Nomination of Baucus Buoys Midterm Hopes For Senate Democrats

By JONATHAN WEISMAN, NYT

WASHINGTON — When the veteran Senator Max Baucus announced his retirement in April, a feeling of dread went through the Democratic ranks, not so much over the potential loss of his Montana seat, but over the game of musical committee chairs that would elevate an iconoclast to lead the coveted Finance Committee and a pro-oil moderate to head the energy committee.

But as politics begin supplanting policy considerations ahead of the 2014 elections, calculations are shifting on Capitol Hill. It is a measure of the challenging political landscape Democrats face that Mr. Baucus’s pending nomination to be ambassador to China has been greeted with glee by his fellow Senate Democrats.

Now they are happy to hand the Finance Committee gavel to Senator Ron Wyden, the mercurial Oregonian who currently leads the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, because it puts Senator Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, one of the most endangered Democrats up for re-election in 2014, at the energy helm — a position that will help her campaign rake in cash from industry and press her pro-oil politics in her fossil-fueled state.

Moreover, the Democratic governor of Montana, Steve Bullock, can appoint Mr. Baucus’s successor, potentially sending his lieutenant governor, John Walsh, to the Senate to run next year with the power of incumbency. That could increase the Democrats’ chances of retaining that seat — one seen as crucial to Republicans’ efforts to win back the Senate.

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