Durbin: Obama 'dream come true'

by Rebecca Cole

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) scored a political trifecta this year: His close friend Barack Obama is in the White House, he is a member of the Democratic leadership and the Obama administration's senior staff is comprised of old friends from Illinois.

"It's a political dream come true," Durbin today told a group of students from the Washington Center for Politics and Journalism.

Calling the challenges facing Obama "historic," Durbin said Obama "inherited a mess" but is up to the task.

"Look, we've had four headline issues and we've won them all," Durbin said, referring to the narrow passage of several bills, including billions in stimulus funding and Obama's $3.55-trillion budget. "But some were by the skin of their teeth."

In a wide-ranging discussion, Durbin expressed his views on several hot topics of the day, including Obama's impending appointment to replace Supreme Court Justice David Souter, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's defection to the Democratic camp -- and he talked about what keeps Obama up at night.

On who Obama will nominate to replace Souter:

(Above: Sen. Durbin follows President Obama after his address to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 24. Photo by Susan Walsh / AP)

Saying that "Obama really believes in the diversity of the court," Durbin said that he thinks the president "takes seriously" the notion that the most effective Supreme Court justices "are real human beings who bring their life experiences and their own philosophies" to the bench.

"He wants people who look at the world and come down on the side of empathy," Durbin said, "that's where we got to this place today in terms of diversity."

Although he said he did not know who Obama is leaning toward, Durbin did say several fine candidates could be found in Obama's "home state of Illinois." A tantalizing clue?

On the selection of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) as the GOP's ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee:

As the committee's voice of the GOP, Durbin said, Sessions is an "interesting choice" whose personal politics are in "sharp contrast" to the makeup of the committee's other members.

"It's hard to find one nontraditional vote that Sessions has cast," Durbin said, referring to Sessions' conservative stance. "It will not be a battle of moderates."

On Specter's move to the Democratic side of the aisle:

So far, Durbin said, the jury still is out on the question of whether Specter can be counted on as a reliable vote or not. But, Durbin said, Specter "has to be supportive enough of Democratic issues to convince primary voters" in his home state.

And even if Al Franken wins his fight for a Minnesota Senate seat and the Democrats have a filibuster-proof majority, Durbin said it is still tough to persuade the entire caucus to vote together.

"Once you hit the magic number of 60 every single Democrat becomes the deciding vote," Durbin said. "And they know it."

On what keeps Obama up at night:

Pakistan.

In a recent meeting, Durbin said, Obama told him the idea of an increasingly unstable and nuclear-armed Pakistan is "'the one that keeps me rolling around at night.'"