Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Reid causes stir with talk show appearance

WASHINGTON -- Incoming Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid got a lesson in "lonely at the top" this week.

The Nevada senator heard an earful from Republicans and Democrats alike after his first Sunday morning talk show interview as the new leader.

Conservatives didn't like Reid calling Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas an "embarrassment" during Reid's appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press." And liberals didn't like Reid implying that he could support Justice Antonin Scalia as a chief justice, calling him "one smart guy."

A few conservative critics said Reid's comments were racially biased.

Liberals are threatened by Thomas because he is black and conservative, which goes against liberal dogma that someone can't be both, said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative public interest group.

Reid "is essentially calling Thomas stupid," Fitton said. "There is certain language that is allowed to be used against Clarence Thomas that is not allowed against other black public officials."

In newspapers this week syndicated conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer asked how Reid could back Scalia and not Thomas. "I think it's the liberal plantation mentality in which if you're a man of the right it's OK but if you're a man of the right and you're African-American, it's not," Krauthammer wrote.

Reid on NBC said Thomas' opinions were "poorly written."

Denver Post columnist Al Knight called Reid's comments "nonsense" and he wrote that he doubts Reid has read Thomas decisions.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who has often praised Reid as a Senate leader, on a Fox News show this week said, "Frankly, if you read Thomas' opinions they are some of the most articulate, responsible, substantive and interesting opinions on the court."

And conservative group Focus on the Family, in a daily news e-mail this week that goes to 111,000 subscribers, included a story about Reid's comments and a link for readers to e-mail responses to Reid.

Leaders of the group thought it was "curious" that Reid could like Scalia and not Thomas, spokeswoman Carrie Gordon Earll said. "Their philosophies are so similar," she said.

Reid declined to further explain his stance on the justices. "Sen. Reid stands by his comments," spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said.

Reid has read Thomas' opinions, Hafen said, although she could not say to what extent.

Reid aides noted that Scalia and Thomas have not always agreed, and that Thomas has been the sole dissenter on a number of opinions. Reid strongly disagreed with one Thomas dissent in a case last year that Reid said went against the interests of Nevada's small population of dairy farmers.

Meanwhile Reid took flak from allies. Liberal groups this week warned that Scalia, along with Thomas, represented the extreme right of the court and was too conservative to be considered for chief justice. Scalia would be a "disaster," said Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., told the Washington Post that Reid's possible support for Scalia was "outrageous."

Reid had said Scalia would have to overcome ethics concerns, a reference to the justice going hunting with Vice President Dick Cheney not long after the court accepted a case involving Cheney. But it's Scalia's stances in civil rights cases and right-wing ideology, not his personal relationship with Cheney, that has Democrats preparing to fight, Gannett News columnist DeWayne Wickham wrote this week.

"But a decision by Bush to nominate Scalia to be chief justice will surely spark a confirmation fight, one that as the Senate's top Democrat, Reid should be prepared to lead," Wickham wrote.

And the New York Times editorial page today said Reid's NBC appearance was "not terribly encouraging."

"There is far more than personal ethics to plumb in Scalia's ultraextreme record, and Democrats reportedly made this clear to Reid after he stepped on his first hornet's nest as leader," the Times wrote. "We hope he learned from his caucus that flashes of brilliance hardly justify Scalia's retrogressive record on constitutional law."

In addition, Reid this week braced for an early scuffle with Republican leader Bill Frist of Tennessee. Party leaders are set to spar this month over how much money and how many staffers Democrats will get on committees next year now that the GOP has a new 55-45 majority.

The battle is important because much of the work of Congress is done in committees, and lawmakers rely heavily on their panel staffers to handle everything from research to bill-writing.

Democrats have proposed that the current 50-50 split of staff and budgets would be fair but GOP leaders want two-thirds.

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