In Kristen McQueary’s Southtown column yesterday, State Senator Debbie “I’m suddenly not best pals with Rod Blagojevich” Halvorson had an interesting take on what her duties as Senate Majority Leader are:

“I don’t know what happened. I have no idea,” she said. “We vote on 100 bills a day. I have no control over who is picked off and given something for their vote. When I counted, we had 36 votes. I pulled every trick out of my trickbag to make sure that bill came out of rules, and I voted for it on the floor.”

When pressed on who changed their votes and why she didn’t investigate afterward if the bill was so important to her, Halvorson said lawmakers vote their conscience and it’s not her job to twist arms.

“I don’t have power over that. It’s not my job to go into their privacy and see why they decided not to vote for it,” she said.

That’s quite a change from January 2005 when she told McQueary:

“I’m the go-to person who will guide the agenda, keep everyone calm and make noise when I need to,” she said.

It’s amazing how confident Senator Halvorson was about her new role as Majority Leader in 2005. Of course, that was prior to her decision to run for Congress.

It’s funny how a congressional campaign affects things including a person’s abilities to do their job - especially when that job requires being the Chief Lieutenant for Rod Blagojevich and Emil Jones. It’s even funnier how a congressional campaign affects job descriptions.

So which is it, Senator? Are you the Senate Majority Leader?

Are you the “go-to-person”?

Or are you simply the person who has “no idea”?

Posted by Editor