That we can primary his withered ass and replace him with a genuine progressive?

And, should he lose, who will replace him as Majority Leader?

why not have a real Democrat run for his seat in a primary? Who cares what the Republicans do.

Maybe Reid will finally reveal his Manchurian nature. He'll switch parties, for expediency's sake, and become leader of the Republican caucus. He might even lead the other stealth Thugs to publicly switch parties.

I'm tired of that incompetent, appeasing, magic-underpants-wearing, the-Senate-is-a-country-club-mentality conservative having a "D" behind his name. For the sake of truth in advertising, at the very least he should include the "ino".

Seriously, what will his excuse be now that he has the magical "60th" vote?

OK, so there's no good Republican opponent, but what about the chances of getting a decent progressive Democrat to toss this spineless, perpetually-compromising bozo out on his ear?

beg for actual competition in the primary. Politicians in Washington may be all for preserving seats for their friends, but the people are the ones the politicians are elected to represent. They should get some say in the matter. Run an actual liberal against Reid, and let the people decide.

...that Nevadans aren't impressed by Reid's Majority Leader status! Many Democrats throughout the country aren't impressed either. We need a Leader who once Al Franken is seated will insist on cloture votes, even if a few must abandon the party on the merits, and until then make the GOP actually filibuster.

Maybe Reid will finally reveal his Manchurian nature. He'll switch parties, for expediency's sake, and become leader of the Republican caucus.

That seems unlikely — the reason Reid is in so much trouble is that he's particularly unpopular with Republicans, who used to be (in formerly red-state Nevada) the voters who mattered.

In other words, Reid has always been a Republican's Democrat. It's the only way he could ever have gotten elected in the first place.

As his home state Republicans abandon him, and his home state itself turns Democratic, Reid has to either finagle his way into favor in the new regime or face involuntary retirement. Becoming a Republican now would be pointless — the time to do that was 20 years ago, or never.

Whether Reid succeeds remains to be seen, but a dearth of serious Republican alternatives does bode well for his chances.

If Reid were to somehow lose his seat in 2010, the Democrats with a smaller margin in the Senate and a stronger leader I think would still be far more formidable in progressing their (alleged) agenda. The best of all worlds would be to have Reid lose his seat and pick up a true liberal progressive in another seat elsewhere. However the backdoor deal with Specter where the Democrats had an opportunity in Pennsylvania to a elect a true liberal progressive in 2010 but instead they have decided to accept the former Republican does not make me very optimistic about such prospects.

The Obama attacks on capitolism and the economic damage done to Las Vegas from his recent comments have helped. Ensign almost had Reids seat a few years back. Penn Gillette and the libertarians are quite active there a good opportunity for them or someone new. The majority of the country wants Reid gone the sooner the better. Dodd mess in Ct,Byrd's 91 and ill,Ted Kennedy with cancer and Weld and Romney popular there,and now Reid smells like GOP gains in 2010.

I'd much rather see a Democrat challenge him and take over. Preferably one with some balls to stand up to the Rethuglicans.

Makes me wish I lived in Nevada again.

The system is broken and the lack of truly competetive primaries is one the biggest weaknesses. Both parties have gamed the system to give imcubents enornous advantages denying new voices (both on the left and the right) a chance to be heard.

Neither is Pelosi.

Democrats really need some good leadership in the key congressional positions. These two are pretty bad and have been for some time.

What are the odds...

That we can primary his withered ass and replace him with a genuine progressive?

Nevada Democrats aren't exactly like their fellow party members in Austin or San Francisco or Massachusetts. Democrats in Nevada seem poised to take over the state's politics in a big way but it's not going to lead to Ted Kennedy or Barbara Lee, at least without a lot of coaxing.

I'm not saying it's impossible. It genuinely seems as though Reid is on the knife's edge right now. But Senatorial clout should never be underestimated — most people, and perhaps Nevadans as much as any, will go with the devil they know (and who brings in the pork) over the devil they don't.

To beat Reid, someone will need to run an aggressive, energetic campaign with enough funds to support a serious outreach to an essentially conservative electorate.

And, should he lose, who will replace him as Majority Leader?

Whomever the Democrats elect, of course! Given the logic (however tenuous) behind their choice of Reid, who has been kind of a Holy Roman Emperor of the Senate, we can assume that it would be a conservative, weak in their home state, who could bring along the likes of Lieberman, McCain, Gramm, Snowe, and so on when the chips are down.

So who's a precarious Blue Dog with lots of friends across the aisle? Specter, maybe?

Of course their constituents might have something to say about it, and if they actually bother to say it, who knows what might happen?

...Ted Kennedy with cancer and Weld and Romney popular there...

Anyone who thinks that Ted Kennedy dying will lead to Weld, Romney, or any Republican being elected to the Senate from Massachusetts has, erm, how shall we say this, a rich and varied field of things they have yet to learn in life.

And has perhaps been listening to too much AM radio.

There is no more important objective to the progressive cause than establishing complete independence from the craven opportunists that populate the Democratic Party. That’s not to say that Democrats are the same as Republicans – they aren’t – but the reason for the very existence of greasy corporate whores like Harry Reid is to make sure that progressives never – NEVER – threaten to take control of the party from the banking industry, insurance companies, and their allies. We’ve already seen what utter bullshit this “magic number” of 60 Democratic senators is, as well as the whole disgusting hustle of “more and better Democrats.” There is exactly one thing scumbags like Harry Reid understand: stark, naked fear. If we are ever to wrest control of the Democratic Party and the political agenda as a whole from the DLC and the rest of the Corporate Cocksucker brigade, we must make them fear us more than they fear the Republican Party.

That starts with proudly bringing about, and taking credit for, the political extermination of Harry Reid, even if – indeed, especially if – it involves putting a Republican in his place.