WEEK IN REVIEW: WASHINGTON, D.C.

Sunday, April 15, 2007 | 7:24 a.m.

WASHINGTON - On the first day of the new Congress in January, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the assembled senators that he appreciated the courtesy they had shown him, and he acknowledged that the transition to Democratic rule "wasn't as smooth as clockwork."

By Day 100, Reid's gentle humility had given way to a bit of swagger.

Flanked by his leadership team at a news conference last week, the Nevada Democrat spoke about the rightness of their mission to "change the course abroad and here at home." Then the party's most famous skeptic predicted Senate Democrats would reap the rewards at the polls in 2008.

The headline the next day in a Capitol Hill newspaper asked, "What's the definition of confident? Answer: Reid and Schumer," a nod to Reid's right-hand campaign man, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York.

With steadiness and a few stumbles, Reid has led his party on issues that public opinion polls show captivate Americans: global warming, middle-class pocketbook relief, the war in Iraq - where President Bush's strategy is on a collision course with Congress.

Reid has helped Democrats demonstrate that they are active and determined opponents of the Republican agenda, a strategy they expect will help them win more congressional seats and the White House in 2008.

Yet Reid's assertiveness carries risk. He has appeared more partisan than statesman, and unless he adjusts, he could be seen as no better than the Republican leaders whom Democrats accused of practicing divisive politics at the expense of the country.

Opinion polls show that the Democrats are doing something right. Americans gave Congress its highest approval rating in a year, 15 points higher than the 25 percent showing Republicans had before voters kicked them out of office in fall, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll this month. Even so, 57 percent still disapprove of Congress.

Senate Republicans chalk up Reid's victories to an extended honeymoon. They say Reid engaged in partisan grandstanding, and they predict voters will tire of it and demand real movement on issues.

"Making a lot of noise and moving around a lot doesn't necessarily lead to a lot of results," said Ryan Locksarn, communications director of the Senate Republican Conference. "That only works for so long."

To be sure, none of the top six campaign promises Democrats made to take over the congressional majority in last fall's election has made its way into law.

The House zipped through the six as promised. The Senate passed three: boosting the minimum wage, carrying out the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and lifting Bush's ban on stem cell research.

Still pending are bills to enable Medicare to negotiate for lower-priced prescription drugs, end oil company royalties and give tax breaks on student loans.

Part of the delay can be attributed to Senate rules that allow more time than the House does for debate and give the minority more tools to oppose legislation. Former Republican operative John Pitney, now a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College in California, calls it the difference between football time and baseball time, and said Reid is doing fine.

A confident Reid dismissed complaints about lingering bills. "Look back at the last year," when the Republicans were in charge, he said. "Their biggest accomplishment was to spend a week or two on Terry Schiavo at this stage."

Still, Reid has stumbled. He was forced to back down on ethics reform, allowing approval of a Republican amendment that requires lawmakers to disclose more information about the origin of earmarks - items senators slip into legislation to pay for projects back home.

Republicans complain that Reid is forcing votes on partisan issues to score political points instead of compromising on bills that both parties can support. An example is the first vote on minimum wage legislation. Reid engineered the proceedings so that Republicans voted against the wage increase. Republicans say they opposed that bill because it did not include small-business tax breaks, which were eventually included in a second version that passed.

Under Reid, committee leaders have been given latitude to go after global warming and other issues and to investigate the executive branch, including the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. Reid boasted that the new Senate has held almost 60 oversight hearings on the Iraq war.

"The best thing we did," he said, was to pass budget legislation despite the Democrats' tenuous two-vote majority.

But history is likely to remember Reid more for his role in trying to end the war. In a series of maneuvers, Reid found 50 senators - a majority on the day of the vote - to support setting a deadline for withdrawing U.S. troops. The deadline has set the stage for a showdown with the White House.

Reid and Schumer say that Democrats are carrying out the wishes of most Americans and that their party's polling shows that Republicans who continue to support Bush on the war will pay for it at the ballot box in 2008.

Reid's challenge now, Democrats and Republicans say, is to show that Democrats can govern, which means reining in partisan tendencies that seem to come naturally to Reid.

As Pitney said of Reid and his former sport: "His boxer's instincts are kicking in. When your opponent starts to reel, you hit harder."