One thing that Senate Majority Leader Bill
Frist has learned in his time in leadership is that if
nothing else, Democrats are essentially legislative bullies. Always
have been, always will be.
Yesterday’s performance on the Senate floor was yet another
example, as Sen. Russ Feingold, he of the
McCain/Feingold campaign finance reform disaster, attempted to have
the Senate take up censure legislation against President Bush for
the overseas terrorism monitoring program.
And Frist let him.
Much to the amazement of his fellow Republicans, Frist called
the Democrats on their bluff and they folded. In fact, Sen.
Harry Reid looked downright ill when Frist came
forward and essentially dared his Democrat counterpart to get a
vote through.
Reid, who has been talking a good game the last few days, gulped
and folded like so many of the tourists his home state makes its
billions off of.
According to Senate sources, Frist intends to let the Democrats
put just about any kind of censure legislation they want up for a
vote, knowing that Democrats have neither the votes nor the nerve
to follow through, particularly in an election year. And it’s
already causing Reid some heartburn.
“We get the impression that the minority leader just thought he
could coast through this session,” says a Democratic staffer for a
far-left Senator. “We want to be aggressive on this
administration’s lies, and Reid wants us to go away, but if we have
to make him a little uncomfortable to make the Republicans even
more uncomfortable, so be it.”
According to Democrat sources, Reid will attempt to bring his
caucus to some kind of order as early as today, but is not hopeful
about his chances. He has several fellow Democrats working to
undercut his leadership: Sens. Dick Durbin,
Christopher Dodd and Feingold, to name just three.
Dodd has eyes on the leadership post down the road, Feingold has
possible presidential credentials to burnish with the far left.
But none of them could get their colleagues to buy into a
censure vote. Throughout the day as Feingold attempted to garner
support, his Democrat colleagues went before the press and just
shook their heads when asked about the censure vote.
Frist, for his part, is more than willing to let the Democrats
devour their own, and is emboldened. Speaking about the Monday
Democrat debacle, one Frist associate said, “[Frist] pushed them to
the mat today, and they blinked. He dared them to vote and Democrat
Leader Harry Reid looked like he was going to be sick as he said
no. Frist thinks it’s time to call Democrats on their antics, and
so he’s going to continue to dare Democrats to vote on censuring
the President. When it comes to intercepting phone calls from Tora
Bora to Topeka, Frist thinks Senate Democrats have made a huge
blunder, and he will lead the charge to make Democrats put up or
shut up on censure.”
