|  This was nowhere on my radar until I received an email (H/T Helen). We're all focused on the health care vote in the Senate, but after that, we need to think about protecting our 59 or so votes (NO - I do NOT count TLB) for issues going forward. One stalwart, INCREDIBLY DELICIOUSLY PROGRESSIVE Democratic vote belongs to Frank Lautenberg. Here is an overview of his voting record. And it's a long record, beginning in 1983, and continuing to today, with a two year hiatus earlier this decade.
Frank Lautenberg is 85, and will turn 86 in January. He's a class II Senator, meaning he's not up for re-election until 2014. Helen sent me an actuarial chart indicating that SSA says Frank only has a 55% chance of living to serve out his term. I immediately discounted the information because he's healthy for a man his age, I detest ageism, and I come from a family where people regularly live past 100. That's the personal side. On the political side, Bob Menedez is chair of the DSCC, and he might feel differently. The GOP hasn't won a Senate seat via election since 1972, which means most people in Jersey don't remember ever having a Republican senator representing them. Think Ted Kennedy, think Tim Johnson. Men who, in the face of serious incapacitation, held their Senate positions. The Senate has no minimum attendance rule. Once elected, you can serve out your term so long as you are alive. We all miss Uncle Teddy, and Johnson is back at work, having been re-elected as the Senior Senator from South Dakota. Think also of Robert Byrd. The image burned in my mind of him is not the tapes of him filibustering back in the 60's, but rather of the frail man in a wheelchair, sitting for hours in the sun, awaiting Vicki Kennedy's limo and the buses. Waving his flag. I have an unshakable belief that through sheer force of will, Senator Byrd will stay in the Senate until he can vote for health reform. I am unconvinced that it is "his issue" or even that he has strong feelings on the issue: I believe he will vote yes, if for no other reason than to channel Ted Kennedy. BUT... The current law in Jersey says that the Governor can appoint to an open Senate seat, and as of January that position is in Republican hands. Helen's question was: should Lautenberg step down and let Corzine make an appointment before he leaves office? Interesting... My opinion is after the jump, what's yours? |
