Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:50 pm
Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) deepened the fractures in the Republican Senate caucus by warning Republicans that Senate Majority Leader McConnell’s strategy of obstructing Obama’s Supreme Court nominee was foolish and would lead them to defeat.
Video:
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Transcript via Meet The Press:
SEN. HARRY REID:
But that’s the point. You can draw all these extracurricular activities that took place, but look at what’s happened. For example, let’s look at two very famous cases that came before the Senate. Bork. Bork didn’t get enough votes in committee. Neither did Thomas. But we brought them to the floor anyway. We met with them. We had hearings, and even though they didn’t get it, it could have been killed in the committee. We believed there should be a full vote. And that’s what we should do now.
I don’t know why McConnell has done this to his senators. He’s marching these men, women over a cliff. I don’t think they’re going to go. He said, “We’re not going to meet with them. We’re not going to hold hearings, we’re not going to have a vote.” But that façade is breaking as we speak. We now have about eight or nine senators who say, “Oh, yeah, I guess we will meet with him.” We had a senator the day before yesterday that said, “Let’s man up here. We are elected to take votes. We should be voting.” And there’s going to be a breakthrough here. I told Merrick Garland I want to meet with him–
….
SEN. HARRY REID:
No. It’s not been done in the past. And their excuses are lame. They’re going to wind up as a result of this foolishness losing Senate seats they shouldn’t have lost. I’m kind of glad they’re doing it, but it’s so foolish. He is– McConnell is leading his senators over the cliff. And I am telling everybody that’s watching this, the senators aren’t going to allow that.
Democratic Leader Reid can see that the Republican resistance to the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court is cracking so he smartly moved to divide Republicans by saying what most of them are already thinking.
McConnell’s strategy is foolish. Is is also incredibly desperate. Sen. McConnell was trying to make the election less about Donald Trump and focus it on electing Republicans who will not allow the next president to nominate a liberal Supreme Court justice., but Majority Leader McConnell’s strategy has already backfired as President Obama nominated a candidate that would be acceptable to most Senate Republicans.
The Republican support for McConnell’s position is eroding by the day. Republicans are already volunteering to meet with the nominee and demanding to be allowed to vote. Sen. Reid was right. Mitch McConnell is a fool who is leading Republicans down the path to defeat in 2016. Reid is dumping gasoline on the Senate Republican rebellion. Democrats can sense that Republicans are close to cracking, as vulnerable Republican incumbents are facing a choice between supporting Obama’s nominee, or standing with McConnell and losing their seats in November.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
