Durbin: Obama 'dream come true'

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/05/durbin_obama_dream_come_true.html#more

Durbin: Obama 'dream come true'
See what problem keeps the president "rolling around at night.''
Posted May 5, 2009 5:45 PM
The Swamp

by Rebecca Cole


Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) scored a political trifecta this year: His close friend Barack Obama is in the White House, he is a member of the Democratic leadership and the Obama administration's senior staff is comprised of old friends from Illinois.



"It's a political dream come true," Durbin today told a group of students from the Washington Center for Politics and Journalism.

Calling the challenges facing Obama "historic," Durbin said Obama "inherited a mess" but is up to the task.

"Look, we've had four headline issues and we've won them all," Durbin said, referring to the narrow passage of several bills, including billions in stimulus funding and Obama's $3.55-trillion budget. "But some were by the skin of their teeth."

In a wide-ranging discussion, Durbin expressed his views on several hot topics of the day, including Obama's impending appointment to replace Supreme Court Justice David Souter, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's defection to the Democratic camp -- and he talked about what keeps Obama up at night.

snip//

On Specter's move to the Democratic side of the aisle:

So far, Durbin said, the jury still is out on the question of whether Specter can be counted on as a reliable vote or not. But, Durbin said, Specter "has to be supportive enough of Democratic issues to convince primary voters" in his home state.

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I think that look on Durbin's face says it all. ;)

I always seem to be in agreement with Durbin and Boxer, and I trust their judgment.

He looks like a proud papa, doesn't he?

It was once just a dream. I still have to pinch myself sometimes!

:)

Paul Simon, Dick Durbin, and Barack Obama. :loveya:

a thousand words.

"So far, Durbin said, the jury still is out on the question of whether Specter can be counted on as a reliable vote or not. But, Durbin said, Specter "has to be supportive enough of Democratic issues to convince primary voters" in his home state.

And even if Al Franken wins his fight for a Minnesota Senate seat and the Democrats have a filibuster-proof majority, Durbin said it is still tough to persuade the entire caucus to vote together.

"Once you hit the magic number of 60 every single Democrat becomes the deciding vote," Durbin said. "And they know it."

We're finding more and more that it's unanimous that Specter is being watched very carefully by the Dems.

From what I know about Durbin, he is a senator who relishes attention. So I would have thought that he would have felt kind of threatened when he was joined by a new junior senator who was an instant celebrity. It's pretty common for two home-state senators from the same party not to get along, in part because they compete for attention and financial support within the state. But that's never been the case with Obama and Durbin...I guess they were close before Obama became a senator, and they have always gotten along. I think Durbin was one of the first ones to push Obama to run for president.