Is this wrong? Strange bedfellows: Leahy finds ways to work with Tea Party darlings
There’s little love lost between the Obama administration and conservative lawmakers like Rand Paul. But Sen. Patrick Leahy is convinced that partnering with people like Paul has helped him catch the ear of the administration on issues such as criminal sentencing and surveillance reforms.
In a lengthy interview Thursday, Leahy said Republican outreach has always been a part of his political strategy, but lately, the senior senator has found himself in cahoots with some of the upper chamber’s most conservative upstarts.
With Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, he found an island of common ground on immigration reform. He’s partnered with Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, on his effort to update the Electronic Communications Act (ECPA) and expedite the sunsets on NSA surveillance programs. And most recently, he’s shared the spotlight with Lee and Kentucky libertarian Paul, after Attorney General Eric Holder announced he wants to do away with mandatory minimum sentences for certain nonviolent drug offenses — a reform that falls in line with legislation they’ve advocated.
Finding commonalities isn’t easy — Leahy compared the process to assembling a jigsaw puzzle. “You sit there thinking about where the hell does this piece go, and then there’s a ‘Eureka’ moment.”
http://vtdigger.org/2013/08/15/strange-bedfellows-leahy-finds-ways-to-work-with-tea-party-darlings/