Senate Majority Leader may have felt that he could get along without Al Franken in the Senate, but the recent battles with the GOP on the budget underscore the importance of the Democrats picking up a 6oth seat.

From the Politico

Suddenly, Al Franken represents more than just an empty seat in the Senate chamber.

Franken could have been the critical 60th vote on the stalled $410 billion omnibus Thursday night. He’d be a likely yes on President Barack Obama’s ambitious budget. A Sen. Al Franken would be reliable Democratic vote on health care, tax increases on the rich, global warming legislation and virtually any other issue in which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid finds himself hunting for a couple Republican votes.

With the Minnesota Senate seat in limbo for the foreseeable future, it means Reid will have to turn back to diplomacy at a time when partisan tensions are hardening and Republicans are newly unified on Capitol Hill. Moderate Democrats who opposed the omnibus are also beginning to look wobbly on spending measures, magnifying the absence of what would be a reliably liberal vote from Franken.

And adding to Franken’s significance is the likelihood that moderate Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) could be tougher to win over as a swing vote, as he now seems certain to face a serious primary challenge from the right next year and thus less likely to vote with Democrats.

This was supposed to be the year when Reod was going to ram things through against a weakend GOP, but the Republicans have proven extremely resilient causing plenty of embarrasment for the Senate Majority Leader.

Share This

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

About the author