Jon Ralston joins the liberal blogs’ speculation about who Harry Reid’s Karl Rove might be

By Jon Ralston (contact)

Friday, Sept. 28, 2007 | 7:31 a.m.

Catching up on some stuff that made news this week and is crying out, nay begging, for commentary:

Lately, the majority leader's inability or refusal to simply end the Iraq war has them up in arms, so two of the more popular sites tried to peer behind Pinky's mask this week to see who his Karl Rove might be, who Reid's Brain might be.

First, The Huffington Post and then Daily Kos riffed on the Iraq war debate and how Reid has handled it, using it as an opportunity to list his cadre of advisers. I am bemused by this attempted pulling back of the curtain because no one inside this state would have much success - and anyone outside Nevada would have no chance.

The Huffington Post piece asserted that Reid's regular circle of friends includes Jim Margolis, a national consultant who has worked here, too; Doug Sosnik, a well-known political operative; Mark Mellman, a national pollster who has worked for Rep. Shelley Berkley; and Stephanie Cutter, a former Reid staffer and now consultant. The HuffPo also said Clintonites Paul Begala and Stan Greenberg stop by as does Susan McCue, the former top aide to Reid now helming Bono's ONE campaign.

Those revelations sent a regular Daily Kos contributor into a frenzy, expressing some of the aforementioned hate-love and causing him to ask the question, "Where the hell is Harry getting his political advice?" The point was that Reid is taking counsel from D.C. insiders instead of, presumably, the bloggers.

A couple of comments here:

First, I have no doubt these heavy hitters have access to Reid. But I do doubt that he listens to everything - or maybe even most things - they say. Of all the pols I have covered over the years, Reid is the most disdainful of consultants and pollsters. He trusts no one, except maybe some family members and a variegated network of old friends. Does anyone think he asked a consultant or pollster before calling the president a "liar" or labeling him a "loser" or saying the Iraq war "is lost"? I don't think so.

Second, don't underestimate Reid's decisiveness and trust in his own instincts, which sometimes serve him well and sometimes don't. He is very mercurial, loves to play political analyst and gossip , and rarely is there an obvious method to his madness.

One person who always seemed to get Reid and be able to get to him was McCue, one of the senator's most trusted aides before she shocked the political world by departing for Bono's world. My guess is Reid is paging her right about now.

Before I go on, this is not simply about Cafferata, who actually may have been the best qualified of the meager field of applicants for the thankless job. And I have always liked Cafferata, almost as much as I liked and respected her mother, ex-Rep. Barbara Vucanovich.

But Cafferata is a former Republican elected official, once serving as state treasurer and once running for governor. Whether or not she can be fair in assessing ethics complaints, no Democrat will believe she can be. And many Republicans have relationships with her and surely will try to exploit them.

It's an untenable situation and renders the battered commission all but lifeless. Lawmakers should put it out of its misery, repeal its existence and start anew.

First, Bob Herbert says we're a haven for sex trafficking. Now Collins makes fun of our presidential caucus. Who will be after poor lil' us next from the paper of record?