A Look at Congress' Support

[babylonsister]

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2008/5/10/13921/7570

A Look at Congress' Support

by BooMan
Sat May 10th, 2008 at 01:39:21 AM EST


The leadership of the House has remained officially neutral in the presidential race, but most of the chairmen and chairwomen have expressed a preference. Some of these chairpersons wield more power than others, but collectively they are a good measure of how the power in the House was divided. Clinton clearly benefited from the fact that the New York delegation fell in line, while no Illinois Democrats hold any chairs.

Agriculture- Colin Peterson (D-MN)- Undeclared
Appropriations- David Obey (D-WI)- Obama
Armed Services- Ike Skelton (D-MO)- Clinton
Budget- Jack Spratt (D-SC)- Undeclared, but told Clinton on Wednesday that he could not endorse her.
Education- George Miller (D-CA)- Obama
Energy Independence and Global Warming- Edward Markey (D-MA)- Undeclared
Energy and Commerce- John Dingell (D-MI)- Clinton (currently ineligible to vote)
Ethics- Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH)- Clinton
Financial Services- Barney Frank (D-MA)- Clinton
Foreign Affairs- Howard Berman (D-CA)- Undeclared
Homeland Security- Bennie Thompson (D-MS)- Obama
House Administration- Bob Brady (D-PA)- Undeclared, but has said he will vote his district, and his district voted for Obama
Intelligence- Silvestre Reyes (D-TX)- Clinton
Judiciary- John Conyers (D-MI)- Obama (currently ineligible to vote)
Natural Resources- Nick Rahall (D-WV)- Obama
Oversight and Government Reform- Henry Waxman (D-CA)- Undeclared
Rules- Louise Slaughter (D-NY)- Clinton
Science- Bart Gordon (D-TN)- Undeclared
Small Business- Nydia Velazquez (D-NY)- Clinton
Transportation- James Oberstar (D-MN)- Obama
Veterans' Affairs- Bob Filner (D-CA)- Undeclared
Ways and Means- Charlie Rangel (D-NY)- Clinton

That breaks down to 8 chairs for Clinton, 8 chairs undeclared, and 7 chairs for Obama. The most powerful chair is Appropriations, where Obama has an ally in David Obey. But Clinton has an advantage with the next three most powerful chairs: Armed Services (Skelton), Ways & Means (Rangel), and Finance (Franks). It's basically a wash. Yet, a look at the leadership throws the balance to Obama. There is no doubt that Speaker Pelosi and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn favor Obama. Senior Chief Deputy Whip John Lewis flipped his endorsement from Clinton to Obama. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer is impossible to read, and Democratic Caucus Chair Rahm Emanuel has remained completely neutral but admitted yesterday that Obama is the presumptive nominee. There is a modest pro-Obama tilt in the House.

The Senate is a totally different story. Senators have worked with both Obama and Clinton for years and they know them well. Endorsing one over the other is not an attractive prospect because they don't want to alienate the eventual president and they don't want to have to go to work every day with someone that is harboring resentment because they endorsed their opponent. Nevertheless, most of the senators have made an endorsement, and most of them chose Obama. This trend is even more pronounced among the chairpersons.

Aging- Herb Kohl (D-WI)- Undeclared
Agriculture- Tom Harkin (D-IA)- Undeclared
Appropriations- Robert Byrd (D-WV)- Undeclared
Armed Services- Carl Levin (D-MI)- Undeclared (currently ineligible to vote)
Banking- Chris Dodd- Obama
Budget- Kent Conrad (D-ND)- Obama
Commerce- Daniel Inouye (D-HI)- Clinton
Energy- Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)- Obama
Environment- Barbara Boxer (D-CA)- Clinton
Finance- Max Baucus (D-MT)- Undeclared
Foreign Relations- Joe Biden (D-DE)- Undeclared
Health, Education, Labor & Pensions- Edward Kennedy (D-MA)- Obama
Homeland Security & Govern. Affairs- Joe Lieberman (I-CT)- Ineligible to vote, endorsed McCain
Indian Affairs- Byron Dorgan- Obama
Intelligence- Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)- Obama
Judiciary- Patrick Leahy (D-VT)- Obama
Rules- Diane Feinstein (D-CA)- Clinton
Small Business- John Kerry (D-MA)- Obama
Veterans' Affairs- Daniel Akaka- Undeclared

Eight out of nineteen chairs have endorsed Obama, while only three have endorsed Clinton (Boxer, Feinstein, and Inouye). The remainder remained neutral, except Lieberman who endorsed McCain. Majority Leader Harry Reid has remained neutral, but Majority Whip Dick Durbin has endorsed Obama.

