In a remarkable twist, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) revealed Friday he won’t challenge Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to succeed Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) as Democratic leader once he retires in 2016.
“Senator Durbin told Senator Schumer late last night that he wasn’t running for Leader, and that Schumer has his support,” a Durbin spokesman said in an email. “Durbin intends to run again for Whip and has Senator Reid’s support. He’s been speaking with senators this morning.”
Schumer, having also secured Reid’s backing for the job, is now the overwhelming favorite.
I prefer Reid to Durbin and I flat out despise Schumer. Oh well.
Wall Streeters celebrate.
The fix is in. The back-room deal is done.
I like Durbin, Schumer not much, but both are firmly in the pocket of AIPAC. Sad, really.
I somewhat like Durbin, who happens to be my Senator, but all too often he wimps out on things, so I agree (with him) that he’s not a great choice for (Minority or Majority) Senate Leader. Schumer is obviously too close to Wall Street for the taste of most of us here, so that’s unfortunate.
Most of us would probably love to see Warren as leader, but that’s not going to happen for a number of reasons, including seniority/experience. I’d be pretty happy with Patty Murray, Sherrod Brown, or Sheldon Whitehouse (just off the top of my head), but, sadly, nobody asked me.