"Unlikely Iron Lady"

When you look at Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) you don't immediately think "Iron Lady."   She is short, unimposing, really a bit drab looking and mild in demeanor.   She does not grab spotlights or microphones.   You might think of her as the anti-Palen -- a woman with real power and not just a loud mouth attack to create outrage against those in power.

But make no mistake.  Murray is soft-spoken, but she is tough.  And she has real power as the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee and thus the Co-Chair of the Budget Conference Committee with Paul Ryan, her counterpart from the House Budget Committee.

Patty Murray is a no-nonsence budget chair and negotiator.   She, or somebody, is setting the stage for her as the adult in the room and warning the Republicans not to continue their antics as the unruly children.   Her early career as a preschool teacher lends the apt metaphor for the Republicans as kids having tantrums.

Here's a quote from Murray in an interview quoted on Huffington Post:

"I think the Republicans have to sit back and say, 'Do we want to be part of that governing party system and compromise system, or do we want to be the group in the corner that yells and screams?' . . .  That's what caused the government shutdown, the -- I'm sorry, I used to teach preschool -- the temper tantrum on the floor, to show how somehow they are powerful." . . . 

Right person for this job?   I think so.

Ralph