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| Sen. Reid Hits the Ground Running in Uphill Re-Election Bid | |
| 2008-12-28 | |
| 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. I wonder if Santa delivers some Christmas presents late. 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. Encore! 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." More likely he saw the consequences of being on Santa's naughty list rather than just happening to be a majority leader. Jon Summers, a Reid spokesman, said Sen. Reid knows he will be a Republican target in 2010 and has been preparing for his re-election campaign for some time. He added that Sen. Reid's leadership position in the Senate is an asset, not a liability. "Being the majority leader means he can do things no one else can." "Harry! Get over here and give me your ears!" "Yes, Nancy. But please don't pull on them so hard this time, Mistress." Democrats have picked up a combined 13 seats in the past two election cycles. In 2010, more Republicans than Democrats are up for re-election, and Democratic incumbents appear to be well-positioned overall.
Maybe if I'm real good between now and then Santa will let me have what's on my Christmas list. As Senate majority leader, Sen. Reid is expected to play a critical role in shepherding Democratic Sen. Reid traveled to the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico late last month to meet with Two Democratic Senate colleagues, South Dakota's Tim Johnson and Oregon's Jeff Merkley, have sent emails to their supporters seeking contributions to I wonder if Santa takes into consideration that this is about the best the Donks can do. Who might square off against Sen. Reid is unclear. Nevada's Republican lieutenant governor, Brian Krolicki, declared his candidacy last month but was subsequently indicted for suspect accounting practices during his time as state treasurer. He has denied the charges. Tipped their hand a bit early it seems. Another potential GOP candidate is former Rep. Jon Porter, who lost his House seat representing an area outside of Las Vegas in November after serving three terms. The Research 2000 survey showed Sen. Reid beating Mr. Porter 46% to 40% in a potential 2010 race, an uncomfortably narrow margin for an incumbent. Democrats say Nevada is a former swing state that has swung to their camp. The party now has a 100,000-person registration advantage there. Since when were 100,000 Democrats considered an advantage? Except in an election, of course. In 2004, the last time Sen. Reid was up for re-election, the number of registered Republicans and Democrats was about the same. This sort of sums things up in an odd sort of way . . . . And just in case the first video doesn't make it past the mods, ;-) | |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #6 If Reid loses in his bid for re-election, the voters would be doing the country a great service. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2008-12-28 17:52 |
| #5 If Harry loses, it will at the voting hand of Democrats. One can hope. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2008-12-28 14:17 |
| #4 |
| Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2008-12-28 11:40 |
| #3 . . . in a midterm race that is likely to favor his party once ag 2010 will favor the Democrats if the electorate is happy with trillion dollar deficits, double digit unemployment and rampant corruption. |
| Posted by: DoDo 2008-12-28 11:31 |
| #2 Nevada went blue this election. There's been enough import and immigration from Californistas to keep Harry in the seat unless the Trunks get motivated now, like finding a damn good alternative instead of the usual party hacks. Unfortunately, Trunks think things are self evident and don't need to be hammered home [that worked well before didn't it /sarcasm off]. |
| Posted by: P2k on holiday 2008-12-28 07:59 |
| #1 I coulda swore I clicked Non-WOT. I'm sure that I did when I saw this in the WOT section. Mods, could you please move this there? Thanks. |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-12-28 03:55 |