Sen Clinton nomination on the Senate floor, Sen. Kerry managing it

[TayTay]

on c-span 2 today (Wed, Jan 21) from noon to around 4 or 5 or so.

Luncheon break for caucus from 12:45 to 2:00 or so.

Anyway, Sen. Kerry is on and off the floor all afternoon.

[karynnj]

1. What is with Schumer ?

Questioning if Kerry was chair yet or just acting - and when finding he was chair - then says the rest of us are waiting for the resolution. Then he goes over the top on HRC. Then speaks of how he wants to get this done - as if he is the lead on this.

[TayTay]

2. I wouldn't think much of it

Sen. Biden was the Chair. He resigned last Thursday. And the actual "legal and binding" resolution that states what the committee structure will look like is not there yet.

Think nothing of it. I get confused at what is going on in terms of assigning committees. (Dammit. How are you supposed to be very, very wonky, if you can't identify the players?)

[karynnj]

3. Yeah, I get what you are saying

I just really disliked his tone - where he clearly was acting as if he was pulling rank on Kerry.

[TayTay]

4. LOL, he can't pull rank on Kerry

Schumer got to the Senate in 1999. Kerry got there in 1985.

He was just confused.

It should get less confusing by mid-Feb.

[karynnj]

5. I know that, but I sometimes wonder if Shumer does

I think it's just his standard behavior. Schumer is smart and he is likely hoping at some point to be majority leader. I hope that his abrasive personality will prevent that.

[sandnsea]

6. Gee I wonder

why anybody would grandstand politically in order to pretend it's Kerry's fault there is a problem with Hillary.

Yes, I do say I told you so.

[karynnj]

10. I think you misunderstood me - Schumer was not blaming Kerry

for Cronyn wanting a roll call vote. Schumer was just being Schumer acting as if he was leading the effort to get her confirmed. (I should have described his overbearing nature better.)

[TayTay]

29. For the record

I think it was Schumer being Schumer. And that can be hard to take. Your caution is well-taken. But, I think in this case they were just marking time on the floor. (The committee assignments are still up in the air. It's easy to get confused about who gets what, so far.)

[YvonneCa]

8. It looked to me like JK was expecting other Senators...

...to speak(specifically Vitter), and they weren't there yet. JK called for quorum call. Schumer came in and Kerry spoke to him briefly and then Schumer requested to speak. Maybe he was helping JK since he wanted to speak in favor of Hillary anyway???

[MBS]

9. I've never trusted Schumer

I find him sleazy, self-interested, and (as you said) non-constructively abrasive. Not a good fit for majority leader during the Obama administration. Hope he doesn't get it.

[Mass]

12. Schumer is a bully. There is probably nothing more there than the need to feel important.\nt

[JI7]

33. remember Schumer was the one who told Kerry to get out of the way of the picture

this was shortly after the 2004 elections. i might not have thought much of this but history shows Schumer is an asshole when it comes to Kerry.

[karynnj]

35. He really was a creep then

Worse he was the one who completely distorted the timeline - saying that he pressured Kerry to get out of public view after the joke - where in fact Kerry did so himself - two days earlier.

Not to mention, he has his own problems with having as much as any Republican fought any regulations on the banks and financial institutions. He was hit a few months ago by a big front page NYT editorial.

I think it's just that Schumer is hyper competitive and has sharp elbows.

[YvonneCa]

7. Watching. What a ...

...gift. :patriot:

[Mass]

11. Is Kerry trying to hold the floor until the vote? He has been talking for at least fifteen minutes

without anybody else intervening, waiting for a vote. I cannot hear him as my screen is in mute, but it seems that the GOPers who are asking for a roll call are not exactly in a hurry to advocate against her. weird.

[Mass]

13. Reid saying good things about Kerry. I guess the vote is soon to come.

[karynnj]

15. His comments were really nice

[YvonneCa]

14. WOW. The first full day of the Obama...

...Administration is off to a good start. Nuclear proliferation, climate change...(former President) Kerry is on a roll.

"It's a beautiful day..."

[karynnj]

16. Was it Kerry who was applauded from above?

He had just voted and turned - then there was a burst of applause - which the person presiding called out of order.

[Blaukraut]

18. yes, the gallery applauded him n/t

[globalvillage]

28. Applause in this clip.

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/vidLink.php?b=1232572314&e=1232572614&n=2

About 1:50 into the clip. Isn't C-SPAN wonderful?

How nice that the gallery applauded his vote. That's not something you see every day.

[karynnj]

30. I love the new CSPAN video library

they are incredibly fast getting everything easily available.

[ProSense]

32. Nice.

:)

[Blaukraut]

17. Did you hear the gallery applaud when JK answered roll call?

That was funny in a good way :)

[karynnj]

20. It was cool

He seemed to acknowledge the applause in that he had his arms out. That is really really nice.

[Blaukraut]

23. I laughed out loud at that. Also when he was stalling for time

waiting for Reid to come onto the floor and then sheepishly admitted to doing so :rofl:

[karynnj]

24. It was great that he just smiled and explained that was what he was doing

As he was clearly speaking without a speech it was pretty amazing - and the alternative was silence.

[YvonneCa]

25. I recognized a few phrases...

...from past speeches. The CFR speech on the environment and national security comes to mind. :) But it was great to hear this on the first full day of a new Democratic Presidency.

[Democrafty]

26. That was really cool.

Not something that happens enough in the Senate, IMHO. I really hope the energy in DC yesterday will last a long time, and will make its way into the Senate.

[globalvillage]

27. I caught that

It's about 16 min into this clip. LOL.

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/vidLink.php?b=1232570680&e=1232572480&n=2

[Mass]

19. After all that, Cornyn votes AYE, Vitter and DeMint vote NO.

[Blaukraut]

21. Wasn't Vitter the lone no-vote in commitee, too?

He and DeMint really are the odd men out. I'm sure that's not going to go unnoticed.

[karynnj]

22. Strange that all Cornyn really did was to make HRC miss a

national security briefing and to be mostly praised for 3 hours.

[JI7]

34. Vitter is in trouble over the prostitutes and is trying to stand out

as a conservative who will speak out to get support in his next election.

demint is an idiot like george allen.

[cadmium]

31. Kerry made a statement advocating for

the rights of the minority (repubs) wanting a vote. In the end I think it was worth it to get everyone on record.