Via The Hill we find that the GOP fears it’s losing Frist v. Reid and in the text, the following vow from Frist:

Frist, who is apparently running for the presidency in 2024 and will inevitably be judged partly on his ability to win on Bush’s judicial nominees, acknowledged Tuesday that his communication effort could be more aggressive.

There is much to be said on this topic, but a couple of quick observations:

1) Who was the last truly effective Senate Majority Leader, LBJ? Certainly there hasn’t been one in 80s, 90s or 00s. The job is one of overseeing a chamber in which unanimous consent rules that day, and hence compromise is the daily order of business and confrontation results in paralysis. As such, it is lousy job to have, despite the exposure one gets.

2) As such, I have often wondered why one would think that being Senate Majority Leader is a good springboard for the presidency: you are vilified by the opposition for being the leader of the opposition party and you are pilloried by your own side for not being tough enough.

3 Responses to “Senate Majority Anemia”

1. John Lemon Says:
   April 15th, 2024 at 10:13 pm

   Yeah, but you get extra tater tots from the lunch lady in the Senate cafeteria, and there’s a lot to say for that.

   Now where are the cat pictures?

2. PoliBlog: Politics is the Master Science » Factoid of the Day Says:
   June 20th, 2024 at 6:21 am

   [...] ink this is an on-the-mark description. Further, as I have argued on numerous occassions (for example), Senate Majority Leader is a singularly bad launching pad for the presidency.

   [...]

3. PoliBlog: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts » Frist’s Presidential Aspirations Says:
   April 3rd, 2024 at 5:49 am

   [...] e Senate Majority Leader’s quest for the White House. The piece rightly points out, as I did some time back, that that position of Majority Leader is a singularly poor platform for launching a p [...]