Reid to seek Senate's top Democratic leadership post

Washington (Platts)--3Nov2004

Repository opponent Sen. Harry Reid will seek the top Senate Democratic
leadership position now that Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) has lost his
re-election bid. Reid, the senior senator from Nevada, was to announce his
candidacy during a press conference this afternoon in Las Vegas. Reid
currently is the assistant minority leader and had been seen as the heir
apparent. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), however, also is said to want the
post. Reid has spent decades fighting DOE's nuclear waste repository planned
for Yucca Mountain, Nev. One nuclear industry lobbyist has projected that any
additional clout Reid might gain on the Yucca Mountain issue by moving into
the top slot could be blunted by a second Bush term. President George W. Bush
won Nevada's five electoral votes despite challenger John Kerry's campaign
promise to stop the disposal facility, signaling that Yucca Mountain is not
the top concern of voters in that state, the lobbyist maintained. The election
outcome, the lobbyist asserted, should prompt the state's entire congressional
delegation to rethink its hard-line opposition to the facility.

Copyright © 2004 - Platts

Please visit:  www.platts.com

Their coverage of energy matters is extensive!!.