WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin will become the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate next year amid a shakeup forced by Election Day loses for the party.
Sen. Byron L. Dorgan, D-N.D., bowed out of the race to become Democratic Whip Friday, after lobbying for the spot after the current second in command of their caucus, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, became the clear choice of members to succeed Senate Minority Leader, Tom Daschle of South Dakota, in the 109th Congress.
Daschle was defeated in his re-election bid by Republican challenger John Thune.
The articulate and camera-ready Durbin is considered a good match for the more thoughtful and soft-spoken Reid, both politically -- because he is more liberal than the abortion-opposing Reid -- and also because he hails from the Midwest, a key battleground region between the Democrats and Republicans.
