Finally! Junior Democrats Want a Fight

By GottaLaff

Bravo! Kick some butt, "juniors":

Junior Senate Democrats are pushing their leaders to take a much more aggressive stance toward the Republican minority, arguing that their defeat of Sen. Jim Bunning’s (R-Ky.) unemployment benefits blockade this week proves a strategy of an active offense is far better than a passive defense.

Here is a list of those who have a-- What's it called again? Oh yeah-- spine:

Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and other members of the 2006 and 2008 classes... plus, Dick Durbin supports them. So does Harry Reid, and so do other newly spined Dems.

Who spiked their Geritol with courage juice? And hey, keep drinking:

The House and Senate Democratic caucuses have long been dominated by senior members of the party, but Whitehouse and his colleagues have the ear of Durbin, who was the leader of Thursday’s floor fight with Bunning.

A senior leadership aide praised Durbin’s work with the chamber’s backbenchers — not only in halting the filibuster, but in turning the controversy into a political liability for Republicans. [...]

Observers said the junior Senators were brought together by their relatively short terms in the Senate — and a shared sense that their party has allowed Republicans to bully the majority too often over the past three years.

A "sense" that they've been bullied? A "sense"? Gee, with powers of perception like that, the Dems are bound to stay in power.

And in another three years, they may discover that the GOP lies, too!

Sen. Jim Bunning holds up unemployment insurance and Cobra extensions on Senate floor: 'Tough s--t'

Fun starts about 422. I didn't get a chance to listen to all of it for the cussing, so let me know in comments if you can hear it. Bunning should get together with McCain and they could start a Cranky Old Farts Club.

Senate Democrats spent Thursday night hammering away at Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) for single-handedly holding up action in the upper chamber – but he blurted out a message to one of them on the Senate floor: “Tough s—t.”

In an unusual display in the normally sleepy chamber, Bunning – without the support of GOP leadership – has blocked efforts to quickly approve a series of extensions to measures that would otherwise expire Sunday, including unemployment insurance and the Cobra program that allows people who lose their health benefits to continue getting coverage.

And that has led to a furious exchange on the floor, with Democrats attacking the senator, who has refused to relent on his objection, in unusually harsh terms.

In a colloquy with Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Jeff Merkley, a freshman Democrat from Oregon, was pleading for Bunning to drop his objection, when the Kentucky Republican got fed up.

“Tough s—t,” Bunning said as he was seated in the back row, overheard by the floor staff and others in attendance.

A spokesman for Bunning did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Four More Dem Senators Join Push For Vote On Public Option

Not going to get too excited, but Greg is reporting some good news.

Yesterday four Dem Senators made a big splash by signing a letter pushing Dem leaders to pass the public option via reconciliation, suggesting the provision may have a faint pulse.

Now four more Dem Senators have added their names to the list, their spokespeople tell me, doubling the number of signatories to eight and perhaps upping the volume of the public option’s pulse ever so slightly.

The new signatories: Al Franken, Pat Leahy, John Kerry, and Sheldon Whitehouse.

They join yesterday’s signers: Michael Bennet, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jeff Merkley, and Sherrod Brown.

The letter asks Harry Reid to stage a full Senate vote on the public option under budget reconciliation rules. It argues that there’s a history of using the technique for passing significant health care legislation and that a majority of Americans has consistently supported a public option.

The letter — the work of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America — also bears the signatures of over a hundred House Dems.

Poll-itics: Senate edition

By GottaLaff

Taegan Goddard brings us more good news. First, Joisey:

According to a new Public Mind Poll, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) is way ahead of rival Dick Zimmer (R) in the New Jersey U.S. Senate race, 44% to 29%.

Key finding: "Even among self-identified Republican voters, Zimmer is not known: A majority (62%) say they don't have an opinion of him or have never heard of him at all."

Said pollster Peter Woolley: "If three quarters of the public know nothing about the Republican nominee for the United States Senate, then he's certainly got a long climb."

Next, a very competitve Oregon race:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- a group philosophically allied with Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) -- released a survey warning that Smith "is clearly quite vulnerable" in his re-election race against Jeff Merkley (D), according to the Oregonian.

Smith currently leads Merkley, 38% to 34%.

We need to have a solid majority. We're on our way.