Soft-spoken Reid to face biggest challenge

Benjamin Grove and Suzanne Struglinski

Saturday, Nov. 13, 2004 | 12:13 p.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

November 13 - 14, 2004

WASHINGTON -- As head of the Nevada Gaming Commission in December 1978, Harry Reid was on the receiving end of a tirade by Stardust Casino executive and convicted sports fixer Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal and Rosenthal's lawyer, Oscar Goodman.

In the high-profile showdown at a commission meeting, eventually portrayed in the movie "Casino," Rosenthal berated Reid for denying his application for a gaming license.

Goodman learned something that day: "Both of us are probably the most strong-headed people in Nevada."

"There was no love lost between us at the time, but there was always a mutual respect and admiration," said Goodman, now the mayor of Las Vegas. "I put my face in his face and he didn't back down, and of course I didn't either."

The typically soft-spoken Reid has a history of facing conflict and winning.

Now the 64-year-old senator will face perhaps the biggest challenge of his life -- he's about to take the leadership role of the Senate Democrats and will have to face the president of the United States and the Republicans who control Congress.

Senate Democrats on Tuesday are expected to elect Reid their new leader, making him perhaps the most visible Democrat in Washington -- the face of the party.

"Harry Reid will become a household name in this country," Nevada archivist Guy Rocha said, calling Reid the most powerful congressional member the state has ever had. "The world is going to be watching the Senate, and the whole world is going to be watching Harry Reid."

Reid has long enjoyed plaudits as a back-room deal-maker and floor manager, skills required of a party's No. 2 man, the whip.

But leader is a different job, with a dizzying array of responsibilities.

Democrats will look to Reid to craft message, policy and strategy. Reporters will close on him every time he leaves a meeting. Party fund-raisers will require him at events.

The question, Rocha said, that will take time to answer is: "Does that job play to his strengths or not?"

Washington's atmosphere of partisan rancor only increases the position's importance.

Reid, whose campaign slogan was "Independent Like Nevada," will now be anything but independent, several observers said.

He will lead a group of strident Democrats frustrated by an Election Day trouncing, said Jon Lauck, history professor at South Dakota State University, a Congress watcher who closely monitored the race of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., whose Election Day loss to Rep. John Thune, R-S.D., opened the job to Reid.

Reid, who declined interviews this week pending his election, is perhaps an odd choice for leader of a generally liberal group of Democratic senators, Lauck said.

"My suspicion is that Harry Reid will have a very difficult time of it," Lauck said.

Reid's biggest strength now may be that he is not viewed as exceedingly partisan, observers said. But that can work against him as the leader.

Reid has frustrated Democratic activists and a few in his caucus, for not being enough of a Democrat.

He is against abortion with a mixed voting record. Reid's abortion stance could prove dicey during a high-profile fight over Supreme Court nominees, observers said.

Reid has been criticized by his own environmental allies for backing pro-mining regulations. And the National Rifle Association has praised him with compliments typically reserved for GOP allies. Reid was one of a handful of Democrats to vote against extending a national handgun ban.

Reid supported a state initiative that banned gay marriage but stood his caucus against a similar proposal that would have amended the U.S. Constitution.

Long-time political ally Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., shrugged off critics who suggest Reid may not be the best senator to lead a Democratic caucus that is arguably more liberal now that it has shed several centrists, including Sen. John Breaux, D-La.

"Whenever we elect a new leader, there will be some differences among the caucus," said Durbin, who is a contender for Reid's whip job.

Critics say that unlike Daschle, Reid is not a charismatic, telegenic spokesman.

"He's not flashy," Durbin said, shrugging off the criticism. "But I don't think that is the person we are looking for. We're looking for a person of substance."

Back in 1994, doubters had similar concerns about Daschle that they have about Reid -- too quiet, too gun-shy, not up to representing the liberal majority of his party, said Steve Smith, director of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy at Washington University.

Daschle proved doubters wrong, Smith said.

"In the end they found that he was just the right guy," Smith said.

That likely will prove true for Reid, too, Smith said.

