Udall Talks Senate Reform

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You come to Mother Jones for unique journalism, and we love doing it for you. That's it. That's the upshot of our fall fundraising drive, and we're hoping to raise $250,000 in a shorter than normal three-week window so we can keep right on doing it.

Flickr/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/midgetbusdriver/3662945409/" target="_blank">Erica Reid</a> (Creative Commons)

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Sen. Tom Udall, a freshman Democrat from New Mexico, has raised some eyebrows with a resolution (pdf) to adopt a new set of rules (and possibly scrap the filibuster) at the start of the 112th Congress. I spoke with the Senator yesterday about the prospects for reform and what specifically he hoped to accomplish. Among the main points:

History repeating? Udall, whose “constitutional option” bears the same name as the failed Republican reform in 2005, doesn’t believe the Democratic efforts have much in common with GOP’s failed attempt to abolish the filibuster.
Will it catch on? Despite low recognition among the general public, Udall believes the reforms will be a winner with his constituents.
Don’t expect much bombthrowing: Udall expects procedural reform to be a bi-partisan issue, but did not want to get “stuck in the weeds” discussing specific changes.

You can read the full piece here.