New Generation Of Leadership

Eight Senate Democrats Under Fire For Joining Republicans In Agreeing To Reopen The Federal Government!

Ronald 17 Comments

Seven Senate Democrats and Independent Angus King of Maine have come under fire for joining Republicans to pass the Budget bill to reopen the Federal Government, and end the Government Shutdown of 42 days.

Two of these eight Senators—Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois and New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen—are retiring at the end of 2026.

Durbin will be 82 at the end of his term, having served 30 years in the Senate, including times as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, and an additional 14 years in the House of Representatives.

Shaheen will be 80 shortly after leaving office after 18 years in the Senate, and an earlier six years as Governor of New Hampshire.

Three of these eight Senators—John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada—face election in 2028.

Fetterman is 56, earlier was Lieutenant Governor of his state, and is in his first term in the Senate, with a reputation of being an outlier, unpredictable and controversial in his utterances and actions.

Hassan is 67, in second term in the Senate, and former governor of her state.

Cortez Masto is 61, in her second term in the Senate, and former Attorney General of her state.

The remaining three Senators—Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Tim Kaine of Virginia, and Angus King of Maine—do not face voters again until 2030.

Rosen is 68, in her second term in the Senate, and served one term in the House of Representatives.

Kaine is 67, in his third term in the US Senate, after having served earlier as Governor and Lieutenant Governor of his state, and also, Mayor of Richmond. Most notably, he also was the Vice Presidential nominee for Hillary Clinton in the Presidential Election of 2016.

King is 81, in his third term in the Senate, and former governor of Maine. He is a political Independent, who caucuses with the Democrats.

This group of Senators is generally termed as “moderate”, and they are gaining a lot of criticism, for what is seen as “caving in” to the Republicans, with no certainty that any action will be taken regarding health care coverage for millions of Americans.

It is clear that a new generation of leadership is needed, as by the time the term ends for six of these eight Senators, they will be in their 70s and 80s, with the only exceptions being Fetterman and Cortez Masto.

A Sense That Pete Buttigieg Is On The Rise As A Moderate Alternative To Joe Biden

Ronald 20 Comments

The big winner of the Ohio Presidential debate this past week seems to many to be Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, who is seen as on the rise as a moderate alternative to Joe Biden.

Mayor Pete has been successful in raising large amounts of money in the third quarter, and his debate performance demonstrated his intelligence, his knowledge, and his perception of what Americans want, similar in his understanding of what Americans were looking for as when they voted for Barack Obama in 2008.

He is not promoting “pie in the sky”, massive changes in four years, as Bernie Sanders, and even Elizabeth Warren are doing, knowing full well that the nation is not going to elect a Democratic Congress large enough in majority to do the kinds of path breaking changes that Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson were able to bring about in 1935-1936 and 1965-1966, respectively.

As Pete has said, we first need to recover from the chaos and anarchy of Donald Trump, and to expect the nation to go to the far left, and support a required end of all private health insurance, is simply not reality.

This blogger takes the view that Americans should have a choice of keeping the health care coverage they have, or move toward government control through Medicare, but not force it on everyone over a four year period, and always allow private health insurance as an alternative, left up to the decisions of individual Americans and their families.

A long range goal is extend Medicare in stages, first to those between 50-65, then those in their 40s, then those in their 30s, and continuing on, but again with private insurance allowed if preferred.

And in foreign affairs, Mayor Pete would offer a revival of American respect and responsibility, veering away from the disastrous and reckless diplomacy of Donald Trump, and would restore American rationality and respect among our allies, and recognition that he would not be pushed around by authoritarians as has been occurring with Donald Trump.

A young, dynamic President is needed, and Mayor Pete fills the bill, following in the Democratic Party tradition of John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. A new generation of leadership is required.