Senators from the opposite party that you are willing to vote for

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

None now.

As recently as last year I might have been tempted to say Manchin, Pryor and Tester.

Regardless of what the say in terms of promises to the represent the state and not the party and so forth, when Reid needs them, they are there, every last one of them. If the election is four years away or five years away like with Manchin, or if otherwise a promise of a cabinet post is what will secure their votes. In 2017, lets say Clinton is President and there is a vote on cap and trade, you can bet a cabinet post will be waiting for Manchin if he is the deciding vote so that he can vote for it and not have to face the voters.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

As it is - "person is everything for me, party - almost nothing"))))

Interesting. I don't think like that at all, but I can definitely respect where you're coming from. In some ways, I think it might be better if more people thought like that...we might have a greater chance of getting stuff done in Congress.

Regardless of what the say in terms of promises to the represent the state and not the party and so forth, when Reid needs them, they are there

I don't think this is true quite to the extent that you argue, but there's a lot of truth to what you say, which is a major reason why I wouldn't vote for a Republican. On any given attempt to get 60 votes, a Democrat from say Arkansas is gettable, while a Republican from Arkansas (usually) isn't. For that reason, when liberals say that someone like Pryor (or, before him, Ben Nelson) is no different from a Republican, I think it's a little silly.

Yes the gun vote would argue the contrary, but I have seen that before. It looks remarkably similar to the 2007 immigration vote in terms of Reid either losing his interest and/or losing patience on the matter and just letting the cards fall where they may. But on Healthcare and immigration, they got them all when they were needed.

It is a lot harder to do that on the GOP side post Delay, then before. Now as long as they aren't scared of a primary, a Kirk or a Collins is just as a free of control (from the perspective of Mitch McConnel) as Mike Lee or Ted Cruz.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

None now.

As recently as last year I might have been tempted to say Manchin, Pryor and Tester.

Regardless of what the say in terms of promises to the represent the state and not the party and so forth, when Reid needs them, they are there, every last one of them. If the election is four years away or five years away like with Manchin, or if otherwise a promise of a cabinet post is what will secure their votes. In 2017, lets say Clinton is President and there is a vote on cap and trade, you can bet a cabinet post will be waiting for Manchin if he is the deciding vote so that he can vote for it and not have to face the voters.

Didn't a bunch of them (Pryor, Heitkamp, etc.) just voted against background checks for gun shows?

I just responded to that matter in my last post in this thread. I get the distinct impression that Reid isn't very interested in the issue or is in some ways hostile to it himself and thus wasn't willing to twist the arms to get the job done.