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Reed Follows in Daschle’s Footsteps

22 October 2007

When I spoke to Mark May [sic-Mays], he and I thought this probably wouldn’t make much money-a letter, written by Democrat Senators, complaining about something…[T]he [final] bid [was] more than two million for this… Never did we think that this letter would bring money of this nature… I don’t know what we could do more important than helping to ensure that children of our fallen soldiers and police officers who have fallen in the line of duty have the opportunity for their children to have a good education.

These are the words of Senate Majority Leader “Dingy” Harry Reid. I cannot imagine the nerve required to actually take credit for the $4.2 million raised. Reid and the 41 Senators who signed the letter were challenged by Rush Limbaugh to individually match the winning bid, just as Limbaugh himself was doing. The winning bid ended up being $2.1 million so with Rush’s match the total was $4.3 million. Reid didn’t match a single cent! But the man still took credit for it. He has no shame!

Reid is following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Tom Daschle. You will recall that Daschle was continually shocked at anything conservatives did. You will also recall that Daschle received his walking papers from his constituents in 2004. Reid is on track to follow Daschle right out of office. Power Line Blog yesterday reported that Reid’s approval rating in Nevada is below President Bush’s and it appears to be falling.

Reid and his Democrat colleagues in Congress have yet to figure out that the American people are sick and tired of partisanship for the sake of partisanship. Even a poll on the DailyKOS asking the question, “Do you approve of the way Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is doing his job?” has Reid with 82% saying no with more than 15,000 responses as of 7:30 this evening.

I would not argue against partisanship when there is a clear difference on policy. But Congressional Democrats, lead by Reid and Pelosi, are determined to take any action to deny President Bush a victory if they can and it is taking a toll on them. Congressional approval ratings are consistently lower than President Bush’s, taking away the ability of the Democrats to point to Bush’s low ratings. Doing so focuses attention on their own even lower ratings.

Republicans, on the other hand, are benefiting right now. Whether you are agree with them or not, they appear to be taking principled positions rather than engaging in politics as usual like the Democrats. Should Democrats continue on their current path into the ’08 elections it will present an opportunity to Republicans. Conventional wisdom says that Republicans will suffer more losses in the House and Senate in ’08. That view is further bolstered by the fact that so many Republican incumbents in Congress have announced they will not seek reelection next year. Yet the environment is ripe for Republicans, if they can unify behind a conservative message and solid candidates, to spank the Democrats. Should that happen, it will impact the Presidential election as well. We are accustomed to candidates riding a presidential candidate’s coat tails but this time around it could conceivably be the other way around. This isn’t a prediction so much as it is a possible strategy if Republicans will only do it.