The idea in making him (and Daschle) Majority Leader may have been to appeal to a broad range of Senators in a misguided attempt to forge bipartisan relations.
It is misguided, of course, because those Republicans who are still around have no interest in bipartisanship; the party has been hijacked by right-wing extremists. The result is that any moderate Democrat is going to hear extremist views from across the aisle, while being prodded to provide something from the left wing of his own party.
This is why nothing gets done without an extraordinary amount of dealmaking, mostly to appease right-wing interests. The leader looks weak, because he is unable to succeed at bringing people together. Then the Republicans target the moderate Democratic leader at election time. They were successful the last time, and may be successful again.
The solution is to abandon the failed policy, and replace Reid with a much more left-wing Democrat in the Majority Leader's position. Republicans will know that they can't get much of anything from such a leader, while left-wing Democrats will be more accepting of compromises made with moderate Democrats. After all, if we start way over on the left, a fair amount of movement toward the center will be far better than if we start near the center and move even a little bit to the right.
There are some who say that Chuck Schumer should (and could) be the next Majority Leader. It's possible, but I think we still need someone from a state that isn't safely blue. That's why I suggest Carl Levin. Aside from his loyalty to GM, he has proven to be a pretty progressive Democrat, smart, willing to crack the whip when necessary -- and being from Michigan he can help shore up Democratic support in that increasingly Republican state. |