Reid will lead a caucus that is reeling. Republicans picked up four seats and now have a 55 to 44 majority; Independent James Jeffords of Vermont typically sides with Democrats.

In announcing his bid to be the new leader, just hours after Daschle conceded, Reid said the Democratic agenda in the next Congress is a "work in progress." He huddled on Tuesday in Washington with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., fresh from his loss but vowing to be a high-profile player in the Senate.

Part of Reid's very high-profile job will be bridging partisan divides, senators said, and after the heated presidential election, that's an added burden. It's also difficult given the Democrats' bigger deficit in the Senate.

Republican Senate Whip Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said he respects Reid. McConnell said Reid works with Republicans in the spirit of compromise but holds his ground for his party.

Reid understands that the "business of the opposition is opposing," McConnell said, quoting former Republican Senate Leader Robert A. Taft, who fought President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal policies.

"Harry is going to do his job," McConnell said. "The point I want to make is that when he disagrees with you, he doesn't do it in a disagreeable fashion."

That could win him points in his new role.

Sometimes senators prefer folksy to erudite traits in their leaders, former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., has said, in reference to Reid.

"I think Harry comes off as soothing in some respects," Lott told congressional newspaper The Hill last year.

Just a few hours after Daschle conceded his race at about 3 a.m. Election night, Reid was on the phone lining up support among his colleagues. He has at least 30 supporters, he announced Nov. 3.

Among them is Kerry, who praised Reid for leadership on veterans and Yucca Mountain issues. Reid is a master of the Senate like Lyndon Johnson and George Mitchell, Kerry said.

"He's been my friend, my partner in the Senate, and an outstanding voice for Nevada, as I learned from Nevadans everywhere I went in this campaign," Kerry said in a statement released by his Senate office.

Jeffords also supports Reid, a spokesman said.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said Reid's leadership position will give Reid even more power to dictate how state issues are handled in the Senate.

Ensign predicted the Senate's larger, new GOP majority will help bring more fiscal conservatism to the chamber. It will also be easier for President Bush to win Senate approval for his judicial nominees, Ensign said.

It remains to be seen whether Republicans ultimately view Reid as an "obstructionist" on judges and other issues, Ensign said.

But senators respect Reid as a man of his word, Ensign said.

"Republicans trust Reid more than they do Daschle," Ensign said.

Reid and the Democrats likely will face showdowns with Bush and the Republican majority on issues including tax reform and Social Security reform.

The most treacherous waters ahead for Reid likely will flow from fights over Bush's judicial nominees, especially possible Supreme Court nominees, observers said. Reid has played a lead role in previous fights that left Daschle most susceptible to "obstructionist" charges.

Just because Reid disagrees with Republicans doesn't mean he is "obstructionist," said former Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., a long-time friend and ally of Reid.

Reid is adept at forging compromises, he said.

"Clearly there are a number of philosophical differences between the parties on a number of key issues," Bryan said. "The American people didn't give Bush a mandate to change Social Security (or a mandate) on prescription drugs, health care, the economy."

Reid must quickly decide how to best use his strengths in his new job, observers said. Reid might decide to delegate some of the on-camera posturing to others, said UCLA political science professor Barbara Sinclair, who studies the Senate.

Republicans at times have been jealous of Daschle for having Reid because of his sheer willingness to spend long hours doing thankless work on the floor, Sinclair said.

But that quiet toiling is over, she said. And Reid won't be able to play good cop to Daschle's bad cop anymore, she said.

"He sought this position," Sinclair said. "He's going to have to satisfy his caucus and that is going to mean a fair amount of fighting Bush."

She added, "The Republicans like him. Of course, they are going to like him a lot less over time."

Reid's tangles with organized crime 25 years ago may offer a clue about his grit -- and his new leadership challenges, Nevada historian Rocha said. Reid didn't blink even when his car was reportedly wired to explode, and when federal investigators probed Reid's own ties to organized crime, Rocha said. (Investigators found none.)

"Ultimately, he stood up to the mob," Rocha said. "He was really tested. The mob was out to get him dirty."

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