Discussion for article #235052
I’m glad to see that the professionals from the other side of the aisle have this reluctant and gruntling admiration for Reid. Esp. considering that many commentators on this site (and side) had nothing but scorn for Sen. Reid most of the time.
Given the institutional constraints of the Senate, Reid has always been a masterful player and power broker. Schumer or Durbin or whoever replaces him will have a hard time filling those shoes. Apparently at least the Republicans are aware of that.
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Truth be known, the Republicans are a bit sorry Sen. Reid isn’t still the Senate Majority Leader because now they actually must own their own actions and try as they may can’t legitimately cry foul when things don’t go their way. Very similar to the House Republicans regarding Nancy Pelosi, one of the most effective Majority Leaders in the House’s history.
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Bless you, for speaking truth to commenters!
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TPM:
“The GOP could learn a lot from [Reid],” Erickson wrote.
Yeah. Like basic humanity, to start.
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Lets face it Democrats are just smarter Pelosi is smarter then Boehner, Reid is smarter thzn McConnell, and Obama is way more intelligent then Bush
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First of all: Be more careful talking about intelligence when you have trouble keeping “then” and “than” straight.
Secondly, though, I suspect that Reid had the success he did because of the Democrats’ fundamental assumption that government is supposed to Do Stuff for People; thus, they are more amenable to compromise and/or unity in support of that assumption. These last few crops of Republicans, by contrast, see government as failing people; why, therefore, would they want to come to agreements to make it work better than it does when, by definition, it doesn’t work at all?
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While the republicans are crying in their beer about Harry, they might want to throw in something about Nancy as well. Boehner couldn’t carry her jockstrap.
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Coming from the same gang of thugs who have blocked everything Obama has proposed for the past six years…
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The truth is that Harry is having the last laugh on these Republican assholes!
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When asked to respond to some Rightie’s rant during the ACA battle in 2010, then Speaker Pelosi laughed and said she wore the criticism and scorn of the Right Wingnuttery and Republican Conservatives like “…a badge of honor.” I have but little doubt that Reid feels exactly the same.
BTW: If Schumer is indeed Reid’s successor, it will be interesting to see if he can remove the …uhhh…“members” of both Wall Street and Israel from his mouth long enough to do anything.
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I suspect they secretly admire Pres. Obama for the same reasons. Despite their constant WilE Coyote-like roadblocks and blatant hurdles, he constantly finds ways around them to get things done. They despise that he doesn’t give up and is still smiling and enjoying himself. Obama way surpasses Reagan in all he’s done and Republicans know it.
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GOPers confuse effective leadership with “ruthlessness”, and P90-X masturbation with actual toughness in the ring.
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That’s the same exact question I’ve been asking myself: “WHY cant the Republicans actually LEAD?”
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The Republican fringe has a pattern of coming up with unworkable proposals from a well of ignorance, hatred and Christian-infused paranoia. They then blame the incompetence (or secret Democratic leanings) of their party leaders in being unable to convince the rest of the country that their excrement stew is actually filet mignon.
Sorry, but it’s not the people, it’s the ideas.
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“Why Can’t We Have Our Own Harry Reid?”
Cause you’re smart enough to fool people into getting you elected but not smart enough to govern.
Sorry if that sounds harsh but you asked.
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They want their own ineffectual Senate leader or just one different from Mitch McConnell?
They may be fucking geniuses, but neither could even assure of holding their own caucuses together on crucial votes. I much rather have a bull-buster like Lyndon Johnson.
Reid is an expert on Robert’s Rules and was an experienced whip. He’s a great vote counter so knew when to bring things to the floor and when not to. He knows who to trust and who was wobbly.
Boehner and McConnell (and for that matter any Republican in a leadership position) has a much more difficult task since they can’t trust their own side to not change their minds at the last second, either due to pressure from RW sources or just out of a spite.
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“…a dark admiration for the former boxer’s effectiveness in advancing his party’s ideological priorities”
Too bad it wasn’t the Democratic Party.