Word: leader
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Dates: during 2010-2019
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Ever since Scott Brown's victory in the Massachusetts Senate race deprived Senate Democrats of their filibuster-proof majority, the White House has made no secret of its fervent desire that majority leader Harry Reid pass some kind of bipartisan legislation. So it was with a bit of fanfare that the White House welcomed Thursday a bipartisan Senate deal on $85 billion jobs legislation forged after weeks of negotiations between Senators Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, and Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican. And it was to more than a bit of confusion that Reid hours later threw out the deal...
...election year. This is to be expected," says a Republican Senate leadership aide. "Remember back in 2006 when [former majority leader] Bill Frist held all those votes where he didn't allow amendments on all those politically tough issues like gay marriage, the death tax and late-term abortion? A lot of good it did us - we lost the Senate. Democrats would do well to remember that example." (See pictures of Obama's State of the Union speech...
...That's not the only historical parallel that Democrats are pondering these days. Reid is one of the most vulnerable incumbents up for re-election, and the last time a Democratic majority leader was staring down the barrel of incredibly bad poll numbers, South Dakota's Tom Daschle spent much of 2004 frozen like a deer in the headlights before losing. Reid, by contrast, has taken the lead on everything from health care to the jobs bill, but the scattershot processes he has overseen have only hurt his standing in his home state...
...Democrats still control the Senate by a historic margin, even if they're down a vote. But in an election year, their severely endangered leader risks going from a herder of cats to a cat in the herd - pushed and buffeted by too many competing forces. And nothing can pass the Senate - not a scaled-down $15 billion jobs bill or an $800-plus billion health care overhaul - by herd mentality...
...members reacted to Tin Oo's release by voicing hope that Suu Kyi's second-in-command could help reinvigorate the beleaguered political party. "Tin Oo is politically experienced, a seasoned politician, which is very much important and significant for us," Win Tin, an NLD leader who was imprisoned for 18 years, told the Mizzima news agency. He said the government had done all it could to cut off contact between the NLD and the Burmese people, and that Tin Oo, who is widely respected, could help re-establish that connection...