So far Harry Reid has exceeded my expectations

[WI_DEM]

I'm still not sure he was the best choice, but I think he has performed admirably in many respects as Minority Leader. He didn't try to stop Boxer and praised her courage (even though he didn't vote with her on the election fraud issue). He has not been timid in attacking Bush. He seems to be working very hard to ensure the Democrats are solid in fighting Bush on Social Security "Reform". He and many other Democrats are opposing Gonzales--I'm disappointed that he may not filibuster it--but if the Democrats (and maybe a few stray Republicans) can take a powerful stand against torture and Gonzales=Torture in my book then it will at least be a moral victory for the Democrats. Finally he has called for an exit strategy from Iraq.

All in all, I like him more than Tom Daschle as opposition leader.

[Dickie Flatt]

1. Agreed

Certainly there are others I'd prefer, but he is definitely a good leader and far better than Daschle.

[genius]

2. He is a traitor to his oath, the United States and the human race.

He should resign in disgrace and never seek public office again. And I'm being nice towards him. For him to OK the torture of every man, woman and child in America is outrageous. It's time to remove him.

[Just Me]

10. What about the neoCONspirators and their constituents!!!!

Wouldn't you prefer to see them removed FIRST as far more egregious TRAITORS and VIOLATORS of their oathes?

Some minds go HMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!

[goobergunch]

12. Uh....he's planning on voting against, last I checked. (n/t)

[KittyWampus]

18. You Words Are Those Of An Extremist.

[Dickie Flatt]

20. How is he doing that?

[DalvaThree]

27. unbelievable

I swear sometimes I think DU is a joke site. No one can post some of these things and be serious.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

32. No one can post some of these things and be serious

I agree. genius is joking. he has to be.

[John_H]

35. Yup. Even worse he should

pull out his teeth, start fucking his first cousin, post on Free Republic, register republican then try to disrupt Dem message boards.

[bunkerbuster1]

39. self delete

[RandomKoolzip]

3. Yeah....just wait till that Anthrax letter comes to his office, though....

[Nite Owl]

4. He's growing on me.

I like the look in his eye. It sort of says don't mess with us. Time will tell.

[ginnyinWI]

16. I like Reid

He grew up poor in rural Nevada--he's tough--an asset to the Dem party.

[FreedomAngel82]

23. I saw him on "Meet the Press"

in early December and really liked him. One thing I like is his stance on SS. He's very clear that as long as he's around it won't go private, which is good news. I also like his idea of the "war room" and hope it's getting to good use. I agree with NiteOwl. I give him a little more time. He's like Obama and still new. You can't expect TOO much out of them. If he votes yes for Gonazlez though... :\ I hope whoever said he's going against him is right.

[Zynx]

5. He is more effective than Daschle.

There's no question about that. Daschle was incompetent.

[Gothmog]

6. I also agree

He is doing more with fewer votes compared to Daschle.

[TacticalPeek]

7. The boy has potential.

Top Democrat pledges Social Security fight
Senate minority leader says Bush plan 'will not happen'

Tuesday, February 1, 2005 Posted: 6:45 PM EST (2345 GMT)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush will use his State of the Union speech to argue for a swift overhaul of Social Security, the White House said Tuesday, but the top Senate Democrat called the idea a non-starter.

"President Bush should forget about privatizing Social Security," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid told reporters on Capitol Hill.

"It will not happen -- and the sooner he comes to that realization, the better off we are."

more
http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/01/Dems.socialsecurity

[Cha]

33. Yay!

"It will not happen -- and the sooner he comes to that realization, the better off we are."

I hope he sticks to that..he could be my hero!

[JoshK]

8. He's pro-war and anti-choice. You must have had low expectations.

[Just Me]

11. Who would you support? Anyone? eom

[moggie12]

9. I agree & he's way, way better than Daschle

He's doing a good job so far -- got all the Dems organized on SS, for one thing.

[hollowdweller]

13. I like him so far. He swings back and even heads them off at the pass

[dogman]

14. He seems to have a strategy.

He is also stuck with the Dems that are there. It's hard to hold out when all the GOP needs is five DINOs to break a filibuster. To go down in flames without getting out your message would be far worse in the long run.

[Just Me]

15. He's TOUGH. We need TOUGH. n/t

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Dickie Flatt]

21. Explain please

[DELUSIONAL]

34. Any male that wants to control a women's body-- right to choose

by voting against women's interest -- is a sexist pig.

He doesn't have a good record on women's issues -- how the hell can a damned Mormon have anything but contempt for women?

I say this as someone who is probably related to most of the pioneer Mormons in Utah. He consistently voted with the enemies of women's control over our bodies.

[iwantmycountryback]

24. Care to elaborate?

Sometimes I wonder if people here take more joy in bashing Democrats or Republicans?

[flpoljunkie]

41. You might want to read this article from the Weekly Standard who disagree

that Harry Reid passes the pro-life test.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/056bbpzt.asp?pg=2

Reid's reputation as an opponent of abortion rests partly on votes in 1999 and 2003 against the Harkin amendment, which endorsed Roe v. Wade. Today, Reid is the only remaining Democratic senator who voted no both times. He also voted for a ban on partial-birth abortion and for a bill making the killer of a pregnant woman guilty of two murders--one for the woman's life and one for the unborn child's. Those votes bolster Reid's pro-life credentials.

