Sadly, I can't like to Roll Call as it's all sorts of behind a paywall, but this story on how Russ Feingold went from the margins of the Democratic Party to its mainstream offers some interesting insights as to how Reid controls the caucus:
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) enabled Feingold's transformation from outside agitator to key policymaker by inviting Feingold, an Assistant Majority Whip, to attend the weekly leadership meetings starting at the beginning of 2005.
Then Reid convened an “Iraq War council” last June, “designed to reflect the Caucus as a whole” and advise him on how the party should move forward, said Reid spokesman Jim Manley.
In addition to Feingold and Reid, the group includes Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Majority Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.), Foreign Relations Chairman Joseph Biden (Del.) and Sens. Patty Murray (Wash.), Levin, Reed and Kerry. Feingold praised Reid for tapping Members with such divergent views.
They're pretty divergent all right. And it's interesting, that out of that council, the party has retained considerably unity even as ever-stronger withdrawal measures have hit the floor.
You hear often how disliked Feingold is in the Senate, not only because he'll roll liberal legislation like a grenade into the middle of the caucus (remember his championing of the censure bill?) but because he'll take stands that embarrass his colleagues, like voting against all pay increases for legislators. This article is a nice bit of evidence that you can be somewhat unliked and still prove very effective. And Feingold's willingness to champion a variety of withdrawal bills not bearing his name is proof that it's not, as some critics have alleged, all about him.
