Asks the moderate-liberal commentator in D.C., about the U.S. Senate: "Since the deaths of Massachusetts’s Ted Kennedy and Minnesota’s Paul
Wellstone, the Senate has not had a signal, outstanding liberal voice.
The liberal faction even takes a back seat to conservative Dems who hold
the threat of defecting and costing the party its majority on key votes
for gun control, taxes and spending. The conservative Democrats stopped
the Democratic majority in the Senate from passing a budget for the
last four years for fear it might be attacked as 'liberal.'"
Mr. Williams continues his commentary: "Over the last 50 years, the Senate’s liberal lions stood out for the
capacity to speak as idealists and attract moderate Republicans to their
deeply felt causes. One problem for today’s liberals is that there is
only one moderate Republican left — Maine’s Susan Collins. Even
Republicans who once dared to team with Democrats on break-through
legislation, people such as Arizona’s John McCain and South Carolina’s
Lindsey Graham, are now living in fear of primary challenges from the
far right. They are dealing with Sens. [Chuck] Schumer and [Dick] Durbin on the current
immigration proposal. But that is all a matter of convenience.
Republicans need an immigration deal. There is no idealism at play from
the right or the left."
Juan Williams: "Where Are The Liberal Lions?"