But there's more to the story. The Harkin resolution was merely an expression of Senate sentiment. It wasn't binding. On partial-birth abortion, Reid voted initially for a substitute bill that would have gutted the ban. And on the two-victims legislation, he demonstrably backed a measure proposed by Senator Dianne Feinstein of California that would have done just the opposite, codified that only one victim was involved. Reid and then-Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle ostentatiously cast the first two votes for the Feinstein bill. It lost by one vote.

After President Bush reinstated the so-called Mexico City policy which bars funds from overseas organizations that perform or promote abortions, Reid moved to block the president's action. His amendment was never enacted. Reid also supported attempts to revive American funds for the United Nations Population Fund, some of whose money aids coercive abortions in China. These attempts to stymie the pro-life efforts failed. So what's the bottom line on Reid as a reliable legislative battler on behalf of the unborn? He's not one.

Finally, there's the matter of Reid's allies and opponents on abortion. Klein quotes Kate Michelman, the former head of NARAL Pro-Choice America, as saying of Reid, "I'm honored to be his friend." When Reid ran for Democratic leader, neither NARAL nor Planned Parenthood voiced a peep of opposition. And WeNews, an online publication for women, concluded Reid's ascension wouldn't affect the strong pro-abortion position of Senate Democrats. Meanwhile, Douglas Johnson, the chief lobbyist for National Right to Life, said Reid "is certainly no ally of the pro-life movement. He usually votes against pro-life interests when it matters most." Thus, Reid turns out to be, again, closer to the pro-abortion side than the pro-life.

[quinnox]

19. I like Reid a lot too - he is cagey

and tends to be underestimated.

[bunkerbuster1]

42. And tough as nails.

If you don't think so, just ask Jack Gordon:

quoted from

http://slate.com/id/2111392/



A man named Jack Gordon, who later married LaToya Jackson, tried to give Reid a $12,000 bribe. Reid let the FBI videotape Gordon offering him the bribe, and then, according to a Las Vegas Review-Journal account, he "put his hands around Gordon's neck and said, 'You son of a bitch, you tried to bribe me.'" That's right, Senate Democrats are being led by a man who once tried to strangle LaToya Jackson's future husband-manager.

[Geek_Girl]

22. I agree I think he's doing a good job

standing up to the GOP majority. I read somewhere were he took on the Mafia in Nevada. So I know them man has previous experience with cleaning up organized crime.

[FreedomAngel82]

25. The Mafia? Wow

I remember on the "Meet the Press" episode I saw him on Russell asked him if it was true he was an ex boxer and Reid said "yes" and Russell asked if he was hit if he'd hit back and Reid looked him like "duh." :eyes: What a question.

[DalvaThree]

28. an ex-boxer too? sweet.... nt

[Idioteque]

29. He used to be a casino commisioner in Las Vegas...

...one time he got a tip that somebody was trying to bribe him. He set up a hidden recorder for the cops and when the guy came in, he choked him by the neck and said "You son of a bitch, you're trying to bribe me!"
Reid actually served as inspiration for a character in Scorsese's movie Casino

[bunkerbuster1]

43. I like this story

so much I repeated it above. great minds, yadda yadda...

[Geek_Girl]

30. They tried to Blow him up

<snip>
three months after he stepped down as a gaming commissioner, discovered a car bomb planted underneath his car in 1981.
</snip>

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/1998/Sep-06-Sun-1998/news/8156109.html">Link

You know the man's got balls if the mob tried to blow him up.

[DalvaThree]

26. I'm starting to think he's a crafty BAD ASS

I think he knows what he's doing.

[welshTerrier2]

31. hate his call to increase the military by 40,000

exceeding MY expectations would have happened if he had talked about the excessive use of American military personnel around the world ...

it would have been great if he had talked about increasing the Peace Corps and other humanitarian volunteer organizations to really put the right "face" on America ...

but nope, more of the same old "we have to show America how macho we are" ...

apparently your expectations were very different from mine ...

added on edit: and btw, just to be clear, i'm glad he called for an exit strategy but that's not within a million miles of calling for withdrawal ... and it certainly makes doesn't go as far as Kennedy went ... i also didn't like that he denied even having read Kennedy's remarks on Iraq ... there's just no excuse for that ...

[CWebster]

36. He has a stubborn tenacity

which may be the perfect trait for the leadership in these times--though politically, he is somewhat conservative.

Daschle was too soft, too compliant. Wrong.

The party should play up it's midwestern populist identity - Durbin, Harkin, even Gephardt was a strong Union man, before he got caught up in the DLC tide.

[messiah]

37. That's great , to stop the rightward drift of the country

be satisfied with conservative democrats and support the drift!.

[CWebster]

38. It is more than his politics that make him the man

I remember that tight set of his jaw, watching him read his own book on minerals or mining or something, during a filibuster.

He is one steely character- that is not likely to cave and I don't get that his own politics dominate. We will have to see.

[Califooyah Operative]

40. he's doing fine..

he stood with boxer the whole time on the 2nd. He's been nothing but supportive of her and our causes. I think he's another one who's decided to join us rather then go against us. I like his organization with other democrats in congress, and that he brought he democratic agenda to us. He's vocal especially when it matters, and he speaks respectfully and with lots of tact. I was weary of him at first, but he's made me happy so far.