DU: do you think Harry Reid is an effective Senate Minority Leader?

[blondeatlast]

Poll question: DU: do you think Harry Reid is an effective Senate Minority Leader?

simple poll, posted in response to this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2673113&mesg_id=2673164

[w4rma]

1. Yes. (nt)

[bluem]

2. no,

He simply doesn't come off as sincere and I personally believe that he lacks presence. Who cares what someones says if they come off as not meaning or caring about it...

[safi0]

31. Your completely 100% wrong.

Personally, I don't think he comes off that way. But even if he does its really not that important. The job of a minority leader is to keep his caucus unified, and with all of the hurdles in his way he's done a good job of that.

[bluem]

32. See,

I know that being minority leader with Frist being majority leader is really tough but I don't see the democrats as unified, I just don't see it. And yes, the leader plays a major part behind the scenes but they are also representing and speaking for the party. Out of all the sound clips available on a given issue/debate most of the time Reid's is the one getting shown... I think Harry is doing the best that anyone could behind the scenes with the given situations, but what he is doing on the stage is lackluster at best.

[safi0]

37. But again, it doesn't

Matter what he does on the stage. Considering all the barriers in his way the Democrats are as unified as possible

[bluem]

38. I think it reflects poorly on the party....n/t

[flaminbats]

52. Reid would be a great majority leader..

and is an equally weak minority leader. The role of Reid is to advertise the flaws of the majority party's actions and to unite our party in opposition. The media loves to focus on failures of the majority party to end filibusters and pass legislation for Bush.

The Republicans will never be criticized by the media for being pawns of Bush, Democrats will never receive credit for voicing dissent. But Democrats were always attacked as being lapdogs for Clinton, while Republicans were always worshiped by the press for refusing to compromise with him! Congressional Republicans united against Clinton immediately after he was elected, but too many congressional Democrats still think kissing Bush's butt is just another way of getting elected! :puke:

When will our party leaders understand that submission only cuts the throats of our new candidates?

[rhett o rick]

39. Name one victory on his watch. nm

[OzarkDem]

48. Gotta agree

There hasn't been a single tactical victory or any pickup of Dem seats in the Senate. Like it or not, that's part of his job description, to work with other Dem leaders to pick up seats.

[SharonAnn]

57. Before being Senate Leader, he got Jim Jeffords to leave the GOP

[Placebo]

3. He sure is.

I'm extremely proud of Senator Reid and can't wait until he becomes Majority Leader! :)

Imagine if we still had Leader Dasschle? YIKES. :o

[blondeatlast]

6. Since I think my poll is as unbiased as I could make it, I'll offer my

opinion here.

He's a master politico and tough as nails. I think he's excellent.

and yes, with the country in the state that it is, I shudder to think where the Dems and the nation would be with Daschle.

[Placebo]

7. It's so true.

On every issue of importance that came before the floor we'd have Daschle wanting to work for some sort of "compromise" or God knows what else.

I'm watching Daschle on C-SPAN right now. He wants to be president. Watching him give a speech is like watching paint dry. What a joke.

Harry Reid pisses off the right because he is, as you say, extremely tough and unwavering in his democratic loyalty. He has held the democrats in the senate together better than we could hope, something loads of people forget.

Just because he isn't Feingold or Boxer doesn't mean he's not a strong leader.

[Cocoa]

35. do you know Daschle's role in the Plame investigation?

[MADem]

15. I agree with your assessment

He knows how to play the game, and doesn't take crap. He'll be a superb majority leader if we can grab the Senate!

[xultar]

4. I like Reid. People say he's not effective cuz people don't know him..

well people knew who the last guy was and he wasn't very effective.

Reid has crafted some brilliant moves.

People don't know Reid just like they don't know any other Democrats...the fucking media won't cover Democratic press conferences and events. When something is scheduled...up comes a Bush event to knock it off the radar.

Harry works under the radar wheeling and dealing then he comes out swinging. I like that. Hogging the cameras and the lime light doesn't always mean you're being effective. Most often it means you're making noise. We all know that noise doesn't always win.

[NoodleBoy]

5. quiet, but effective. he's been the best at keeping the caucus together,

something lots of super-left dems forget about.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

8. "Walk Softly and Carry a Big Stick" = Reid

i voted yes.

