Interesting article...
Washington Post:
The 75-year-old Republican has been browbeaten by his leadership for collaborating with Montana Democrat Max Baucus, the chairman of the Finance Committee on which Grassley is the ranking Republican.
Grassley has been besieged by nervous constituents during this most tumultuous of August recesses. He's up for reelection next year and is worried about a primary challenge. He's eager to become the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee when his tenure on Finance is up, and is said to fear that he'll be denied the post if he goes wobbly on Democrats.
"There is tremendous pressure on both Chuck Grassley and Max Baucus to walk away" from health-care negotiations, one Republican senator told me. "That accounts for why you see Grassley doggedly going to these meetings, working very hard, but then he'll get nervous about it and say, 'Well, even if I support it, unless a majority of the caucus supports it, I won't vote for it.' I think those kinds of mixed messages reflect the tremendous pressure that he's under."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona "are working this very hard," said one Democrat involved in the health-care talks. "They have berated [Grassley] directly about the degree of his participation so far, and they work hard to prevent other people from going along."
Washington Post:
The 75-year-old Republican has been browbeaten by his leadership for collaborating with Montana Democrat Max Baucus, the chairman of the Finance Committee on which Grassley is the ranking Republican.
Grassley has been besieged by nervous constituents during this most tumultuous of August recesses. He's up for reelection next year and is worried about a primary challenge. He's eager to become the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee when his tenure on Finance is up, and is said to fear that he'll be denied the post if he goes wobbly on Democrats.
"There is tremendous pressure on both Chuck Grassley and Max Baucus to walk away" from health-care negotiations, one Republican senator told me. "That accounts for why you see Grassley doggedly going to these meetings, working very hard, but then he'll get nervous about it and say, 'Well, even if I support it, unless a majority of the caucus supports it, I won't vote for it.' I think those kinds of mixed messages reflect the tremendous pressure that he's under."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona "are working this very hard," said one Democrat involved in the health-care talks. "They have berated [Grassley] directly about the degree of his participation so far, and they work hard to prevent other people from going along."
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