Reed still neutral in the presidential race

Chip Unruh, press secretary for US Senator Jack Reed, got in touch after I yesterday highlighted Charlie Bakst's column on the senator. In buttressing the case that Reed will remain in the Senate in the event of a Democratic White House adminstration, Unruh pointed out the following:

In the last 27 years, over 140 people served in the cabinets of Presidents Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush, and only 1 person -- Lloyd Bentsen of Texas -- left their elected U.S. Senate seat to take a cabinet post. 

 

After they lost their re-election bids, John Ashcroft and Spencer Abraham joined George W. Bush's cabinet, but they both had already been voted out of office by the people of their respective states and were not going to serve another term in the Senate.

 

There are currently three U.S. Senators who formerly held a cabinet post (Mel Martinez of Florida, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee) and then went on to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

Unruh was also kind enough to share rough excerpts of Reed's remarks, to an AP reporter, following yesterday's primaries in North Carolina and Indiana:

The great factor I think is: who is best positioned to win in November?

 

This is not about selecting a nominee, it is about electing a President.

 

And there are several encouraging things, but one encouraging thing is this huge popular turnout in these elections, which I think is a manifestation of a sincere desire for change.

 

And both candidates are close enough on the fundamental issues that I think it reflects the fact that there is a strong Democratic wave building.

 

I want to make sure we’ve got the candidate who can most effectively tap into that undercurrent of change.

 

They have been very good to reach out, but I have made it clear that my decision will not be based on frequency of phone calls.

 

The decision I am going to make, again, the key point is: who is the best candidate and how can we bring the party together quickly?  Because one of the challenges that we face is not just selecting a nominee, but also ensuring that we hopefully go in to Denver unified and come out even stronger.  And I think that is something we have to consciously work on.

  

I think there may be some pressure building, but there is something else that is out there and that is we still have some primaries to run. ....

 

I have not given myself a deadline because this race has been like a bucking bronco.  It has been up and down, up and down.  Not just in terms of results of independent primaries, but in terms of who is gaining momentum, who is breaking through.

 

One of the good things about this campaign is that both of these candidates have been tested by the media, by the different issues, etc.

 

That is something that has been constructive not only to them, but to us.