Posted on 11/08/2004 3:00:29 PM PST by Dan from Michigan
Stabenow to become third-ranking Democrat in U.S. Senate
11/8/2004, 5:19 p.m. ET
By DEE-ANN DURBIN
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Senate Democrats are planning to elect Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow to a leadership post next week, Stabenow said Monday.
Stabenow said she has enough votes from her colleagues to become the caucus secretary, the third-ranking position among Senate Democrats. As secretary, Stabenow said she will help set the Democrats' agenda and be a more visible spokeswoman for the party.
"I've worked hard and played a leadership role on prescription drugs and health care and I appreciate being recognized for that," Stabenow told The Associated Press Monday.
In addition to health care issues, Stabenow said she will push for ways to protect manufacturers and create jobs.
Democrats have been shuffling leadership roles since Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., lost his re-election bid last week. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who was Daschle's deputy, is expected to be elected the Democrats' new leader on Nov. 16, and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., will be elected to the number two spot.
Stabenow said she considers Reid and Durbin close political allies. She decided to run for secretary last Friday, when Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., announced she was stepping down from the post after 10 years. Stabenow said she spent the weekend talking to fellow lawmakers and was assured support from "well over half" of the 45 Democrats who will serve in the Senate next year.
"Sen. Stabenow has earned the respect of her colleagues because they have seen firsthand her effective leadership, hard work and the ability to get the job done," Reid said in a statement released by Stabenow's office.
Stabenow, 54, of Lansing, Mich., was first elected to the Senate in 2000. She is facing her first re-election campaign in 2006, but said she didn't believe that was the reason Democrats wanted to raise her profile. Instead, she said colleagues mentioned her work as co-chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and her outspoken support for health care reform and access to cheaper prescription drugs, including reimported drugs from Canada.
Stabenow also is hoping to earn a spot on the Senate Finance Committee in the new Congress. She now serves on the Senate's banking, budget, agriculture and aging committees.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said last week he has no plans to ask for any changes to his committee assignments. Levin is the top-ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee and also serves on the intelligence, government affairs and small business committees.
Was Candace Miller elected statewide previously? If so, no wonder Stabenow is spooked.
fEAR NOT..ny IS already IN THE TOILET, no thanks to that inept Pataki...my take,..let the Dems have it..thecity and the state will go bust soon, then a conservative GOP will have a mandate to clean it up..
Yes, Candice Miller was Secretary of State in Michigan to which post she was elected in a statewide election.
You've got that right, Dan. Stabenow has done nothing and the rats are trying to hang a sign around her that says, "Vote for me. I'm relevant."
About all I remember about this strange duck is how much she hates rural Americans.
Miller won twice. Secretary of State.
Perhaps you are unaware that Jeffords caucuses with the democrats for organizational purposes?
She could be the bullseye?
Debbie does the Democrats?
Which translates to protecting the dinosaur industries of this state and the unions. If I have to hear that woman say one more time that her people in the State of Michigan just want a job and a cottage up north, I'm going to shoot myself.
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