would use to destroy him. There are things about him for DUers to admire, however.
Ya gotta hand it to Wikipedia -- it'a already updated to reflect today's Secret Session.
Reid is a converted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a native of the small mining town of Searchlight, Nevada. His father was an alcoholic gold miner who committed suicide.
>snip
Reid then served as Nevada state gaming commissioner from 1977 to 1981, a post which subjected him to death threats. Reid's wife once found a bomb attached to one of their cars. A character in the film Casino played by Dick Smothers is based, in part, on Reid. An attempt was made by Jack Gordon (who would later manage and marry LaToya Jackson) to bribe Reid. Reid allowed the FBI to tape Gordon's attempt to bribe Reid with $12,000, at which point Reid attempted to strangle Gordon, saying "You son of a bitch, you tried to bribe me."
Harry Reid's exact position on abortion is difficult to pin down. Some consider him to be pro-life, or an opponent of legalized abortion, because of his vote against support of Roe v. Wade in 2004. Reid subsequently refused to answer whether he wants Roe v. Wade overturned. However, Reid proposed that Bush name one of four fervently pro-life Republican senators--Lindsey Graham of South Carolina (who promptly said he wasn't interested), Mike DeWine of Ohio, Mel Martinez of Florida and Mike Crapo of Idaho--to fill the seat on the Supreme Court ostensibly vacated by Sandra Day O'Connor. But he voted against John Roberts, nominated to replace Chief Justice William Rehnquist on his death, Bush's first Supreme Court nominee, in part because he claimed Roberts hadn't shown enough devotion to the protection of women's rights. Reid received a 100% rating from NARAL in 2001, and from 1995-2004 voted with the interests of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association 69% of the time. However, in 2003 and 2004, Reid received a 29% and 20% rating, respectively, from NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Reid was the first Senator to express support of President Bush's second nominee to the Court, Harriet Miers. Bush had discussed the selection with Reid in advance of the announcement. After Miers withdrew her nomination, Reid asked Bush not to reward the religous right's "bad behavior" by appointing a right-wing idealogue.
Reid is an opponent of tort reform. He does not approve of same-sex marriage, but is against a constitutional amendment defining marriage.
Reid converted to Mormonism after he married; he is currently also the only Mormon Democrat in the Senate. Four other members of the Senate are Latter-day Saints, but they are all Republicans.
Reid is known for speaking his mind. He made headlines in May of 2005 when he said of President George W. Bush, "The man's father is a wonderful human being. I think this guy is a loser." Reid later apologized for these comments. Reid also called Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas an "embarrassment" and referred to Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan as a "partisan hack." When asked to justify his comments about Justice Thomas, however, Reid was unable to support his claim that Thomas's opinions were "poorly written," leading to accusations of racism; the Congressional Black Caucus told Reid that his comments crossed the line. "I think all of us ought to focus more on substance and less on stereotypes and caricatures," Rep. Mel Watt said.
More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Reid
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