Schumer vs. Durbin: An Early Fight to Replace Harry Reid
Senate majority leader Harry Reid, center, is flanked by Senator Charles Schumer, left, and Senator Dick Durbin at a press conference on Capitol Hill (Photo by Jim Young / Reuters / Corbis)
No one remembers exactly when they started, but there is no doubt that the campaigns for Senate majority leader are raging on Capitol Hill. They have not been formally declared, of course, and for good reason — the position is still filled. But as Harry Reid's November re-election has looked increasingly imperiled, his two top deputies in the Senate have become more overt in their quests for his job. And in a Senate that is already near paralyzed by partisan rancor, the two Democrats' maneuverings are threatening to further gum up the works. (See TIME's video "Game Change: Why Harry Reid Said What He Said.")
Both Dick Durbin of Illinois and Chuck Schumer of New York say they firmly believe Reid will be re-elected, but for several months the No. 2 and 3 Democrats in the Senate have been trying to one up each other in wooing their colleagues.