Harry Reid

WASHINGTON—Senator Chuck Schumer's status as Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee became no clearer following a closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting today.

Asked about whether Schumer would be staying on in the campaign role, his potential successor, New Jersey Senator Robert Mendendez said only, "Ask Harry Reid," before hurrying away.  read more »

WASHINGTON – When it comes to his future at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the normally talkative Chuck Schumer is anything but.  read more »

Since John McCain sewed up the Republican nomination, it's been obvious that Joe Lieberman - his constant campaign traveling companion and one of his closest personal friends and political allies - would address the G.O.P. convention. What wasn't so obvious was which Joe would show up.

The answer hinged on the outcome of McCain's vice-presidential search. Probably from the beginning, McCain was inclined to tap Lieberman - and as the end of the process approached, it became clear that that's where his heart was.

If McCain had followed through on that instinct, then Lieberman would have shown up in St. Paul ready to spew red meat.  read more »

The Democrats are supposed to own the issue of energy, if only because they've mastered the art of tarring Republicans as the party of Big Oil. It's a caricature that the G.O.P., with its mocking scorn for conservation, addiction to corporate tax cuts and unkickable habit of nominating oil men for national office, has done nothing to refute.

Of course, the Democrats are also (supposedly) the masters of the blown political save, experts at devising new and ever more elaborate means of snatching electoral defeat from the jaws of victory. So it's only fitting that now, just as energy assumes unprecedented prominence in a presidential campaign, they've gone and adopted a maddeningly incomprehensible message that threatens to forfeit the powerful emotional advantage they've enjoyed on the subject for decades.  read more »

Mayor and national policy activist Michael Bloomberg will participate at the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas, organized by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

At the August 19 event, Bloomberg will deliver a keynote speech around 3 p.m., and former President Bill Clinton will deliver closing remarks about two hours later.

And, according to his office, the mayor will make a stop on the way to the event in order to attend a re-election fund-raiser for Republican congressman Mark Kirk, who helped push Bloomberg’s anti-illegal gun message in Congress.

Ordinarily, the “most endangered incumbent” label applies to an office holder who is standing for reelection. In 2008, however, the most endangered member of the U.S. Senate’s Democratic Caucus won’t be on any ballots. It’s Joe Lieberman.

Lieberman just won his fourth six-year term in 2006, but no member of the Senate majority – with the possible exception of Mary Landrieu, the lone Democratic senator facing a tricky reelection fight this year – stands to lose more this November than Connecticut’s junior senator.

Since the ’06 elections, Lieberman’s supposed role as the Senate’s ultimate power broker has been touted endlessly. Rejected by the party that once nominated him for vice president in the August ’06 primary, he nonetheless won reelection in the fall as a self-described “independent Democrat,” promising to caucus with Democrats and to side with them for organizing purposes in the Senate.  read more »

It seems odd that Harry Reid, whose generally dispassionate manner probably strikes the casual listener as plain and boring, now enjoys a reputation as a hothead.

Of course, it’s not the way he talks, but the words that occasionally slip from his mouth that have fed the right’s bid to caricature him as an unstable fringe figure: the erratic, America-hating lefty who called President Bush a loser and a liar and who said the war in Iraq is lost.  read more »

The Millennium UN Plaza Hotel in midtown, Senate Democratic leaders made a public plea for President Bush not to veto a $124 billion war spending measure that would order troops to begin leaving Iraq by October.

"We call on the president to look into his heart, give it one more thought and sign the bill that the American people want," Chuck Schumer said.

The inevitability of the veto made the Democratic overture little more than a publicity exercise designed to convey the message that they had done all they could.

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid indicated that there was a point to it all, and that there was a possibility of reaching some kind of post-veto accord.

"If you look at his statements over the last few days, I think they have been promising," Reid said, citing what he called “buzz words” by the administration. "The president's changed his tune."

He added, "We understand that legislation is the art of compromise."

To say that Harry Reid’s pronouncement that the war in Iraq is “lost” stirred a media frenzy last week is an understatement.  read more »

Closure on Cloture   To the Editor:    read more »

Closure on Cloture   To the Editor:    read more »

Chuck Todd thinks John McCain will save the GOP.

Whose fault is it that the Democrats didn't win the state Senate?

Kos wants to know what readers think about the leadership job being done by Howard Dean, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Rahm Emanuel.

Greg Sargent doesn't like the prevailing Joe Lieberman narrative.

An anonymous blogger wants to keep track of Eliot Spitzer's Day One plans for changing Albany.

Wonkster explains why the city likes charter schools, but isn't thrilled about the Julia Richman Educational Complex.

The AP has more on our item about Emily Pataki and the bar exam, rightly noting that both John F. Kennedy Jr. and Dennis Vacco failed on their first attempts too.

Welcome to Rich Azzopardi, the Senate Democrats' new press person.

