Replace Harry Reid?

Barack Obama will soon be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. He's deep into his transition and moving with dispatch to be ready to work immediately upon taking office. Given all that is on his plate - Israel/Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan, economic crisis, plunging real estate values; you get the picture - one would think Obama wants to limit distractions as he prepares to enter the White House. But with friends like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Obama now has to deal with what is a tempest in a teapot - the seating of Roland Burris in the U.S. Senate. Reid's leadership on this has been abysmal.

Despite his dirty benefactor, Burris is qualified to serve in the job to which he has been appointed. Denying him a seat in the Senate is petty and unwise, particularly given the much bigger fish the chamber has to fry. Moreover, it is hard to find anyone who believes that Burris will not ultimately be seated. Reid's mishandling of this issue leads me to conclude that now may be the time to revisit Reid's leadership of the Senate Democratic majority. While I'm sure that he is sincere in his belief that anyone appointed by the indicted Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, should not serve in the Senate, I'm also sure that his position is politically stupid and endangering a smooth transition to Democratic control of the government. Every second spent on this issue is one that can't be devoted to convincing the country that the Democrats are prepared to lead.

The Democrats should cut their losses and seat Burris. Perhaps they should cut their losses with Reid, too.

Michael K. Fauntroy is a professor, author, columnist, and commentator. He blogs at: MichaelFauntroy.com.

Comments

[swkidder]

Harry Reid's "Leadership" - I use the term loosely - in the case of "to seat or not to seat" is consistent with his performance for the last 8 years. Hand him a pink slip and get someone in the job who can do the job.

[Louis462]

From the page or two of comments that I read here it's unanimous: Dump Reid. I concur. His record of talking and boasting before he anticipates the outcome is staggering. Not a good trait for a world leader.

So long Harry!

[annieR]

Harry Reid is ineffective. He is not a "Change" Majority Leader. Now is the time for Rahm Emanuel to twist some arms and get Reid replaced by someone who can and will lead!

[hopeless277]

The stupidest move would be to keep Reid. I think we can count on the Democrats to make the stupidest move. Why change now?

[salh]

The Democratic leadersip in both houses of Congress, including chairmanships of major committees is a joke. The American voter has had the wool pulled over his eyes in the recent election.
Chairmans Dodd, Frank, Pelosi, and Reid are the chairmans that need to be replaced.

[mnyegele]

I'm fed up with Roland Burris. If Reid had seated Burris, then everyone would have engaged in a big brouhaha over Reid's seating of a tainted candidate. As it was, Burris got a chance to play King Lear and everybody attacks the Democrats for not seating him. Burris was simply a willing pawn in Blagoyevich's dirty political game. The Democrats desperately need to start policing their own - starting with Blago. (Who incidentally has a city named after him - in Bulgaria.)
The real problem with Reid is the "quaint" Senate rules which will wreck all of Obama's proposals. We need to streamline the Senate. Eliminate the 60 vote procedural rule and make it a simple majority, like the House. Get rid of the filibuster permanently. While bi-partisanship is a nice idea, let's be practical. The GOP is an assortment of hateful, embittered racists, ideologues, and religious fanatics. Their latest "gift" to the public is the sludge in Tennessee which threatens the water supply of Chattanooga. So if the GOP wants to "act its color" (to borrow a phrase from August Wilson), is Reid prepared to exercise the nuclear option? And can Reid get Obama's stimulus package ready by January 20 =- rather than giving us a bunch of lame excuses? If the answers to these questions is yes - then Reid is qualified to serve as majority leader. If the answer is no - then we need to replace Reid with some one who can.

[milo9]

Senator Reid must be unseated from Senate Majority Leader. The brouhaha over Burris is the least of his transgressions. .

[NUWAYNER]

Much ado about nothing...SHOULD WE RUN THE GOVERNMENT by ROBERTS RULES of ORDER? Does anyone here think that OBAMA gets to pick who runs the SENATE or the HOUSE? Does anyone here think that SENIORITY will be abandoned because YOU don't like the leaders of SENATE or the HOUSE? So who should REID be replaced with?...or are you all just going to wait to complain about that too AFTER THE FACT? I would bet a bunch of you felt that COULTER was slighted by NBC too!!!

[maxiemom]

Harry Reid won't give Burris his seat, yet he believes that Ted Stevens doesn't deserve any jail time after being convicted for 7 felonies. The excuse: he's a war hero. So what -- that was 60 years ago: a lifetime for a lot of people. Stevens was caught on tape by the FBI saying he could get jail time if he was caught; therefore, he should receive what he knew he was in for.

Reid has been an abysmal majority leader. He's spineless, weak, and clueless. He should lose his position as majority leader ASAP!!!!

[AlligatorShuz]

Harry Reid just showed the world just how incompentant he truly is and he should resign from his post in the senate because the Roland Burris issue just showed the world the true Harry Reid.

[JohnLloydScharf]

As a Republican, I am very pleased with Senator Reid's attempt to circumvent the Constitution - Amendment 17.

[Rogan]

You shouldn't be pleased when ANY politician screws up while working for the people. Look, it's not a sporting match. To cheer when "the other side" fumbles is shameful. When our leadership fails us, our lives are affected, regardless of the party affiliations of the leaders. Bad politics is nonpartisan. And our country is wounded too deeply, right now, for it to take much more of the kind of ideas and the kind of talk your comment represents.

[Nora1]

Good for you! Right out! TIME TO "OUST HARRY REID one way or the other!" SENATOR REID IS "UNAMERICAN" AND INCOMPETENT -- DOES NOT EVEN KNOW OR UNDERSTAND THE LAW OF THE LAND! LET'S ABIDE BY "innocent until proven guilty" as provided in our constitution.

Senator Reid should be prosecuted for trying to defame the personal and professional credetials and cast doubts on Senator Burris as well as Governor Blagojevich. Senator Reid was grossly out of loine and deserves to be tossed out of Congress on his heels and anyone who agreed with him deserves the same treatment!

[PresWatch]

According to a report on the Rachel Maddow show tonight, Harry Reid believes Ted Stevens, despite 7 felony convictions, should not be incarcerat­ed...becau­se Stevens served in WWII and because Stevens is from a different generation and didn't know his acts were crimes. (Apparently Reid belives octagenarians are a lawless bunch.)
Do we need further proof of Reid's disconnect from reality? He should be removed immediately before he becomes an even greater embarrassment.

[mjschatham]

Harry Reid...who said that Ted Stevens doesn't deserve jail time and has been punished enough?
That Harry Reid. The one who said Ted Stevens was too old to know what he was doing when he committed his 7 felonies? Even though Senator Stevens is caught on an FBI wiretap saying if he gets caught he and the oil companu will just have to maybe pay a fine and do a little jail time?

Harry Reid is morally vacant and an embarrasement to fair minded Democrats.

[Notapathetic]

Put it to a vote of the rank-and-file democrats, and Harry Reid would be gone so fast it would be a blur. It just amazes me that Democrats love to put leaders in power that reek of impotence. Obama is the ONLY Dem who is regularly in the public eye that understands and projects power. (Maybe Howard Dean, but hey...)

[PresWatch]

If you caught Rachel Maddow's show tonight, you know that Reid believes that Ted Stevens should not go to jail despite 7 felony conviction­s...becaus­e Stevens served in WWII and because he is from another generation and didn't know he was committing crimes. (Apparently octagenarians are a lawless bunch.) Do we need further proof of Reid's disconnect with reality? He should be removed from power immediately!