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By Lynn Sweet
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Posted: 05/17/07 06:16 PM [ET] |
Though the Senate did not pass a bill yesterday cutting off money for the war in Iraq after next March, that the measure picked up the support of the leading 2008 Democratic presidential hopefuls, Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), is significant politically. They faced too much pressure from the anti-war left not to vote for cloture for the date-certain pullout bill and say they would vote for the underlying bill championed by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) — not that it survived to the roll call.
Democratic congressional leaders are sending the end-the-war message to the White House, and the real showdown is over the supplemental bill for Iraq and Afghanistan funding. It is doubtful the Senate will go along with the version the House passed last week. The whole point is just to get to conference. But the path to a compromise is still not clear; expect Dems to keep up pressure on Republicans to jump ship (track one) and see what kind of deal can be made with Bush Chief of Staff Josh Bolten (track two).
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is a former amateur middleweight boxer. He’s been a boxing judge. So he used boxing metaphors to describe how he will be approaching the clash: “heavy negotiations.”
“The previous times that I’ve met with Josh Bolten,” Reid said, “I haven’t had my congressional partner there, [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and I look forward to that. It’s just — you know, it reminds me of you’re going into a fight and the best fighter you leave behind. I have my best fighter now, I have Pelosi [who] will back me up, and that’s going to be a great comfort to me, because all of my negotiations at this point have been with Bolten and [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell (R-Ky.) alone.”
Reid and Nevada caucusThe strength of organized labor in Nevada was one big reason why the Democratic National Committee gave the nod to that Western state to have one of the first four 2008 presidential primary or caucus votes. That and the insistence of Reid to deal in his home state led to scheduling the Nevada caucus for Jan. 19.
Toward that end, Reid’s political operation set up a briefing Tuesday evening in Washington for the political directors of an assortment of unions to give them an update on how organizing for the caucus is progressing. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees hosted a forum attended by most Dem contenders in Carson City in February, and the Service Employees International Union sponsored a discussion in Las Vegas in March where all the candidates took the stage to discuss healthcare.
The point of scheduling the briefing — as of last night Reid was stuck in the Senate and was not going to be able to be present — was to convey how seriously Reid is taking the Nevada caucus and how he wanted to involve all the stakeholders.
Reid, Pelosi road tripsCatching up … Pelosi and former Rep. Geraldine Ferraro (D-N.Y.) co-headlined a May 4 Chicago fundraiser for Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) called the “Ultimate Women’s Power Lunch.” Schakowksy is chief deputy whip. Later in that same day in Chicago, Pelosi and Reid were the two marquee draws at a fundraiser for Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
Sweet is the Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times. E-mail:
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