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August 08, 2004
Senate "Leader"
The GOP thought they could annoint a Senate Majority Leader the same way they got behind their Presidential nominee 4 years ago, but things haven't worked out so great for Bill Frist. It's no surprise...majority parties usually elect a leader through a years long process of finding out who's got the capacity to serve in a leadership position (and usually there is more than 1 applicant) and then watching one or more overqualified men duke it out until one capable choice emerges.
Karl Rove, having presided over a beauty contest nominating process (who doesn't think McCain would make a better President than Bush at this point?) for the Presidency decided to apply the same congeniality contest rules to the Senate. So Bill Frist, who looks good on TV and I'm sure is a fine surgeon (a key point in the Republican's anti-lawyer demagoguery) was the new pick and other GOP senators were urged to line up behind him instead of other worthier candidates like Mitch McConnell.
The big problem with this way of choosing your leader is that the best looking kid rarely makes the best debater, or math champion for that matter, and the GOP has found this out. Tom Daschle and Harry Reid, who practically none of the public that aren't partisan Democrats even like or are aware of, may not be as telegenic but basically run Frist's Senate. You can see the Republican spin -- Frist, with only 8 years in the Senate, probably wasn't experienced enough. But LBJ was one of the most effective majority leaders ever and he had only been in the Senate for 2 years when he assumed the post, and Bob Dole had decades of experience and proved to be no match for either Bill Clinton or Newt Gingrich.
So when you think about the Republican run Senate, you should probably picture Bill Frist on the side of the road saving someone's life. It's a much better mental image than the boondoggle the US Senate has become under his residency as leader.
Posted by Chris at August 8, 2004 03:11 PM
Comments
Chris, you spew mindless leftist nonsense almost every day! How do you do it? But what we really want you to do is talk more about how Cynthia McKinney has pocketed lots of Arab money in her political career. We also want more coverage from you on her Dad's comment after she lost in 2002 that her defeat was caused by, and I quote, "Jews. J-E-W-S." The Democratic Party is apparently the Jew-hating party, isn't it, Chris?
Posted by: phillydog at August 9, 2004 02:02 PM
Check out this load of crap:
http://www.accessnorthga.com/articles/afullstory.asp?ID=83335
Posted by: matt at August 9, 2004 03:16 PM
Phillydog you need to send me your real address and not use mdown@nytimes.com if you would like to have a discussion about Cynthia McKinney. I am not a supporter of her (as evidenced by my endorsement of her opponent in this primary and if you care to look up old print issues of the Dunwoody Crier or her opponent in '02 as well).
I do not ask you to defend the worst of the Republican Party and your obsession with McKinney isn't really getting you anyway, especially if you do it anonymously. Sorry you feel so upset about Cynthia McKinney but nobody around her likes her to begin with and I don't really know how you would expect us to defend her?
Thanks.
Posted by: Chris at August 9, 2004 04:06 PM
The Democratic party supports Cynthia McKinney. Lots of Arab money has supported Cynthia McKinney. You say, Chris, that you do not support Cynthia McKinney--but I never said you did.
By the way, this interest in your Party shouldn't be characterized as an "obsession," as you so snarkily put it, but just someone pointing out forgotten news items. You did not argue with my speculation that the Democratic party is the Jew-hating party, and I guess that's because there's too many pro-Palestinian people in your party, or that you think the answer is yes.
We'll talk about New York's Al Sharpton, who spoke at the Democratic convention, and the legendary incident at Freddy's Fashion Mart in Harlem, another time.
Posted by: phillydog at August 9, 2004 04:59 PM
How about when James Baker, serving as Secretary of State for George H.W. Bush, said of the Jewish community's concern about the first Bush's Middle East policy, "Fu-- them, they didn't vote for us anyway."?
Doesn't the fact that a recent Republican president, and the current one's father, appointed Baker Secretary of State make that a more damning representation of the Republican Party than one member of Congress elected from one district and not occupying any leadership post in Congress?
Posted by: Observer at August 9, 2004 07:02 PM
Phillydog, I really doubt the Democratic Party establishment supports McKinney as she is one of the GOP's best fundraisers of all time. Just slap a picture of her on a fundraising mailing and you are guaranteed at least a couple hundred thousand dollars. Now there are many Democrats who support McKinney, but that is what makes the Democratic Party great, we let people think for themselves, instead of just being dittoheads.
Posted by: yoshi at August 9, 2004 10:11 PM
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