Have you ever been to Nevada? There’s no sense of shame here.
I mean, we’re a state that’s pretty much built on the fact that we legally fleece visitors of their money. We shamelessly offer free $2 cocktails in return for people gambling away hundreds or even thousands of dollars. We charge people $100 a ticket to watch gymnasts in costumes do somersaults to music. We offer the slogan “What happens here stays here”, but just see if the casino’s debt collectors can’t find you no matter where you call home.
Our entire state economy and reason for being is based on the pretty lies we sell to the rest of the [del]country[/del] world, and you ask if there’s any shame or embarrassment in Nevada? :dubious:
ETA: 40%? I think you should prolly revise that figure upwards. I’m getting a feeling that you’re talking about the next senator from Nevada, ya know.
Reid is a very dull speaker. He does not inspire with his speeches. He kind of puts you to sleep.
The fact that he got the leadership slot indicates he can play the political game well though. I would find it hard to vote off a powerful senator and replace him with a dingbat .
We kind of wish he’d actually acted as if he had a filibuster-breaking majority in the Senate, because HE DID for a while, at least. Threaten Bayh’s and Nelson’s and Lincoln’s and Landrieu’s DSCC money unless they vote party line. Twist some arms. Threaten some people’s committee positions. If you really believe in your legislative agenda, fight for it!
Reid, Obama and the Dems thought they could govern more from the center. They knew a lot of Repubs agreed with lots of their proposals. They did not think the Repubs would have a blanket filibuster that would hold together this long.
I am not sure they realize what they have to do. Reid did not publicly attack the Repubs like he should have. Obama did not use the pulpit to attack them. Dems are too gentlemanly. the Repubs play to win. They want the power and will wield it like a dictatorship.
Well that just makes Reid’s job even harder, then, doesn’t it? If he couldn’t get Lieberman to play ball, then Bayh and Nelson and Baucus and the rest acting up too wouldn’t exactly make anything any easier.
Reid had 60 votes for about 6 months. In the beginning he had 59, since Al Franken wasn’t seated until July 2009. In Jan 2010 the Dems lost the Massachusetts seat. He got a lot done in the face of vicious Republican obstructionism. Steve Benin lists the legislative accomplishments:
Speaking objectively, Reid is one of the greatest Senate leaders in US history. Then again, if he wins I expect that he will screw the pooch and fail to reform the filibuster in Jan 2011. Congressional Dems just can’t bring themselves to believe that Lucy will take back the football this time.
I have mixed feelings about the filibuster. It was not meant to be used like the Repubs are using it, but I think it has a place. They could change the rules back so if you want to filibuster, you have to care enough to stand up and hold the floor. A procedural filibuster just keeps the majority from exercising its proper rights and passing legislation.
The Dems had the nerve to procedurally filibuster 10 of the 214 Federal Judges the Repubs nominated. It pissed the Repubs off so badly that they suggested removing judges from filibusters or wielding the dreaded Nuclear option.
Too many Dems felt that if a guy , even Bush with his disputed elections, got elected ,he has a right to put in his kind of judges and staff. For them, you have to provide a wildly insane person to the position. Even worse than Roberts, and Thomas.
In other news, Mrs. Angle says that Hispanic children actually look like Asians, which is cool, because she is the first Asian legislator elected to office in Nevada.
And according to the story, her claim was that the ad about porous borders was about the Canadian border, even though it had a map of Mexico. And she doesn’t “know” that the people in the ad are Mexicans, possibly because a lot of Canadians look Mexican. Or possibly Asian.