Soft-spoken Reid criticizes Bush, and it comes through loud and clear

By Lisa Mascaro (contact)

Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007 | 7:13 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took on President Bush on Monday, calling him the most stubborn official he has ever worked with, and stopped just short of using the L-word (rhymes with fire) that got him in so much trouble the last time he used it to describe the commander in chief.

But perhaps most striking about Reid's outburst against the president was his volume.

He whispered.

In an era when partisan political battles are fought with shouting heads and the exclamation points of bloggers, it was instructive Monday to hear Reid make some of his strongest criticism of the president in a don't-wake-the-baby voice.

Reid has always been more Mansfield than Johnson when it comes to majority leader styles - more statesman than swagger.

But his attack Monday came with an unusual quiet.

The volleys began early in the morning as lawmakers were returning to the Hill for their final push of the legislative session.

Bush delivered a harsh welcome back missive from the Rose Garden. The president chastised Congress for its "unfinished business," calling on it to send additional war funds, pass spending bills and fix the tax code so millions of middle-class Americans won't become inadvertently snared by a tax that wasn't designed for them.

Bush mocked the way the Senate used a procedural maneuver to keep the chamber in session during the recess by opening, and then quickly closing, the day's business to prevent the president from making recess appointments without the Senate's consent.

"If 30 seconds is a full day, no wonder Congress has got a lot of work to do," Bush zinged.

Washington is at a standstill over partisan differences, and Reid wasn't about to take the blame. He did his own mocking at a news conference a couple of hours later, saying Bush "should really come up with a new speech."

He listed the Democrats' accomplishments this year and pressed their view that Bush is unwilling to accept even the most "minimal strings" to change course in Iraq that they have attached to the war funding bill.

"I've never worked with someone who has authority that is as stubborn and as unwilling to compromise as President Bush," Reid said softly.

Or did he say that?

Reporters strained to hear, challenged by a blowing ventilation system and the sounds of dozens of colleagues shuffling in the stuffed press room.

When a reporter asked Reid about the president's assertion that the military would be forced to lay off civilians if Congress didn't move to quickly release more war funds, Reid fired off a very pointed, very quiet, retort.

"People know how I feel about his credibility, OK? I've been more explicit on previous occasions," Reid shot.

Reporters crept closer to the stage.

"Let me just say the president is not leveling with the American people," Reid said, explaining how Defense Secretary Robert Gates told congressional leaders that the Army and Marines have enough money for several more months. "The president's spin machine is going ... This is all bluff from the president."

Some people use a stage whisper for the let-me-tell-you-a-secret effect. Reid seems to do it because that's the way his diaphragm works. Rather than summon his voice from somewhere deep within him, he releases it from the tip of his tongue.

It's an effective tool because it forces people to pay attention - unless, of course, they can't. Thankfully, digital recorders hear just about everything.