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Max Baucus is gone!
Apr. 23rd, 2013 09:34 amSenator Max Baucus (D-MT) is retiring.
What does this mean? Well:
The Good - This self-centered prick did more than anyone else to gut the most progressive elements out of Obamacare. He did this, in no small part, by dragging his feet as chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Now that he's out, the chair goes to Ron Wyden (D-OR), who's more in the center of his caucus where Baucus is more to the right.
The Bad - Montana is still a red state. Jon Tester won both his Senate elections by razor-thin margins. Markos Moulistas is drooling over the possibility that Governor Schweitzer will enter the race and hold that seat in 2014. I'm skeptical that he'll run, especially if Rehberg polls as strongly now as he did in 2011-2012 before Todd Akin opened his big mouth.
The Ugly - If Schweitzer doesn't run, that puts the Senate one step closer to Republican control in 2014.
What does this mean? Well:
The Good - This self-centered prick did more than anyone else to gut the most progressive elements out of Obamacare. He did this, in no small part, by dragging his feet as chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Now that he's out, the chair goes to Ron Wyden (D-OR), who's more in the center of his caucus where Baucus is more to the right.
The Bad - Montana is still a red state. Jon Tester won both his Senate elections by razor-thin margins. Markos Moulistas is drooling over the possibility that Governor Schweitzer will enter the race and hold that seat in 2014. I'm skeptical that he'll run, especially if Rehberg polls as strongly now as he did in 2011-2012 before Todd Akin opened his big mouth.
The Ugly - If Schweitzer doesn't run, that puts the Senate one step closer to Republican control in 2014.
