Letter spells it out: Dems back Reid

Friday, April 27, 2007 | 7:17 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Supporters of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid mounted a defense over his "war is lost" comment Thursday, responding to critics whose ranks grew to include veteran Washington Post columnist David Broder.

All 50 Democratic senators signed a letter to the Washington Post protesting Broder's article, in which he called Reid an embarrassment and declared that Democrats deserve better than Reid's "amateurish performance."

Today, VoteVets.org, a progressive veterans group, will start airing ads on Las Vegas and Reno radio stations featuring a Nevada veteran. "Harry Reid is leading the fight to redeploy our forces from Iraq responsibly, so they can focus on defeating the real terrorists," veteran Elliot Anderson says in the ads. " Sen. Reid, troops like me thank you."

Reid has become a political lightning rod for saying last week that if the country continues with President Bush's strategy of sending more troops to Iraq, the war is lost.

Broder's column riveted Washington. He compared the incompetence of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to that of Reid. "The Democrats deserve better, and the country needs more than Harry Reid has to offer," Broder wrote.

Democrats who signed the letter in response included Sens. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who supports the war, and Tim Johnson of South Dakota, who has not attended all year as he recuperates from illness.

"In contrast to Mr. Broder's insinuations, we believe Mr. Reid is an extraordinary leader who has effectively guided the new Democratic majority through these first few months with skill and aplomb," the letter said.

Furor over Reid's remark has grown despite his efforts to explain that it belonged in a narrow context - if Bush sought a military-only solution to the war.

Republicans said the comment undercut troop morale, suggesting that it was evidence Democrats aren't equipped to be stewards of national defense.

After Vice President Dick Cheney held a rare news conference Tuesday outside the Senate to criticize Reid, Sen. John Kerry responded in a column Thursday in the online Huffington Post.

"When it comes to Harry Reid speaking from his heart or Dick Cheney speaking from both sides of his mouth, we'll take Harry Reid's heart any day," Kerry wrote, directing readers to the "Stand With Harry" page on his Web site.