Stories I’m Watching
I’ve got nothing good to blog about at the moment, so instead, here are three stories to watch for in the upcoming week:
(1) Will GM get a lifeline? There will be a lame duck session next week to consider a scaled-back stimulus and an automaker bailout. The smart money says the votes aren’t there, and the items will have to be reconsidered after the new, more heavily Democratic, Congress is seated, with a president less likely to veto.
(2) Will Lieberman keep his committee chairmanship? A secret ballot Tuesday among the Senate’s Democratic Caucus will decide. Last week, odds favored Lieberman, but some high-profile Democrats have come out against him since then. I’m switching on this one – Lieberman loses narrowly. And then the fun REALLY begins (i.e., will he then caucus with the Republicans? I doubt it, but he’s threatened to do so).
(3) The Big One. No story next week, of course, has the implications of my final item. It is no exaggeration to say that the world will stand still, in awe and trepidation, as the long-awaited event unfurls. Is it breathless hyperbole to say the fate of the free world hangs in the balance? Nay, my friend, it’s just that important.
I’m talking, of course, of the Seige of Norman, as TT-Day arrives on Saturday, November 22nd, at 7:00 p.m. Central on your ABC stations. That’s right, the 2nd-ranked (but #1 in our hearts) Texas Tech Red Raiders travel to Oklahoma to take on the #5 Sooners in the biggest game in school history. Yes, the win over #1 Texas was the one that put us on the map, but if Tech wants to make good on the promise of that game and play for its first ever BCS Title, this is the biggest remaining obstacle. I know, I know, it’s in Norman, and the Sooners will not lack for motivation, with their own national title aspirations.
Still, this Texas Tech team has the feel of a team of destiny. Prediction: Texas Tech 42, Oklahoma 28…
I don’t get what the big deal is about the party with whom Lieberman caucuses. The filibuster only matters on individual votes and Lieberman will vote with the Democrats on most domestic issues (as will Susan Collins, Olympia Snow and Norm Coleman, to name a few off the top of my head). As far as I know the only thing that the number in the caucus decides is the majority party for the purposes of majority and minority leaders, and, thereby, chairmanships.
As I see it, even if the three Senate races up in the air are decided in the GOP’s favor and Lieberman crosses over, the Obama’s judicial nominees (the only thing that’s really irrevocable) will get support of the Dems + 4-5 Republicans, and maybe minus someone like Ben Nelson.
Is there some advantage of having a 41-member caucus of which I am unaware?
It’s symbolic, more than anything – Obama gets this, which is why he is pressuring for a compromise on Lieberman. He campaigned on a change from extreme partisanship, and essentially shoving Lieberman out the door would send the message that the Democratic congressional leadership is not on the same page as their president…
I’m with Aaron on this one. The number 60 is irrelevant for all practical purposes.
Also, go Tech! I usually root for maximum chaos in the college football season – because the worse it gets, the more inane the BCS looks – but I am now openly rooting for Tech. I like Mike Leach and I love the idea of someone so unorthodox spitting in the eye of the powers-that-be. This has been a long time coming.