[gordontron]

49. the minority vote never has a big stick nt

[saltpoint]

9. Yes. Reid and Durbin have done fine, especially as minority

leaders in a joint run by Republicans like THE CAT BUTCHER, Mitch McConnell, and the notorious Rick Santorum.

I would extend their contracts, yes.

[bluem]

12. see, I really like Durbin...

And during the marriage amendment debate Reid and Durbin worked together marvelously when they went back and forth. When Durbin would "ask" if the minority leader knew blah blah blah and then Reid would explain the facts. It was genius.

[saltpoint]

14. I'm kind of a Dick Durbin fan myself. He's just a hell of a terrific

senator, I think.

[Rose Siding]

10. Bush's agenda is stalled. That's success for a minority.

Without Reid and some of the other dependable fighters, SocSec would be gone, we'd be deporting 12 mil immigrants, and the Iran War would already be raging.

[blondeatlast]

11. A little persepective is always helpful.

Reid's hitting the trail to rally support for SocSec is what really impressed me.

He seemed to enjoy being out there rallying supporters.

You nailed it.

[Rose Siding]

17. Harry doesn't back down.

I've had a little crush since he called bush a liar in '02.

[bullimiami]

13. better than daschle but still not tough enough.

[Stinky The Clown]

16. I voted 'yes' ........ but I think, on balance, he could be a bit more

overtly pugnacious. I know the guy's nature is to be a fighter, but I sure do wish he'd have fouhgt more openly when we were facing Alito and Roberts and Hayden. Even in what may well still have been losing efforts, firing up the base and hearing some opposition may have been helpful.

[depakid]

18. Just look at the record

until the second week of May, Reid had lost every single battle. Under his so called "leadership" the Dems handed the Republicans every single thing they wanted on silver platter. Every nominee- no matter how extreme- every piece of legislation- no matter how egregious.

They've punted away winning issue after issue- time and time again. Reid himslelf even crossed party lines to vote with the Republicans on the banruptcy bill.

ANYONE who thinks that represents "leadership" must have a diffferent definition of it than I do- the man can't even get his own party to toe the line. He talks big- and then end up backing down every time.

If the Dems lose for the 7th stright time this November, the first thing they should do is find a graceful way to sit Harry down.

[Hippo_Tron]

24. Daschle crossed party lines more than Reid

Reid is dealing with a Senate where Democrats have a 10 seat deficit. Republicans have enough of a majority where they can shove their agenda through no matter what Reid does.

[depakid]

36. Hogwash

Bob Dole had only 41 members in his minority in 1993-1995 and he blocked plenty of nominees and legislation.

And did the public take it out on the party for being obstructionists?

Hardly- they took back the Senate in the very next election.

[Hippo_Tron]

44. Bob Dole had help from moderate/conservative democrats

John Breaux, Fritz Hollings, Sam Nunn, Richard Shelby, Howell Heflin, Dennis DeConcini, Wendell Ford, Jim Exon, David Boren, Harris Wofford, Jim Sasser, Harlan Mathews, Howard Metzenbaum, John Glenn and Chuck Robb were all Democratic US Senators during the 103rd congress. Democrats have lost every single one of these seats to a hard-line Republican since then. The only exception is Richard Shelby, who switched parties. By 1993-1995 many of these people (not all but many) saw that their seats were in danger, especially in the south, due to political re-alignment. This caused many of these senators to vote with the Republicans. Also to be added to this list are moderates like Max Baucus and Bennet Johnston who voted (and in Baucus' case still do) with Republicans a lot and have seats that still remain in Democratic hands.

Right now we have maybe 5-8 Republicans fearing their re-election and that's not a conservative estimate. This is a far cry from the 15-17 Democrats that Dole had fearing for their re-election. Not to mention the fact that even while they fear for their re-election, these Republicans seek to improve their chances of winning by voting party line because they are rewarded with campaign cash if they do that. On our side, there's no campaign cash for doing the right thing. Chafee is pretty much the only Republican that votes with us when we really need him and usually we lose the votes that we get him on anyway.

