Posted on 11/08/2004 3:00:29 PM PST by Dan from Michigan
Stabenow to become third-ranking Democrat in U.S. Senate
11/8/2004, 5:19 p.m. ET
By DEE-ANN DURBIN
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Senate Democrats are planning to elect Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow to a leadership post next week, Stabenow said Monday.
Stabenow said she has enough votes from her colleagues to become the caucus secretary, the third-ranking position among Senate Democrats. As secretary, Stabenow said she will help set the Democrats' agenda and be a more visible spokeswoman for the party.
"I've worked hard and played a leadership role on prescription drugs and health care and I appreciate being recognized for that," Stabenow told The Associated Press Monday.
In addition to health care issues, Stabenow said she will push for ways to protect manufacturers and create jobs.
Democrats have been shuffling leadership roles since Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., lost his re-election bid last week. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who was Daschle's deputy, is expected to be elected the Democrats' new leader on Nov. 16, and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., will be elected to the number two spot.
Stabenow said she considers Reid and Durbin close political allies. She decided to run for secretary last Friday, when Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., announced she was stepping down from the post after 10 years. Stabenow said she spent the weekend talking to fellow lawmakers and was assured support from "well over half" of the 45 Democrats who will serve in the Senate next year.
"Sen. Stabenow has earned the respect of her colleagues because they have seen firsthand her effective leadership, hard work and the ability to get the job done," Reid said in a statement released by Stabenow's office.
Stabenow, 54, of Lansing, Mich., was first elected to the Senate in 2000. She is facing her first re-election campaign in 2006, but said she didn't believe that was the reason Democrats wanted to raise her profile. Instead, she said colleagues mentioned her work as co-chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and her outspoken support for health care reform and access to cheaper prescription drugs, including reimported drugs from Canada.
Stabenow also is hoping to earn a spot on the Senate Finance Committee in the new Congress. She now serves on the Senate's banking, budget, agriculture and aging committees.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said last week he has no plans to ask for any changes to his committee assignments. Levin is the top-ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee and also serves on the intelligence, government affairs and small business committees.
Translation - The dems are scared to death of Mike Rogers and Candice Miller and want to make it look like Stabmenow is doing something besides just voting for leftist measures.
Considering the reports that Schumer, Dodd,a nd Corzine all want to leave the Senate and run for governor..it's more likely that nobody else wanted the job...
Schumer, Dodd,and Corzine leaving the Senate? They're dropping like flies.
How sweet it is.
The real translation is we have to have a woman in a leadership position and Hillary wants to run for Pres. and can't be seen as a leader of the Rats if she wants to pawn herself off as a "centrist".
I actually read a news article the day after the election that called her a centrist.
She voted to ban the .30-30. How centrist is that?
Yupp...the NJ gubernatorial race is next year..NY and CT both in 2006..all three want OUT of the Senate big time..GOP could pick up the NJ and CT seats...
Yeah but it was an cop killing/assault .30-.30.
i got to meet that waste of space a few years ago...
she came to the small town where i was living and was schmoozing in the local bakery.
I caused a small riot buy asking her how it felt to work for a lying adulterer who had caused the Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal.
Thought she was gonna choke on her cruller.
Kinda like third fiddle in Nero's Rome.
You are Correct.
Just trying to protect her in 2006
Kinda like First Mate on the Titanic
October 5, 2004
Thank you . . .
. . for contacting me to express your disappointment with my recent vote regarding the assault weapons ban. I appreciate you taking the time to share your views with me.
I share your support for Second Amendment rights. However, law enforcement agents across the state have made it clear to me that keeping guns such as uzis and semi-automatic machine guns off our streets will help make our communities safer. Organizations such as the Police Officers Association of Michigan, which represents over 10,000 law enforcement officers, have asked that the assault weapons ban be renewed to keep our streets safer. I respect the opinion of those who feel strongly in favor of assault weapons, however, I believe the judgment of trained experts from our law enforcement agencies provide a compelling argument to do what we can to protect our Second Amendment rights while keeping our neighborhoods and children safe from military-style weapons.
Again thank you for taking the time to contact me. Please feel free to do so whenever I may be of assistance to you or your family.
Sincerely,
Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator
Remember the Dim's rush to the exits in '94 when they found out that it wasn't much fun being in the minority? This is simply Phase II.
Time for Debbie to raid the senior citizens' homes and arrange a bus trip to Windsor for prescription drugs and a bit of Keno at Casino Windsor.
Maybe it's like the Hamas leaders...(and Dashele) you show up and you lose your job....... The real leaders are afraid of taking the positions for fear of losing their meal tickets..
To the Dems today this is a plus.....she hasn't done anything wrong.
Did some RINO defect that I missed?
Last I heard, the Senate was 55-44-1.
Where does she get 45 Dems from?
BTW, we need to target her for being moved out and replaced by a good Republican candidate next go around. She's the weakest, and the most vunerable, IMHO.
45 is probably the "independent" Jim Jeffords.
Sounds like a sitcom. A bad one.
As much as I like the idea of Schumer out of the Senate, you do realize that since New York has no term limits for its governor, he could become governor for life. Eeesh, I feel bad for all of our New Yorker friends.
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