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Tea Partiers Take Aim: 'Harry Reid Is Going To Get What's Due Him'
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
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No sooner had the deal been sealed for a health care reform vote in the Senate than did the tea partiers began to use it to target Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. In a fundraising email sent hours before the vote that cleared the way for a reform bill's passage in the Senate, organizers of the Tea Party Express series of cross-country lecture tours called on tea partiers everywhere to pay for an ad targeting Reid in Nevada.
"It is we the people who have been slaves to your failures and arrogance," the ad reads. "Our country deserves better."
Reid's locked in a tough reelection fight back home in Nevada, and tea partiers -- as well the national Republican party they're increasingly allying themselves with -- would like nothing better than to defeat the top Democrat in the Senate in the first election since the voters handed Reid a super-majority to work with.
"Harry Reid is going to get what's due him," the fundraising email reads. The tea partier group is hoping to raise $100,000 so it can run the spot "on every Nevada TV station morning, noon and night," according to the email.
Though the ad is most notable because it features what seems to be the scariest photo of Reid ever found by anyone, it's also indicative of the uphill climb Reid faces next year. Republicans, like the tea partiers, will devote national resources to knocking out the Democratic leader in the Senate. Poll numbers show Reid has problems in his home state, and knocking him off would send a strong message to Republicans rallying their base after a string of defeats since 2006.
Watch the tea partier ad:
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Steaming Pile
December 21, 2009 10:40 AM
Funny thing, lots of us want Reid gone too. So if we punt him, who gets the credit? Do we want him gone bad enough to give the teabaggers something to crow about?
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Steaming Pile
December 21, 2009 10:42 AM in reply to Steaming Pile
And if he's gone, but the next Democratic Senate Majority Leader gets an even bigger net majority to work with, will the teabaggers still claim victory?
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CranialRectalLoopback
December 21, 2009 11:11 AM in reply to Steaming Pile
Only the weak questions whether the moral action will empower the immoral. I don't care what the tea-baggers think. I think Reid should go. Sometimes you don't have to "play chess". Sometimes checkers is fine.
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The Commenter Formerly Known as NCSteve
December 21, 2009 11:37 AM in reply to Steaming Pile
Harry Reid gone + bigger net majority. Like the ideologues on the right, "progressives" are keep filling in the gap between what they want and what's attainable with magical thinking.
In a world where we get a bigger net majority, we would have to be stealing seats from deep red states, which in turn, would be a world where Reid necessarily wins reelection.
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wbgonne
December 21, 2009 12:33 PM in reply to The Commenter Formerly Known as NCSteve
The Dems will not have a greater majority in Congress than they do now. And they missed the opportunity to establish themselves as power players with the most ammunition they gonna get. Yet you think they were smart to cede the debate and cave on health care. Talk about magical thinking.
(And please don't ask me to explain what Obama and the EstDems could have done differently because I've already said it a million times, beginning months ago. They made their bed; now they will lie in it, kept warm by the "historic achievement" of No Health Insurance Company Left Behind. Watch out for frostbite.)
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CranialRectalLoopback
December 21, 2009 11:08 AM
Great! In this I stand with the Tea-baggers!
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agio
December 21, 2009 11:25 AM
Does he have an actual opponent yet, or just tge "generic Republican candidate"?
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tinmanic
December 21, 2009 11:28 AM
I would be happy to see Reid replaced with another Democratic majority leader next year.
Just curious, does anyone know who the leading candidates would be?
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The Commenter Formerly Known as NCSteve
December 21, 2009 11:40 AM in reply to tinmanic
Generally, the majority whip is next in line. That's how Harry got it. He was whip when Daschle lost to Thune. Of course, if "progressives" achieve their dream of an election cycle where Reid loses, it's likely Durbin would spend the next Congress or two or as Senate Minority Leader. That happened to Harry, too.
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Kevin Sutton
December 21, 2009 2:37 PM in reply to The Commenter Formerly Known as NCSteve
The Senate Majority leader's seat doesn't count for 8-10 seats, it counts for one. If each one of the potentially filibustering Democrats lost their elections this cycle, (Even including the ones not up for reelection) the Dem caucus would still have been the majority.
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mcjam
December 21, 2009 3:17 PM in reply to tinmanic
"The Senate Majority Whip for the 111th Congress is Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, who reports to the Senate Majority Leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majority_whip#111th_Congress
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Cleo
December 21, 2009 11:38 AM
They want to run this ad for $100,000? I think that might get them 2 or 3 ads in a local market, but it sure won't buy much more.
Look I know Reid is less than good for this party, but I'd much rather have him then some nutjob the teabaggers want. The teabaggers now think they have some clout, even with the failed attempt with NY-28, so if Reid is out they will take credit for it and think they have some real power. I don't think that's a good thing.
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Indie Pro
December 21, 2009 11:43 AM
I guess it'll be up to the voters of Nevada to decide.
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Mad As Hell
December 21, 2009 11:47 AM
Hmmm. Firedoglake and Tea Party Express both want Reid gone and are running ads to defeat him. More common cause?
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Mad As Hell
December 21, 2009 11:48 AM
Hmmm. Firedoglake and Tea Party Express both want Reid gone and are running ads to defeat him. More common cause?
