Meanwhile In The Senate
One thing that can be taken as a good general rule is that it is much easier to be in opposition than it is to be in control, politically speaking. One only needs to look at the past two years in the Senate to see how that worked. Harry Reid was able to effectively block many things while keeping up a continuous litany of shrill partisan attacks. David Broder points out that the shoe is now on the other foot and that Reid has a very tough time ahead trying to exercise power while balancing a razor thin majority.
The 51-49 Senate is a very different proposition. As Republicans learned to their chagrin in the past few years, it takes 60 votes to accomplish almost anything controversial or substantive in the Senate — the number needed to bring debate to a close and force an up-or-down vote. That means persuading or pressuring at least nine Republicans to go along. Otherwise, Sen. Mitch McConnell, the crafty Kentuckian elected to be the Republican minority leader, will have veto power over legislation — before it goes to the White House, where President Bush will wield a veto pen of his own.
That reality puts an enormous strain on Harry Reid, the Nevadan who has struggled these past two years to master the less arduous duties of Senate minority leader. The risk for Democrats is that Reid may not be up to the challenge.
We saw how weakness in the majority leader could hurt a party in the recent example of Sen. Bill Frist. More than once Frist was unable to hold his own troops together on big issues or to thwart Reid and the Democrats when they built roadblocks to administration bills. Now the situation is reversed, and it is Reid who will be tested.
The modern Senate is a haven for freelancers, for senators who play to national constituencies outside the Capitol and whose energies are focused on their personal ambitions. That is especially true during the presidential campaign season, which unfortunately is already upon us.
Broder points out, rightly, that there are a lot of people in the Senate with personal agendas. One only has to look at Chuckles Schumer and the New York Observer article from yesterday to see that. That is going to present a serious problem for Reid. As majority leader, Reid will have to marshal his own unruly collection of egos while siphoning off enough Republican votes to make it work. Broder makes it quite clear that he is very leery of Reid's ability to pull it off.
In addition to those egos and ambitions, Reid will have to contend with a few real mavericks and independent spirits in his caucus. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, elected last week as an independent Democrat after losing his party's primary to Ned Lamont, has reiterated his intention to follow his own path rather than accept party discipline. He has staked out a position on Iraq — opposing any timetable for withdrawal — that is at odds with the prevailing inclination of the new majority.
And Webb, the man who gave the Democrats that majority, will now give their leadership anxious moments. A newcomer to elective politics and resentful of the conventions and demands of the political game, Webb is also a newcomer to the Democratic Party. His previous government experience was as Navy secretary in the Reagan administration. His campaign showed him to be a populist on economic issues and a sharp critic of U.S. involvement in Iraq — but often unpredictable or uncertain about other questions. Most of all, he resisted being managed or directed, so Reid will have to handle him with kid gloves.
As minority leader, Reid was remarkably effective in keeping the Democratic caucus united but far less successful as a public spokesman for his party. His partisan comments were often too sharp, his television appearances less than commanding. In his new role, he will be far more exposed, and his flaws more conspicuous.
I know that I am a bit of an outlier on the issue of Trent Lott having been chosen as minority whip. But given Broder's analysis here, it may well be that McConnell needs Lott's ability to line up votes to effectively stymie Reid. And Reid has a very, very tough road already. That road may have become impossibly difficult with the Republican's choice of a leadership team.
By mokus, Thursday, 16 November , 2006 @ 12:16 pm
I don’t recall Trent Lott as being any more effective than Bill Frist at keeping the GOP Senators focused on common goals. It’s wishful thinking to hearken back to some Golden Age of GOP unity, it never happened, not under the two most recent leaders, and not under Bob Dole either.
Mitch McConnell has a reasonable chance to hold the GOP side of the Senate together, and Trent Lott is an experienced vote counter and general button hole man, but he comes with some personal and institutional baggage which opens the door to speculation we might see a return to previous bad habits rather than a new way of doing things.
I’ll hope for the best, but I’ll be watching to see if Trent Lott reverts back to a round heals approach to standing on principle, and an insatiable taste for earmarks and pork.