If we manage to hold the senate in 2014, we NEED a new senate leader

[SoCalDem]

and that person needs to be someone who will drive a stake through the heart of the filibuster "rule"...once and for all..

If republicans take over the senate, I look for them to do it because they probably fear blow-back over their long-term intransigence..

The only way I see it remaining is if Reid manages to stay in charge.

Barbara Boxer would be a good choice

[helveticas]

1. We lead a new leader, win or lose

Harry should retire.

[CanonRay]

2. Actually, I wish Harry the Wimp would step down right now.

Today, please. I put this mess squarely on his lap.

[woo me with science]

3. Changing people here and there won't help.

It is the SYSTEM that is corrupted. The way our elections and government are structured now, it is virtually impossible for anyone to get elected without being in the back pocket of banks and corporations.

This is not about personalities or whims of elected officials. If we want real change, we have to stop merely hoping that a different person will do things differently and get serious about demanding reform of the system, now, before the next election.

[bigtree]

4. love the faith in republicans you have here

There they are, doing everything they can do to block filibuster changes; even flaunting their abuse as we speak; and, here you are putting their integrity ahead of the man who brought up the idea of filibuster reform (at least in this term) and organized as many Senators as he was able for the changes he managed so far.

He has said he'll revisit the issue if republicans continue their abuses, and he indicated yesterday that he's doing just that. That's important, because the issue isn't about moving Reid to organize a vote for the 'talking filibuster' and other more substantive changes in the rule; it's a matter of moving that handful of Democrats who kept him from reaching even the 51 votes he needed to move the Merkley-Udall proposal forward.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) told reporters that the Merkley-Udall “full talking filibuster” approach likely won’t happen because it “does not have 51 votes.” But he said a more modest package that Reid has put forth to McConnell, aimed at shifting the burden from a governing majority to an obstructing minority, would pass . . .

Broadside, uninformed/misinformed criticism of our Democratic leader is something I expect from the opposition party. It's even more ridiculous and curious when coupled with the expectation that republicans will ever do ANYTHING which advantages our Democratic agenda.