I’ll try to make this short and sweet. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin has just announced he won’t run for re-election in 2026. At 80 years old he’s had enough and is calling it quits. Frankly, as someone who grew up in Illinois and personally met and slightly knew his mentor, the late and great Paul Simon I’ve never been all that impressed by Durbin. And, in recent years the guy seems to be ‘running on fumes.’ Dull, low-energy and ineffective. I was appalled he insisted (using his seniority) on demanding and getting the status of Chair/Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Durbin hasn’t been up to the job and should hand over his duties to someone who is, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.
Granted, Durbin hasn’t been a total waste of space. The Associated Press gives an accounting of his career in this article. For an even more detailed accounting of his career and especially time in the Senate you can also read his Wikipedia profile. If you check out those links you can see Durbin hasn’t been a proverbial waste of space. Also, to be fair I’m not sure anyone could have filled Paul Simon’s shoes, but I’ve long felt Durbin never came close despite Simon having been his mentor. Like Everett Dirkson Simon was one of those “they broke the mold after making him” types. But today I want to focus on the Senate Judiciary Committee and how Durbin has fallen far short of what we’ve needed.
The debacle with the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein being almost literally carried and propped up for YEARS by staffers who didn’t want to lose their own positions of influence was appalling to be sure. Worse, without the Sen. Feinstein of her glory days we lost a lot of ground when it comes to the crucial work of the Senate Judiciary Committee. When the time finally allowed a successor to be named my heart sank when I learned it would be Durbin. Yes, he’d been in the Senate a long time, had been the Democratic “Whip” since 2005 and had a lengthy tenure on Judiciary. I felt (and said) so what? He might be 80 years old right now, but to me he’s been a not all that vibrant 80 years old for years.
Alas, “seniority” matters more than it should. We could have done better than Durbin, and some of the judicial fights over judges, justices and could have played out quite differently with a different Democrat as either Chair or Ranking member. More importantly, the public would have gotten a live education on the workings of groups including and especially The Federalist Society and how they had their hooks in judicial nominee after judicial nominee. He’s got a gift for explaining the whole complex interwoven conservative mix of groups that have reshaped the law and courts (and not for the better) and why we needed him when Feinstein had clearly “lost it.” And we sure as hell could have used Whitehouse in Durbin’s position.
However Durbin claimed the role for himself and the equally feckless Schumer quickly gave in. And he’s sucked. The title pic is actually more flattering to Durbin (all the way on the left for those who don’t follow things closely) than he actually looks. I’ve seen images of him that make him look like death warmed over which is I believe a fair description of his ‘leadership’ on the Senate Judiciary Committee. We need someone who is an intellectual giant who is also capable of explaining the law and complex issues in plain language. Who has that TV presence of gravitas yet also being straightforward and trustworthy. And with Whitehouse instead of Durbin leading the Democrats on judiciary (both now and in Feinstein’s later years) I truly believe certain judges and Justices would have either withdrawn their nominations or gone down to defeat.
So Senator Durbin I say enjoy your retirement. In fact, get an early start by handing over some of your responsibilities now. In particular rid yourself of the burden of leading the incredibly powerful and important Judiciary Committee at a time when we need it more than at any time in our history! YOU are not up to the task. You never were even when younger. You sure as hell aren’t now but others are. At the top of the list is Senator Whitehouse, although I think Senator Amy Klobuchar would be pretty damned good too.
Anyway, you had a decent enough run but ran out of steam a while back. Illinois, and given your role in the Senate the country would be better off had you not run in 2018. It would have been easy for Democrats to win an election to replace you but now it will be a tougher fight. The issue of leaving sometime this summer and letting the Gov. name a replacement that could run as an incumbent is a separate issue but it should be considered. For the moment however there is true talent sitting there with you on the Judiciary committee that can do a FAR better job than you. So do the right thing, and inform Schumer you will step aside and let him put someone up to the task into your job on Judiciary.
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And we’ve had enough of him. As we say in Illinois, “Dick Durbin… Before Durbin dicks you”.