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boycottfaux
December 21, 2009 12:08 PM in reply to Mad As Hell
Assume the ads are geared to the citizens of Nevada??
Otherwise it appears to be a waste of money . .
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Matt Jones
December 21, 2009 11:53 AM
Wow, the teabaggers don't like somebody with a (D) next to his name? Really? Will they issue a press release tomorrow announcing that water is wet?
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boycottfaux
December 21, 2009 12:05 PM
THREATS?
Let the People of Nevada decide . .
And Senator Ensign has done WHAT for the people of Nevada??
Maybe we should ask his Mistress and her husband or are they still off somewhere enjoying the Ensign Family $$$$$$ ??
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ericf
December 21, 2009 12:27 PM
Even if Reid should give someone else a shot as leader, it's likely to be either Reid or losing the seat. Given what history predicts for midterm elections, especially if the economy is still bad, we need every seat we can get. Imagine a larger Republican minority that's big enough to uphold filibusters without winning over Democrats, and Democrats being unable to pass anything without gaining some Republicans, which might be impossible.
Let's focus on passing everything we can now, because after the next election, we'll likely have gridlock.
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Kevin Sutton
December 21, 2009 2:41 PM in reply to ericf
Is that really the lesson to learn?
Part of why the HC debate is so depressing is that Democrats are apparently just assuming they can't use public pressure or political pressure to bring anyone to heel even on popular positions. The natural result of this thinking is total gridlock the instant the GOP gains a seat or two in the senate; at which point you have to do what you may as well have been doing now: Reform the senate or put the pressure on.
I can't help but think the DNC/Obama should have given Martin in Georgia some more help. Sure the odds were against him, but if you give up on every opportunity just because you likely won't get the win, you end up stacking the odds against yourself. That's a large part of what's happening here.
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geofu54
December 21, 2009 3:07 PM in reply to Kevin Sutton
I can't help but think the DNC/Obama should have given Martin in Georgia some more help.
I donated to his campaign both for the general and for the runoff. It was clear it was going to be an uphill battle (esp in the latter), but we knew Liebersuck would stub us in the back not too far in the future, and Martin would have given us some breathing room. Too bad, things have gone as we feared.
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sunnysteve
December 21, 2009 12:30 PM
Look, folks. It was under Reid's watch that we even got to 60 senators in the caucus. Then, he had to keep all of the cats in the herd, repeatedly. And he can't lose even one cat for future votes on equally critical issues, such as the climate bill. Many other leaders in the Senate have played a role in persuading Specter to join the caucus, in coddling Lieberman and in finally bringing in Nelson. But Reid has been the orchestra conductor, and he has taken almost all of the heat and bad publicity, since nobody can possibly have been entirely happy with the outcome necessary to get those 60 votes.
If you want happy and clear outcomes, give up political blogs and watch reruns of The Brady Bunch.
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barryashe
December 21, 2009 12:52 PM
1. I notice that not a single one of his 59 caucus members has ever said a bad word about Senator Reid.
2. Nor has the White House said one word against him nor the House leaders.
3. He seems to me to have done a yeoman job in getting this HCR legislation as far along as it is now. He was accused by many on our side along with Baucus, Bayh, Carper, Conrad, and others as being real or potential obstructionists, but in the end only Nelson, Lieberman, Lincoln, and maybe Landrieu were really difficult to corral, and even they are there with us at the end of the day.
4. The Teabaggers and their ilk hate him with a passion and are out to get him, which sounds like a very strong endorsement of his re-election for all progressives. A man is known by the enemies he makes.
Considering all of the above, I personally extend my sincere appreciation to all 60 members of the Democratic Caucus for coming together to move this landmark legislation along, even Lieberman. I especially congratulate Senator Reid for his persistent, effective leadership in the face of unanimous opposition from all Republicans in the Senate.
I hope he wins re-election by a landslide - he deserves it!
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Rakkasan
December 21, 2009 12:55 PM
What the democrats need to do is set up a series of votes that would be difficult for the republicans to not vote for. Of course when they do it will give the democrat challengers some ammunition against them. From here on out it's a sucker game and the republicans are the suckers.
BTW, can we stop calling them Tea Partiers and call them by their original name - Teabaggers?
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sunnysteve
December 21, 2009 1:26 PM in reply to Rakkasan
Well, just recently, they were unanimous in opposing an extension of unemployment benefits and in filibustering appropriations for the troops in Afghanistan, including a pay raise for all military personnel. And almost all of them voted to side with contractors against their employees who seek redress for gang rape by their fellow workers. All of their male members of the finance committee voted to remove obstetric and prenatal care from mandated coverage. Sounds like they are pretty good a making their own sucker issues, we just have to get the press to cover them.
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Jackster
December 21, 2009 1:18 PM
He'll get his due alright, Re-elected, for putting through the strongest HCR for the betterment of millions of Americans, many of them teabaggers. Fight hyperbole with fact, hopefully the swing voter can understand the difference.
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Jackster
December 21, 2009 1:29 PM in reply to Jackster
I should say the strongest, possible, considering the circumstances and considering this is the first time the Senate has passed any form of comprehensive HCR EVER. Just hope they can fix some of the bugs in conference.
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