John Kerry laments Republican Richard Lugar’s departure from US Senate

[Inuca]

http://www.boston.com/politicalintelligence/2012/05/09/john-kerry-laments-republican-richard-lugar-departure-from-senate/jUIu1QZvNwj6Hp5ysjJqzK/story.html

“This is a tragedy for the Senate and the loss is particularly felt by all of us who have been privileged to serve with Dick on the Foreign Relations Committee,” Kerry said in leading off a 534-word statement on the election results. “It’s a blow to the institution during a period when the institution itself has been strained.”

“This is a tough period in American politics, but I’d like to think that we’ll again see a United States Senate where Dick Lugar’s brand of thoughtful, mature, and bipartisan work is respected and rewarded,” Kerry said in his statement. “That kind of seriousness of purpose should never go out of fashion.”

I know we have a better chance of keeping teh Senate, but I am sorry to see Lugar go. He is a true statesman, and there are not many around.

Obama has also issued a very laudatory statement about Lugar (it can't hurt him any longer). And I saw Lugar's own statement on TV, he does not mince words (again, it can't hurt him any longer).

[Mass]

1. It is sad that Mourdoch (sp) was elected because he is so right wing

But why is it surprising that people would want somebody new after 6 terms. Hopefully, Donnelly will be able to beat Mourdoch.

Now, given who is after Lugar at the SFRC (aside from politeness toward somebody he has to work with for 6 more months), I understand why Kerry worries, but this result does not surprise me. At 80, it is time to retire.

[karynnj]

2. I agree with all you (and Kerry said)

This makes it even more important that we keep the Senate. Not only is the winner far more extreme than Lugar, this means that one of the other Senators will be the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - or (heaven forbid) the chair. It looks like a relatively junior Senator would be their top person because they have no one other than Lugar who has been there for a substantial time. Scroll down this link ( http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Senate_Committee_on_Foreign_Relations ) to see the list of SFRC members in the 109th Congress - NONE other than Lugar is on the current committee. Hagel, Brownback and Martinez declined to run, Voinvich, Chaffee, Allen, Sununu, and Coleman all lost their elections, and Alexander and Murkowski left the committee.

In addition, the current committee ( http://www.foreign.senate.gov/about/ ) is loaded with extreme conservatives - DeMint, Inhoffe and Lee - in addition to tea party favorite Rubio. (There are other ultra conservatives like Risch and Barrasso. This leaves Corker and Isakson as the most reasonable. This committee would be obnoxious if the Republicans take the Senate.

[Inuca]

3. From what I remember

Corker was sitting next to Lugar. This means that he is "next in line", right? Compared to teh rest, Corker is relatively decent. Isakson is not amongteh most horrid either, but COrker seems to have better brains. Bythe way, anybody knows how this works, actually? Committee seniority, I mean. Corker is still a very junior senator, but he seems to have higher seniority in that committee than people like Inhofe taht have been in teh Senate longer. Does it go by how long they were in a specific committee?

One last comment: the whole Senate would be obnoxious if the Rs take over. And that's a major understatement.

OK, I lied, THIS is the last comment: on my way to work, after posting here, I heard Lugar's say how he wishes that his"friend Mitch McConnell" becomes majority leader, and how "we" all have to do our best to elect Romney. Iguess I feel somewhat less bad about his defeat now... And here is a link http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/08/11605668-lugars-goodbye?lite to what MSNBC calls Lugar's "scathing letter" - long, but well worth a read.

[karynnj]

4. On the Democratic side it is how long you were on the committee

and they sit in that order. If that is the case, Corker is likely next in line and of those left, he might easily be the best. The Republicans may not follow the same rules.

[Mass]

5. Here is an article which explains how his successor will be chosen

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/05/09/what_lugars_loss_means_for_foreign_policy_in_the_senate

When Lugar leaves, the most likely choice to replace Lugar is Corker, a Tennessee businessman who like Lugar, opposed the war in Libya and opposes intervention in Syria. But Corker's foreign policy stance is even more wary of using U.S. power in foreign lands. He said earlier this year he doesn't even believe the Syrian revolution is about "democracy."

Corker was on the fence during much of the New START debate. He felt the treaty wasn't very significant in terms of nuclear reductions, and used the negotiations within Congress more as chance to secure funding for nuclear facilities, some of which are in his state. Corker is very effective at defending funds for nuclear modernization and stockpile maintenance.

Corker doesn't have a firm position on what to do in Afghanistan and he wasn't particularly vocal on the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. He's seen on Capitol Hill as someone would have a bit of a learning curve ahead of him were he to become SFRC chairman or ranking member.

Behind the scenes, Corker has a very active foreign policy staff that is said by Hill sources to not get along well with Lugar's staff. If Corker takes over as lead Republican on the committee, there could be a house cleaning on the staff side.

But Corker's accession is not assured. The Republican committee members have the power to vote for whomever they want. In fact, after the 2010 election, there was an effort to vote Lugar out of the ranking member's position, but Lugar prevailed by a slim margin.

For some Republicans both on and off Capitol Hill, Corker is seen as neither aggressive nor hawkish enough on key foreign policy issues.

"It's difficult to make the case that someone who doesn't even see the merits of the fall of Bashar al-Assad for American interests deserves to have the top Republican spot on the committee," said one GOP foreign policy pundit. "There are other Republicans, such as Sen. Rubio, who have advocated a much more coherent and thoughtful foreign policy vision that might make them more appealing replacements for Sen. Lugar."

[Inuca]

6. Thanks Mass

I hope it's Corker. His foreign policy positions seem decent + he is conservative, but not am extreme ideologue (though I remember his very strong opposition to the auto companies bailout when he was peretty horrible), also he has a brain and is not afraid to use it. I remember him quite a few years back in a banking committee hearing, I think the issue was infrastructure, when he was asking questions from the other, more senior, senators saying that he wants to understand and learn; I liked that.

[beachmom]

8. Yes, Corker is terrible on economic issues.

That is why he is able to be decent on foreign policy. He shores up his base with his crazy right wing business ideas, so he is given some latitude to be his own man on the SFRC committee.

[beachmom]

7. Corker is a traditional conservative not a neoconservative

Based on Romney's foreign policy team/stances, unfortunately, the GOP seems to be going in a neoconservative direction again. Say, Romney were to win (God forbid), I think either Corker would have to transform into a total neocon hawk, or there would be pressure to have someone else be chair/ranking member. OTOH, if Romney loses, I am not sure where the power will balance out within the GOP. It obviously also depends on the GOP members in the Senate. But a GOP President would probably hold a lot of sway.

FWIW, I like Corker, and would like to see him as ranking member under a Democratic Senate and Democratic President.

That would be good for the country.

[Inuca]

9. Completely unrelated

but because I remember you like Andy Sullivan: did you see his post yesterday http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/05/obama-lets-go-of-fear.html? If not, give it a click, it's worth it.

[beachmom]

10. Yes, thanks. Sully has been a must read blog this past week.

He also wrote the cover story for Newsweek.