Overall, the leadership of the Senate strongly prefers Obama. What will be interesting to see is how Clinton gets reintegrated back into the Senate. She has no real seniority on any committee, and definitely has little to no support for getting a position in the leadership. Most senators opposed her presidential run and will not want to give her power to exact revenge. I honestly think she will find the workplace too hostile to merit another term.

[Muttocracy]

1. and Boxer's was a lukewarm endorsement - wanted to go with her state

NYTimes commentary:

Barbara Boxer, Senator, Calif.
Although she does not plan to endorse either candidate as long as both are running, she says she plans to vote for Mrs. Clinton at the convention because Mrs. Clinton won the California primary, saying "the will of the voters is paramount."An aide to Senator Barbara Boxer of California said Ms. Boxer would cast her superdelegate vote for the winner of the California primary.

http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/results/superdelegates/index.html

By their count, Obama leads 15-12 in Senators, 81-79 in Reps, 13-11 in Governors. (Their total count is at 265/264 on that page).

[babylonsister]

8. I'd love to see Boxer switch! She might... nt

[SoCalDem]

10. Polling shows that we WOULD/WILL vote for Obama now

and if not for 1/3 to 1/2 voting via early-vote/absentee, he WOULD have won CA.. earlyvoting started Jan 7th..

[babylonsister]

11. I read that about a few other states also. This primary has gone

on for so long, and support is going one way only. ;)

[Muttocracy]

2. Re-reading your commentary at the bottom - I think talk of her as Majority Leader is silly

given she has so little seniority and support there.

[babylonsister]

7. Interestingly, Bill Moyers floated that idea on Charlie Rose

Thursday night. I think she's burned a fair amount of bridges myself, and agree about the lack of seniority. And if that were ever to happen, would she be into sabotaging? Probably not, but who knows.

[AllentownJake]

3. Hillary is not dumb

Coming in second despite what the media says does not make you the most likely candidate next time around. In the GOP that's the case but the democratic party has a long history of punishing losers of Presidential contest even primaries.

In the GOP if you come in second you'll be given the nod next time. It's why Huckabee stayed in the race. He wanted to overtake Romney in Delegates so he could legit say I came in second.

In the democratic party once you get branded a loser in presidential politics it's over. Maybe it comes from us running Adli twice against Eisenhower :shrug:

Hillary has one shot and this is it. She'll never have the advantages she had in 2012 she had this time. She won't have the endorsements, money, or staff.

You get one shot at the Presidency in Democratic Party politics.

[babylonsister]

4. How many of us have had to face the fact that

we lost, be it in a job we wanted, a relationship that went sour, whatever. I don't know what makes her think she's immune but do think she needs to face reality. These lists are just another sign that she has to face the music. I foresee no other outcome for her.

[AllentownJake]

5. From what I heard

Is she thinks as the first woman to have a legit shot at the Presidency she owes it to History and women everywhere to fight this till she can no longer fight.

[babylonsister]

6. I don't believe that. The Clintons' ambition

is what's driving this imo. Why is she damaging Obama and the Dem party with her actions?
She's like the dim one. She wants her way, and is stamping her feet and gnashing her teeth while trying to attain the unattainable.
Of course, now it might be about money and recouping as much as possible before she admits that defeat that will be so difficult for her to do.
It's been a long, hard slog, but it's over, Ms. Clinton. Time to move on.

[Muttocracy]

9. age will also be a factor for her if she has to wait 8 yrs. nt