Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004 | 11:12 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats today elected Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., to replace Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., as their leader.
Reid, 64, who was the No. 2 Senate Democrat as minority whip, is the first Senate party leader from Nevada. His new job will give the state an even more powerful advocate in the bitterly partisan Congress.
Reid was elected by the Senate's 44 Democrats during a closed-door meeting in the Capitol today. The vote count was not available.
Reid emerged from the meeting and told his often-repeated story of being the son of a hard-rock mine from Searchlight.
It was an important story to revisit because it is a story of American dreams, Reid said.
"If I can make it in America, anyone can," Reid said. "We want people to have the same opportunities that Harry Reid had."
His new role, which will thrust him into the national spotlight, won't be easy.
Republicans are savoring President Bush's re-election and plan to advance the president's agenda with what will be a bigger majority of 55, up from 51.
Democrats are debating what opposition to mount.
Reid today said Democrats will diligently work to "improve" legislation brought forward by Republican leaders who largely control the Senate agenda.
He would "rather dance than fight" with Republicans, he said, but vowed to fight to represent Democrats in looming battles over Social Security, education and judicial nominees.
"I'm not an untested vessel," Reid sai about his political muscle. "I think my record in the Senate stands for itself."
Reid said the Senate had a good record of approving all but 10 of Bush's federal judicial nominees.
He warned Republicans not to attempt to remove the Democrats' ability to filibuster on judges.
But heralding an early fight between the parties, Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., suggested today the Republicans may do just that. "Filibustering on federal judges has got to stop."
Reid called his job as senator "the best job in the world." He said Democrats had a vision for representing the nation on health care, education and pledged to fight to raise the minimum wage.
Reid said Daschle will be sorely missed and that Kerry, lauded several times with standing ovations at today's meeting, will have a high-profile role on issues of his choosing.
"Sen. Kerry is going to find his own role," Reid said. "Sen. Kerry is not a shrinking violet."
The mood in the meeting was "sort of upbeat," said Sen. James Jeffords, an Independent from Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats.
"If you aren't upbeat now, when will you be?" Jeffords said, smiling. "It's going to be a tough road" for Reid, "but he is a skilled parliamentarian. We all have great respect for him."
Reid addressed his pending battle over the budget of Yucca Mountain for the current fiscal year, left unfinished amid a pile of other spending bills.
He and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., are at a standstill over funding for the proposed nuclear waste repository.
Reid said he had a telephone call to return to Domenici today. He hopes to hammer out a compromise this week, but the issue could be settled by simply freezing funding at last fiscal year's level, considerably less than what the Energy Department wanted.
Lawmakers returned to Congress this week for a lame duck session with the spending bills as a top priority. Republicans and Democrats today huddled separately in their first caucus meetings since the election.
Before the new session starts Reid faces a number of housekeeping decisions, including possible staff changes, spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said.
Reid and Democratic leaders will have to fill committee vacancies left by retired or defeated colleagues.
The Democratic leaders also face broader questions about committees, where much of the work of the Senate is done. Republicans are likely to argue for a more representation on committees and bigger staff and budgets that reflect their larger majority.
Reid's leadership team will include Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., who today was elected to take over Reid's job as Democratic whip, the day-to-day floor manager.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is next chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which plots election strategies and raises money. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., will be Democratic caucus secretary.
The key to the successes Reid and Daschle achieved is largely attributable to their trust in each other and their complementing styles, observers have said.
Reid and Durbin also have long-standing alliances dating to 1982 when they were elected to the House, where Reid served two terms before moving to the Senate. The two already often work closely in floor debates. Reid today said he and Durbin were good complements. Reid is expected to share some of the media spotlight with the telegenic Durbin and other Democrats.
Durbin today said that he did not view Democratic senators as the lead check on Bush.
"The check on this president will be the people of the United States," Durbin said.
In a House caucus today, Republicans tapped Rep. Dennis Hastert of Illinois for another term as speaker, and Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas was re-elected majority leader.
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