From the Wall Street Journal:
Sen. Reid Hits the Ground Running in Uphill Re-Election Bid
Sen. Harry Reid will command the biggest party majority of any Senate leader in a quarter century when the new Congress convenes in January. But the Nevada Democrat is already worried about his own re-election fight in 2010.
Sen. Reid, perhaps the most-vulnerable Democrat who will face re-election in a midterm race that is likely to favor his party once again, began interviewing campaign managers last week. The Senate majority leader also recently stepped up fund-raising.
Starting early could help Sen. Reid avoid the fate of his predecessor, Tom Daschle, who was Democratic leader for a decade before losing his re-election bid in South Dakota in 2004. The current Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, narrowly won re-election in Kentucky this year.
Sen. Reid “saw what happened to Tom Daschle and Mitch McConnell,” said Republican Sen. John Ensign, Nevada’s the other senator. “He saw the consequences of being the majority leader or the leader of one of the parties.”
Despite Murdoch’s spin, the news is not all bad for Reid. His best opponent is Brian Krolicki, who has been indicted for misappropriating state funds. He claims innocence and even tried to link his arrest to Reid – how hilarious is that? Harry Reid as a criminal mastermind? He couldn’t even mastermind his way out of a Chinese finger trap.
Nonetheless, while Republicans are certainly salivating at the chance to annoy liberals one more time by taking down Reid, I wonder if they realize how un-annoying that really would be. Of course we want every left-of-center politician we can get in Congress, but while Republicans look at Reid and see everything they hate about the Dems (his apparent embrace of defeat in Iraq, his… um, embrace of alternative energy?), Democrats look at him and see exactly the same. He is pro-death penalty, anti-choice, anti-gay rights, anti-public transportation — and that’s leaving out his mixed record on Iraq. Worst of all, he lets the Republicans smack him around. Just the threat of a filibuster is enough to make him drop an issue. The slogan “give ‘em hell, Harry” is starting to sound more like a plea. Could you please give ‘em hell? Just this once?
So, it goes without saying that Reid is not the best choice for majority leader. Who would be better? Like most liberals, I have a huge amount of respect for Russ Feingold, and seeing him in the position would be more happiness-inducing than a basket of puppies wearing party hats. But on a more realistic note, Reid’s #2 in the Senate is a great choice – Dick Durbin. I am not crazy about his gun control record, although it is par for the Democratic course. But he has impressed me over and over, especially with his rejection of the Iraq War Resolution, undoubtably the most important political test of the past decade.
If not Durbin, there are plenty of other qualified candidates. John Kerry, Chuck Schumer, Barbara Boxer, and Patrick Leahy come to mind. All of them have problems – what politician doesn’t? – but all of them are better than Reid.
