Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) “punched right back at Donald Trump for poking fun at his grisly eye injury,” Politico reports.
Said Reid: “Donald Trump can make fun of the injury that crushed the side of my face and took the sight in my right eye all he wants — I’ve dealt with tougher opponents than him. I may not be able to see out of my right eye, but with my good eye, I can see that Trump is a man who inherited his money and spent his entire life pretending like he earned it.”
“Trump is a human leech who will bleed the country and sit at his golf resort laughing at the money he has made, even though working people have been hurt and ruined.”
— Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) on the Senate floor.
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) “says Democrats should move to curtail the filibuster if they win the White House and Senate in November only to run up against persistent use of the tactic by Republicans,” the New York Times reports.
Said Reid: “Unless after this election there is a dramatic change to go back to the way it used to be, the Senate will have to evolve as it has in the past. But it will evolve with a majority vote determining stuff. It is going to happen.”
“If anybody can get his senators to all agree to go over a cliff and kill themselves, that’s pretty good. Boy, I will tell you that guy has a lot more sway with his caucus than I ever had. If I ever suggested something as absurd and bizarre as that to my caucus, they would revote and kick the hell out of me out of the caucus. I mean, really.”
— Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), quoted by the New York Times, on Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) effort to prevent even a hearing for Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.
“I’ve spent enough time with my family. I always kind of believe in quality, not quantity, so I’m fine.”
— Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), quoted by the Associated Press on his retirement plans.
“Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has been actively reviewing Massachusetts rules for filling a US Senate vacancy, another indication of the seriousness with which Democrats are gaming out the possibility of Elizabeth Warren joining likely presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s ticket,” the Boston Globe reports.
“The upshot of Reid’s review is that Senate Democrats may have found an avenue to block or at least narrow GOP Governor Charlie Baker’s ability to name a temporary replacement and prevent the Senate from flipping to a Democratic majority if Warren were to leave the chamber. That suggests the issue is not as significant an obstacle as Reid previously feared.”
Key takeaway: “Warren could file such a letter 145 days before the Jan. 20, 2017 inauguration and successfully block Baker from picking any temporary replacement… A more likely scenario would be that Warren would start the clock ticking for a special Massachusetts ballot only if Clinton won, with an intent-to-resign letter dated the day after the Nov. 8 national election.”
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid told the AP that Bernie Sanders shouldn’t continue his campaign through the Democratic convention in July.
Said Reid: “I’ve never been too good at math but I can figure that one out. I think he better do a little mathing.”
He added: “I don’t know what that’s going to prove. Sometimes you just have to give up. I’ve lost before. The numbers aren’t there.”
“I think we should just kind of lay off Bernie Sanders a little bit.”
— Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), quoted by The Hill, after being asked whether he was concerned about Sanders’s “tenuous loyalty” to the Democratic Party.
“The answer is not only no, but hell no.”
— Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), quoted by The Hill, on the possibility of Hillary Clinton picking a Democratic senator as a running mate who is from a state with a Republican governor.
“I want you to lose.”
— Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), quoted by The Hill, when confronted by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) who is facing ethics charges as he runs for U.S. Senate.
“Harry Reid is set to reprise his role as the top Democratic attack dog in a presidential election, focusing on what he calls the nomination of ‘anti-woman, anti-Hispanic’ Donald Trump,” Politico reports.
“The Senate minority leader launched a series of rhetorical broadsides against Trump on Thursday afternoon on a conference call ostensibly about the Supreme Court vacancy. Reid spent most of the time tossing bombs at Trump, adding that he would ‘certainly hope’ that he can use his prominent position — and unfiltered insults — to badger the billionaire on a daily basis. In many respects, it would be a reprise of what he did to Mitt Romney in 2012 and the Koch brothers in 2014.”
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that he thinks his party will win back the majority in the Senate this year, The Hill reports.
Said Reid: “We only need four (seats) to take the majority. With the numbers I’ve given you, it’s going to be a fairly certain thing that we can do that.”
Jon Ralston: “Nevada is a battleground state, with a significant role to play in the presidential race, a Senate seat that might determine whether Democrats regain control of that chamber and key congressional races that could make inroads in the GOP’s majority in the House. Reid, summoning all his considerable political muscle, is determined to erase the stain of 2014 and leave his stamp on his home state and the nation.”
“That no one who understands Nevada politics and who has studied Reid thinks this is impossible shows just how feared the minority leader remains, and just how determined he is. Reid will not be on the ballot in 2016, but he looms as large as ever over this election.”
Sen. Harry Reid told CNN that he’s stunned to see Mitt Romney demanding Donald Trump’s tax returns.
Said Reid: “All I know, I can’t imagine Romney having the gall coming after anybody’s returns. Let’s look at his. He never gave us his tax returns. Who was the brainchild who got him to do that? Romney never gave us his tax returns. He did not — he gave us his summary, he didn’t give us our tax returns.”
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) praised Donald Trump for speaking his mind, The Hill reports.
Said Reid: “You may not agree with his authenticity, but he’s authentic. People like that. He speaks his mind, which reminds me of me once in a while. I think that’s something that’s refreshing.”
He added: “He just says whatever he thinks is appropriate. I think some of the stuff is not so good but he does that. People identify with that.”
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) told CNN that the race between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton shows no signs of dying down.
Said Reid: “These races go on for a long long time.”
When asked if that included a brokered convention, he responded: “Sure, seriously some of the old conventions produced some good people. It would be kind of fun.”
“Look we’ve gotten along fine. With that bunch of people running, I’m kind of pulling for him.”
— Sen. Harry Reid, quoted by The Hill, on Donald Trump’s campaign for president.
Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell “sat down for a rare face-to-face meeting on the last day of November. The agenda was straightforward — plotting out the legislative agenda for the end of the year — but what transpired has pushed the relationship between the veteran Senate leaders, never warm and fuzzy, to a new low of bitterness and distrust,” Politico reports.
“Reid left the meeting seething with rage, associates of the Democratic leader said, after McConnell told Reid that legislative language to help 9/11 responders and challenge a boycott against Israeli goods would be left out of a must-pass transportation bill. Within a day, Reid’s allies were going public to portray McConnell as using 9/11 heroes as negotiating chips, and later that week Reid said it was solely McConnell who blocked the Israel language.”
The Hill reports both Reid and McConnell are disputing this story.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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