Red state leadership problems

By Dave Anderson

Ed Morrissay at Hot Air raises a good point about a bad piece of Democratic Senate organization --- the Democrats choose as their leadership Senators from at best swing states, at worst, lean Republican states, and this severely inverts incentives:

The Democratic caucus in the Senate should be led by Senators who are secure in their seat because their state is at least lean Dem if not Strong Dem. This allows for incentives to be aligned for a strong politics of contrast instead of the worst of both worlds where the Senate leadership is attempting to cover their own ass for re-election by attempting to appease conservative voters in their home state while negating the potential for a national Democratic mood by delivering on high priority Democratic policy items. The danger of this leadership selection style is the creation of a self-reinforcing and self-isolating positive feedback loop BUT the Dems are no where close to that point so the marginal danger of electing a solid Blue State Senator Senate Majority Leader is minimal while the payback in terms of both policy being passed, arms being twisted, and message/branding being reinforced are significant.

[Reid]...would be the second Democratic Senate Majority Leader in a row to get thrown out of office by his own constituents (Tom Daschle got a compulsory retirement from South Dakotans), and he can�t allow that to happen by default with a retirement. The embarrassment would permanently damage the Democratic agenda in the Senate and take what little luster remains of the Obama administration. The Democrats have to fight for Reid, which makes the stakes even higher for them-�and the embarrassment even worse if he loses.

Will Reid try to save himself by retreating on ObamaCare and cap-and-trade? Normally I�d guess yes, but I�m not sure that Reid will get the luxury of listening to his constituents. If he wants a big Democratic Party rescue, he�ll need the national interests pushing for both big agenda items, especially the unions and the hard-Left organizers. Without them, he�s sunk, big warchest or not. Also, he�s probably boxed into the Obama agenda thanks to his actions this year and the yoke he shares with Nancy Pelosi and Obama. It�s probably too late to salvage independents in Nevada already.