Incoming Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the new No. 2 Democrat, has many strengths that make up for some of his own shortcomings. Just what did he mean?
Durbin’s abilities “complement some of my weakness; I complement some of his weakness,’’ Reid said after the caucus selected its leaders for the 109th Congress on Tuesday, with Durbin taking over Reid’s old job as whip.
From seeing how each performs on the public stage, my guess is that Reid was referring to Durbin’s communications skills more than his whipping talents. Reid is more of an insider operator. His strong suit is not sparring with pundits on television. Durbin, a skillful and wily debater, can more than hold his own in any forum.
Another matter: While Reid talked about teaming with Durbin, balancing out their mutual plus-and-minus points, all he could say about the third new member of the team, Conference Secretary Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), had to do with, well, what I will call the chick factor. “She’s had a rapid rise to this leadership position,’’ Reid said, “and she’s done it for a number of reasons, not the least of which is her dynamic smile.’’
Reid’s centrism counters Durbin’s more progressive agenda. The team started to take shape shortly after it was clear that Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) had lost his reelection bid.
Durbin, his wife, Loretta, and 14 staffers flew to South Dakota to help in the final days of the campaign.
After Daschle lost, Durbin and Reid, who swiftly emerged as the heir apparent, talked several times that Wednesday. Durbin came out of those talks deciding to go for the whip job.
Durbin started making testing-the-water calls from Chicago, and by that Thursday he was working the phones in earnest. Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Mark Dayton (D-Minn.) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) enlisted in the Durbin push and were reaching out to others on his behalf. Four or five other senators were dispatched to make one-on-one contacts. By Friday, Durbin had the post locked up.
Being the whip may mean somewhat of an adjustment for Durbin, who heads back to Illinois almost every weekend, either to his home in Springfield or to a Chicago condo near Lake Michigan. It may mean that he will be spending more time in Washington.
Durbin, who was co-chairman of the Democratic National Committee, hit the road for this election cycle. He traveled to Oregon, Iowa (three times), neighboring Missouri (three times) and Wisconsin (five times, and sent staffers for the final month), plus Pennsylvania, Maine, New Hampshire and Ohio (twice.).
His leadership fund, Prairie PAC, contributed $737,000 to candidates. Durbin also helped raise $1.5 million for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and hosted funders in Illinois for Sens. Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Murray, Daschle and Chuck Schumer (N.Y.).
While in Washington, Schumer, who will take over the DSCC for the 2006 cycle, rooms with Durbin in a Capitol Hill home, living frat-like along with Rep. William Delahunt (D-Mass.) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), who owns the town house.
Yesterday, Durbin and Sen.-elect Barack Obama (D-Ill.) huddled and afterward met the press. Obama was asked about his living arrangements. Though he will join the nation’s most exclusive fraternity, he does not want to be part of a frat-like living situation.
Said Obama, “The idea of a bunch of guys in their boxer shorts in my kitchen is not an appealing one.”
Sweet is the Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times. E-mail:
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
|
