Nominating Max Baucus to be the next Ambassador to China is a brilliant move on several levels, although not all of them will he happy for progressives. Baucus has already announced that he will not seek reelection, so taking him out of the Senate will allow Democratic Governor Steve Bullock to select his replacement. That is likely to be to Lieutenant Governor John Walsh, who was already seeking the seat. He will gain the advantage of incumbency, and also get a seniority advantage over other senators who are elected next year.
Moving Baucus out of the Senate will open up the chairmanship of the powerful Finance Committee, which will probably pass over Sen. Jay Rockefeller (who is also retiring) and fall to Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon. Progressives will have mixed feelings about that, as Wyden is definitely an improvement over Baucus but has also played a bit of footsie with House Republican Budget chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. In order to take over the Finance Committee, Wyden would have to pass his gavel of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee to Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.* This could be a major boost to Landrieu’s reelection prospects, but also a major blow to any thought that the Democrats in the Senate might do anything about climate change that would make energy-producing states uncomfortable.
The last bit of this puzzle isn’t discussed in the cited article, but the retirement of Baucus will also open up a slot on the Finance Committee. Slots on the Finance Committee are highly coveted and are not given out to freshmen, but they can help a vulnerable senator’s prospects of reelection. This is primarily because members of the Finance Committee are lavished with campaign contributions from powerful interests who want to control tax policy. The Democrats can therefore use the slot to give one of their more vulnerable members a slight advantage in next year’s midterms.
This is how Washington works, unfortunately, but you can play game well or poorly. For progressives, getting Baucus out of the Senate and away from the Finance Committee is a good thing. Moving Wyden from Energy & Natural Resources* to Finance is not a good thing. Having Landrieu take over Energy & Natural Resources* is not a good thing. Having Landrieu reelected is a good thing.
It’s complicated.
*[Correction: the original article incorrectly called the Energy & Natural Resources Committee the Energy & Commerce Committee. The Energy and Commerce Committee is in the House of Representatives.]
I will defnitely not even consider buying your blinds. You completely against the spirit and purpose of this site by placing your fat commercial fanny right in the middle of things. Or have you paid BooMan fat bucks for the space? No.
????? What blinds?
Just so you know that Quentin isn’t losing his mind, there was a spam posting earlier about blinds. It has been mega-trolled into the abyss.
Ah! Thank You. I’m sure I would have agreed with Quentin.
Thanks for letting us know. i thought Quentin was losing it from too much Xmas marketing
If Rockefeller doesn’t move over to Finance, Landrieu doesn’t get Energy & Commerce until after 2014 – Rockefeller chairs that committee today. So in that particular case, the Baucus departure doesn’t change anything at E&C.
Sorry for the confusion. I used to the House name for the Energy Committee by mistake. Long drive from Pittsburgh fried my brain a little, I guess.
Anyway, Rockefeller chairs the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, but not the Energy & Natural Resources Committee. He has the seniority to take over the Finance Committee but people don’t expect him to exercise that authority.
But what message does it send to the Chinese government? Or is that irrelevant in the big government chess boards?
Japan gets Caroline Kennedy and China get Max Baucus. Sometimes symbolism is important. Particularly when the substance is unlikely to vary by much. Max would be better suited to Australia. And send a bigger name to China.
So does this mean that Ron Wyden moves into chair of the Senate Finance Committee? If Wyden wants to stay with the environment, and Schumer wants to stay chair of Rules, and Stabenow wants to stay chair of Agriculture, Maria Cantwell is the next in line.
My guess is that Wyden moves to Finance. And Landrieu ensconces the fossil fuel industry in Energy and Environment.
Wyden was kinda flaky on health care reform. Sorta wanted to end employer insurance and put everyone on a individual mandate system IIRC.
I hate every senator mentioned in this article for various reasons. How about making Schumer, Menéndez, Boxer and Feinstein co-ambassadors to Israel so we can elect some real democrats in their blue states?
Landrieu could be ambassador to Saudi Arabia but I guess she’s marginally better than the republican who would surely replace her. I also hate Wyden but can’t think of a good country to send him to. Is Siberia a country now that the USSR has dissolved? I don’t think it is. He’s definitely way too corporate-addled for Oregon.