Reid has pretty much had the toughest set of circumstances for a minority leader since the Republicans had when FDR was in office. I'll admit that perhaps somebody could do the job better and pick some more battles with the white house, but I haven't seen anybody stepping up. Boxer and Feingold have shown a lot of spine but I don't think that either of them are really interested in the job. Furthermore, while there might be some who are more willing to pick fights, I'm not sure if anybody in the caucus can rally the 41 votes that we need to fillibuster some of these things.

BTW, Bob Dole had 44 seats

[LynneSin]

40. Do you understand why minority leaders "cross party line"

If you look at Frist & Lott- they do it too especially if it's a vote they want to reopened you'll see this strange phenomenum. Frist did it was the Defense bill that got filibustered because of ANWR drilling amendment. He actually voted "with us" but only so that if we wanted to reopen the vote he could.

[Hippo_Tron]

42. I know about that senate rule, I'm talking about crossing for real

[Warren Stupidity]

19. Sure aint.

Keeping that powder dry real good though.

[NJ Democrats]

20. I don't think so

he is a good senator but just shouldn't be minority leader. I'd rather have Durbin.

[MercutioATC]

21. What? No "He's just another nutless Washington insider"??

...that choice would have MY vote.

[Vidar]

22. No, but much better than Dashcle. I'd favor, Feingold, Boxer or Kerry.

[Hippo_Tron]

23. Better than Daschle, but would still prefer Durbin

[BigYawn]

25. Just cecause Reid is not a flame thrower don't mean he is ineffective..

[ProgressivePatriot]

26. All DLC'ers are ineffective and

a detriment to the Democratic Party.

[bornskeptic]

33. Reid's not a "DLCer" n/t

[snowbear]

27. I wish there were a 3rd choice.. "Harry has his ups and downs.. but..

..who I would really like to see in his place is ____________" (add your choice)

To me anyhoo.. that would have made the poll perfect!!

[Adelante]

28. Yes nt

[KoKo]

29. kick.............

[noonwitch]

30. He's better than Daschle

I'll judge him more fully after November.

[On the Road]

34. Dean and Reid are the Kind of Politicians

who tend to rise to the top when a party becomes a minority. Being magnanimous and conciliatory is no longer a virtue. It took a few years for it to happen, but they're the kind of politicians that will help the party retake the majority.

[LaPera]

41. As effective as a Dem can be with a republican majority & republican media

Republicans OWN all of the only five TV news networks, 95% of talk radio and most of the nations dailies! (And they want to buy more).

It's a republican machine...a Dem makes a mistake, says or does something the republican media machine goes to work and the Dem is made in to trash to be thrown away...look at Dean, Kerry, Etc. etc.

[pink-o]

43. I heard a rumour that Harry Reid

...was the one responsible for persuading Bush to nominate Harriet Miers. He pulled off a very Machievelli coup, apparently, and if true, then he definitely has the stones to be Maj Leader.

OTOH, he's anti choice. I have a HUGE problem with that, keeping Roe V Wade legal is a sacred cow for the democrats. So I can totally understand why the poll is 50-50

[Hippo_Tron]

45. There was a big scare about him being anti-choice when he got the job

But if you look at his record as minority leader, he has done nothing to suggest that he has let his personal views about about abortion effect his work in the senate. Reid is personally pro-life, but believes that women should make that decision, not the government.

[OzarkDem]

47. He's not helping anyone get elected, though

Don't we need someone with leadership skills and vision as well?

[KoKo]

46. Kick........this poll is "neck and neck" we need to give it a week....

don't ya think "blodeatlast?"

[blondeatlast]

50. Yes, I do indeed.

I think it's important to know what activist Dems think of the guy, not the public in general.

[cboy4]

51. I'm extremely tough to please, but I'm certainly not going to bash the

guy until at least I see how we do in November.

So I voted YES (for now)

[IndianaGreen]

53. He is not consistent at all

Sometimes he is really good, but sometimes he is really bad. It depends on who is buttering his bread!

[NVMojo]

54. in a swiftboat marketing arena, he's lucky he's still standing to fight ..

[KoKo]

55. Keep this going until the last DU'er is counted for their opinion...

:kick:

[KoKo]

56. Well...with few reporting it's still "neck and neck" ...gotta keep it out

there....