And pictured above is Newsday'sDan Janison with a bottle of ale.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

The Democratic Senate leadership is going to be announced in a matter of minutes, and it's likely to be another good day for Chuck Schumer. Schumer told me last week that he would "likely" accept Harry Reid's request that he stay on as chair of the committee to elect Senate Democrats through 2008. --Jason Horowitz UPDATE: It's done. Schumer is now the Vice-Chair of the Democratic Conference -- the third-highest ranking Democrat in the U.S. Senate -- and still head of the DSCC.

Here's part of his statement:

"As a member of the new Democratic leadership, I will have a voice in our policy decisions, our legislative priorities, and the direction of our party. We must make sure the middle class has a strong voice in Washington and there are some very concrete things we can get done for them right away, like restoring the $4,000 college tuition tax credit, and allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices."

Schumer was also promoted to Chair of the Joint House-Senate Economic Committee (JEC).

Senator Reid just now said a smart thing on the floor of the Senate: the way out of the Iraq mess involves talking to Syria. "Even talking to Syria." The grieving David Grossman told Israel the same thing last week. And Americans for Peace Now reports that the intelligence head of the Israel Defense Forces has made the same recommendation to the Israeli Prime Minister. New Defsec Robert Gates is sure to Amen these statements.

The world is changing! The debacles in Iraq and Lebanon have left all roads going in one direction, Damascus.

That's what Senator and New King of the World Chuck Schumer told me earlier today, seeming to confirm an anonymously sourced reportthat he's going to stay on, at Harry Reid's request, for another term as head of the DSCC. --Jason Horowitz

Sen . George Allen will be making a statement at 3pm at the Carlyle House in Alexandria, according to a staffer in Allen's campaign. The campaign will not discuss the subject of his remarks, but the staffer added "I assume that his family will be with him."

And, coincidentally, Chuck Schumer will be rallying with Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin for the "dawning of a new Democratic Majority in the United States Senate" half an hour later.

--Jason Horowitz

When Harry Reid first tapped Chuck Schumer to lead the DSCC back in 2005, Republicans were still riding a wave of popularity. But an extreme reversal in the political climate, coupled with Schumer's success in recruiting good candidates, has made for much more lofty ambitions. Gains are now a given. The question is simply whether the pick-up will be three seats -- probably the minimum required for this year to be judged a success -- or something between that and six, the number the Democrats need to attain a majority.

Back in June, Schumer told me that the barometer had already changed significantly.

"When I took it in 05 I said to Harry, a bad year we'll lose three, a moderate year we'll stay even and in a good year we'll pick up two. Now that's changed. A bad year now will be staying even. A moderate year pick up one or two and a good year we pick up three or more."

Here's what DSCC spokesman Phil Singer told me today:

"We are a lot closer than anybody ever thought we would be but we are not there yet, and we are going to keep on working as hard as we possibly can until Election Day. Nobody is popping any champagne yet."

And here, for the hell of it, is the assessment of always-enthusiastic Democratic fund-raiser and TV talking head Robert Zimmerman:

"If the Democrats pick up four, Schumer's going to get pats on the back. Five, he gets a parade. If it's all six -- they're going to build him a statue."

-- Jason Horowitz

Sometime before the Fourth of July, the Senate will vote on a constitutional amendment to prohibit t  read more »

It's Good Friday, and we're still in holiday mode. So it seemed like a good time for a blog stroll, since so little else is happening out there.

Gawker has it completely unconfirmed that Bill and Hillary Clinton will be feted by Ron Burkle.

Media Bistro's Fishbowl NY blog points us to a Rob Corddry interview in the Onion where he discusses the Daily Show's nightly guests.

Sometimes now we have to offer disclaimers, where we didn't have to before. We have to actually say, "Look, I think you're really funny, but none of your jokes are going to make it on the air. So just answer my questions. Seriously."

And Daily Kos has an interesting take on a new Republican ad attacking Harry Reid.  read more »

—Nicole Brydson

"We are entirely capable of bungling this opportunity to regain control of the House and Senate and the trust of the American people," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said to scattered applause. "It will take some doing, but we're in this for the long and pointless haul" ...The Onion reports.

"Some rising stars with leadership potential like [Sen. Barack] Obama (D-IL) and [New York State Attorney General Eliot] Spitzer have emerged, but don't worry: We've still got some infight left in us," Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said. "Over the last decade, we've found a reliably losing formula, and we're sticking with it."

In declining order of importance:

-The web is abuzz with rumors that Rehnquist will retire momentarily.

-Harry Reid is unenthusiastic about Clinton '08:

"It is a wide-open field," Reid said. "The person who is leading at this stage is Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton, of course, has lots of money. She comes from a state with lots of people in it, but she still has a few ties to Arkansas. I think she is the person to beat, but that doesn't necessarily mean she is the best candidate." (via Slant Point)  read more »

-Tom Golisano"thinks every day of the week" about running for governor, maybe as a Republican; but he's not sure if the Republicans would have him.

-And Andrew Cuomo's fund-raiser at the Regency last night was packed, according to one person who was there. The candidate for state Attorney General picked up more preposterously early endorsements, these from Jose Rivera of the Bronx and Margarita Lopez of Manhattan.