http://www.qando.net/ - We have rumors ...

There is a rumor going around that Harry Reid will step down as majority leader either at the end of this year to focus on his re-election campaign, or in three years after he retires from the Senate. While I should emphasize that I have nothing to back up this rumor, it does raise the interesting possibility of a new campaign for majority leader in either one year or three years that is worth discussing.

OK, it is pure rumor. Personally I can't imagine Reid giving up his "seat of power" voluntarily, especially after the bang-up job he's done [/sarcasm].

So, given this is a rumor, let's play the "who would succeed Harry game", you know, just for the fun of it. Chris Bowers says this is the short list:

The obvious candidates for majority leader would be Durbin, Schumer, Dodd, and the loser of the 2008 presidential nominating contest.

Wow - all you need to do is throw Ted Kennedy into that mix and it is the stuff of nightmares - unless you're blogging, then it is a dream-list.

If I have to give up Reid, Durbin or Schumer would do. They may not end up being as weak or pathetic as Reid, but they're certainly as unlikable. That means no guilt when slamming their policies, parliamentary tricks or pretzel logic.

Anyway, a bit of rumor fun for a cloudy Sunday.

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For a profession in which likeability is supposed to be important, we live in an age of profoundly unlikeable politicians.

Look at the Senate. Obama stands out in the Democratic field mostly because of the surly nature of Reid, Hillary, Durbin, Kennedy, Boxer, Kerry, Leahy, Schumer, et. al. The Republicans do a bit better, but only by comparison. Mitch McConnell seems likable enough, but otherwise the recently departed Trent Lott was representative of an unlikable Republican bunch. McCain’s is in that mold, along with other luminaries such as Arlen Spectre, Ted Stevens, and Chuck Hegel.

The most successful politicians of each party in recent decades - Reagan and Bill Clinton - both got to their positions at least partly because of likeability. I would think that would teach both parties something. Apparently not.

Written By: Billy Hollis
URL: http://

There is a rumor going around that Harry Reid will step down as majority leader [sic] or in three years after he retires from the Senate.

I thought stepping down as majority leader was kind of a given at that point...

And if it’s Durbin, I would just like to appologize on behalf of the state of Illinois...

We’re sorry Chicago keeps electing him into office...

Written By: Scott Jacobs
URL: http://

If he’s not tapped for Secretary of State or another Cabinet position, I would love to see Joe Biden as Senate Majority leader.

Written By: Captin Sarcastic
URL: http://

I’d love for Biden to end up in the job, but I want to put one condition in place...
Neil Kinnock must agree to allow Biden to continue "borrowing" his speeches!

Written By: Greybeard
URL: http://pitchpull.blogspot.com/

I’ve heard a lot of discussion that, if Hillary does not get the Dem nomination for Pres, Reid will be forced to step down as Hillary calls in all her markers. Take it for what any rumor is worth.

Written By: William Teach
URL: http://www.thepiratescove.us

I’d love for Biden to end up in the job, but I want to put one condition in place...
Neil Kinnock must agree to allow Biden to continue "borrowing" his speeches

You ignorant wretch, Biden quoted, and credited, Kinnock in numerous speeches, and forget to credit him once.

But hey, tha plagiarism charge is fun, if ignorant, so keep dragging this canard out. Kudos for buying into Dukakis campaign dirt, you must be very proud.

In 1987, Joe Biden ran as a Democratic presidential candidate. When the campaign began, he was considered a frontrunner because of his moderate image. However, the campaign ended when he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, then-leader of the British Labour Party. Though Biden had correctly credited the original author in all speeches but one, the one where he failed to make mention of the originator was caught on video. In the video Biden is filmed repeating a stump speech by Kinnock, with only minor modifications. “Why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go a university? Why is it that my wife . . . is the first in her family to ever go to college? Is it because our fathers and mothers were not bright? . . . Is it because they didn’t work hard? My ancestors who worked in the coal mines of northeast Pennsylvania and would come after 12 hours and play football for four hours? It’s because they didn’t have a platform on which to stand.” After Biden withdrew from the race it was learned that he had correctly credited Kinnock on all other occasions. He failed to do so, however, in the Iowa speech that was recorded and distributed to reporters (with a parallel video of Kinnock) by aides to Michael Dukakis, the eventual nominee. Dukakis fired John Sasso, his campaign manager and long-time Chief of Staff, but Biden’s campaign could not recover.

Written By: Captin Sarcastic
URL: http://

I dunno Captain... Repeating an entire stump speach with only slight changes - even if you sight it - suggests a level of "lazy" that is pretty impressive.

Not saying the attacks are accurate, but you have to admit that maybe he should have sprung for a writer, instead of ENGL 110’ing his way through it...

Written By: Scott Jacobs
URL: http://

The plagiarism was bad enough, but Biden said things that were false (but true when Kinnock said them). If you’re going to lift a speech, don’t lift an autobiographical one.

Written By: Steverino
URL: http://

Reid as Sec State.

Eeuuww, what a disaster that would be.

Written By: capt joe
URL: http://

I dunno Captain... Repeating an entire stump speach with only slight changes - even if you sight it - suggests a level of "lazy" that is pretty impressive.

Because all the other politicians write their own original speeches?

The Kinnock paraphrasing was just an ending to his standard stump speech, it was not his entire speech.

Whatever, it’s an irrelevant aside, just sad that people post based on old faulty, debunked information.

Written By: Captin Sarcastic
URL: http://

I’m wondering why you defend Biden on this point, Captin. He was clearly wrong, and this wasn’t even the first time he’d plagiarized.

Here’s a fairly impartial account.

It turned out Biden had also borrowed passages from old campaign speeches by Robert Kennedy and had inflated his academic record. But oratory has a long tradition of borrowing and even "heavy lifting," as speechwriters call it, so Biden stayed alive in the presidential race. The last straw, however, came when it turned out that twenty years earlier Biden had received a failing grade in a law school course for plagiarizing a legal article (he’d given a single footnote while lifting five full pages from the article). Biden said he’d been unaware of the appropriate standards for legal briefs, but the public was unimpressed. His campaign collapsed and he withdrew from the race.

Just try copying one paragraph without attribution on your Doctorate thesis and see how far your academic career goes afterwards.

But, please, keep telling us how we’re using debunked information.

Written By: Steverino
URL: http://

I have never understood why the smartest man in the Senate (just ask him) outsourced his speeches. Don’t speechwriters have a union?

And I have never understood why CS can never provide the source for his quotes.

Written By: timactual
URL: http://

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