Just read that 66-year-old Sen. Gary Peters
of Michigan will announce today he is not seeking re-election.
What is taking 80-year-old Dick Durbin so long to do the same?
Still infuriated by some quotes I read from Durbin over the weekend about the lack of any meaningful Dem Senate response to Trump being, “Give us a little time. This is brand new.”
Durbin has been in D.C. for 40+ years, has been in Senate Dem leadership for 18 years, has dealt with unified GOP control of govt. two times before this, is dealing with a second-term Republican president who has been on the national political scene for 10 years, and was part of a campaign that warned Project 2025 was a thing Republicans would implement if Trump got elected.
If Durbin’s experience isn’t helping him come up with a plan to deal with these things now that Trump is back in power then he should not just retire in 2026 but resign now so Pritzker can get someone in there with the energy to participate in the vigorous Senate opposition that these times require.
If you’re not ready, willing, and able to devote all of your energy to protecting Illinois from what Trump and the rest of the GOP wants to do, then get the heck out of congress. Durbin is the past, full stop.
If he runs again he’s nothing more than a hanger-on comfortable in his position and likely doing little more than daydreaming about the supposed good old days of the 80s and 90s.
I’m fully expecting he’s going to just be a waste of space and run again merely because he wants to join the half century in congress club.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Tuesday, Jan 28, 25 @ 10:01 am:
Agree with girlfriday and tj that Durbin’s time is up. Someone who cares about him should do an intervention.
It’s true the Senate is a geriatric club, but there’s no need to have another Feinstein hanging on until an embarrasing end.
There are plenty of good candidates born after World War II.
- Give Us Barabbas - Tuesday, Jan 28, 25 @ 2:20 pm:
But this is how you Get Senator Rahm, maybe…
The seniority and all its perks are what keeps the older elder statesmen in place: their argument is, you want and need them in the high chairmanships that come with the seniority, so they can keep bringing home the bacon. That’s partly true. Until the bacon stops coming. The midterms are going to be a huge deal this time around, for so many reasons. The big question in my mind is, are we going to meaningfully upgrade the dem caucus before or after the midterms?
I’ve tried to highlight the terror being felt by vulnerable communities here in Champaign for the last couple days, but they don’t seem to post.
It seems important to note as more and more service providers and community organizations are reporting that they are dealing with the panic and the sheer amount of hatemongering in every local information space.
- hisgirlfriday - Tuesday, Jan 28, 25 @ 8:41 am:
Just read that 66-year-old Sen. Gary Peters
of Michigan will announce today he is not seeking re-election.
What is taking 80-year-old Dick Durbin so long to do the same?
Still infuriated by some quotes I read from Durbin over the weekend about the lack of any meaningful Dem Senate response to Trump being, “Give us a little time. This is brand new.”
Durbin has been in D.C. for 40+ years, has been in Senate Dem leadership for 18 years, has dealt with unified GOP control of govt. two times before this, is dealing with a second-term Republican president who has been on the national political scene for 10 years, and was part of a campaign that warned Project 2025 was a thing Republicans would implement if Trump got elected.
If Durbin’s experience isn’t helping him come up with a plan to deal with these things now that Trump is back in power then he should not just retire in 2026 but resign now so Pritzker can get someone in there with the energy to participate in the vigorous Senate opposition that these times require.
- TJ - Tuesday, Jan 28, 25 @ 9:43 am:
If you’re not ready, willing, and able to devote all of your energy to protecting Illinois from what Trump and the rest of the GOP wants to do, then get the heck out of congress. Durbin is the past, full stop.
If he runs again he’s nothing more than a hanger-on comfortable in his position and likely doing little more than daydreaming about the supposed good old days of the 80s and 90s.
I’m fully expecting he’s going to just be a waste of space and run again merely because he wants to join the half century in congress club.
- Friendly Bob Adams - Tuesday, Jan 28, 25 @ 10:01 am:
Agree with girlfriday and tj that Durbin’s time is up. Someone who cares about him should do an intervention.
It’s true the Senate is a geriatric club, but there’s no need to have another Feinstein hanging on until an embarrasing end.
There are plenty of good candidates born after World War II.
- Give Us Barabbas - Tuesday, Jan 28, 25 @ 2:20 pm:
But this is how you Get Senator Rahm, maybe…
The seniority and all its perks are what keeps the older elder statesmen in place: their argument is, you want and need them in the high chairmanships that come with the seniority, so they can keep bringing home the bacon. That’s partly true. Until the bacon stops coming. The midterms are going to be a huge deal this time around, for so many reasons. The big question in my mind is, are we going to meaningfully upgrade the dem caucus before or after the midterms?
- Downstate - Tuesday, Jan 28, 25 @ 2:39 pm:
Finally feels like Spring!
- Glock21 - Tuesday, Jan 28, 25 @ 3:02 pm:
I’ve tried to highlight the terror being felt by vulnerable communities here in Champaign for the last couple days, but they don’t seem to post.
It seems important to note as more and more service providers and community organizations are reporting that they are dealing with the panic and the sheer amount of hatemongering in every local information space.