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Certainly Illinois Can Do Better Than Dick Durbin

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 28: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) speaks to reporters after a lunch meeting with Senate Democrats at the U.S. Capitol on September 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. Senator Schumer and the Democrats sp... WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 28: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) speaks to reporters after a lunch meeting with Senate Democrats at the U.S. Capitol on September 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. Senator Schumer and the Democrats spoke on a range of issues, including the debt ceiling, the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and the $3.5 trillion spending and social safety net package. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) MORE LESS

By Josh Marshall

January 23, 2023 9:58 a.m.

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I’ve been hearing from people in and out of the political world saying things like this: folks like Dick Durbin really need to retire. Yes, I’m talking about his Sunday show appearance yesterday and his commenting on the Biden classified documents. What I’m describing here isn’t only about Dick Durbin. But he is one of the prime offenders.

What is Dick Durbin doing in the Senate exactly? What I’ve seen from him, know of him mostly for years is appearances like that on the Sunday shows, ones which play to the D.C. press and establishment opinion. It’s of a piece with Durbin’s position or really non-position on “Roe and Reform.” Durbin was one of the prime holdouts. Well, he wasn’t even a holdout really — he simply wouldn’t discuss it at all. The best he could manage in mid-2022 were some vague comments about not being over-hasty about things.

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