Harry Reid isn’t running for President. That might be one reason why he doesn’t see the point in regretting his vote for the Iraq war resolution as Hillary Clinton is the only presidential contender who doesn’t regret her vote and instead blames it all on Bush.
Essentially, they’re both taking the easy way out. Whenever Hillary talks about her vote she sounds as insincere as can be. You think it would be impossible that anyone could do a worse job? Guess again:
As he prepares to lead Senate Democrats in the debate on President Bush’s Iraq policy, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada says he has no second thoughts about his vote in 2002 authorizing the president to go to war.
“The evidence at the time was persuasive — especially if you go back and look and see what Secretary of State Colin Powell did at the United Nations,” Reid said Tuesday.
“We’ve learned since then that the evidence was manipulated,” he said. “So the answer is no. I’m not going to apologize.”
Either Sen. Reid’s memory is really, really bad or he’s just being smug and insincere as his reasoning is totally off. The Review Journal points this out, unfortunately only several paragraphs later:
Reid insists his 2002 vote was based on “inaccurate information” propounded by the Bush administration.
On Feb. 5, 2003 — four months after the Senate vote — Powell delivered a speech at the United Nations accusing Iraq of harboring chemical weapons.
Powell has since called that speech a “blot” on his record.
Basically, former Secretary of State Powell is more distressed about enabling the President to go to war than Sen. Reid. This is – to put it mildly – unfortunate.
Unfortunate is also Sen. Reid’s disdain for the people of Nevada:
“My caucus accepted it, and the people in the state of Nevada have not raised that as an issue,” Reid said.
I find it hard to believe that not a soul in Nevada has “raised that as an issue” with the Senator. There just must have been at least one lone peace activist in Nevada who must have gotten in Reid’s face about his vote.
Therefore, the Senator is pretty lucky that he’s not even thinking about running for President. Cause he would not survive. The netroots are already pretty harsh on Hillary who has basically stated that if people don’t like her stance vote for someone else. Kos has replied to Hillary in no uncertain terms. It remains to be seen if he will do the same with Sen. Reid or if there is some sort of double standard.
As for Sen. Reid. It’s a pity that he will probably not be forced to defend his vote like Hillary has been forced to do recently. He’s pretty sure of himself and his position in the Nevada Democratic Party. Unfortunately, both for the Democratic Party and for the people of Nevada, I think he has no need to worry. There is no primary challenger in sight. That of course might change, as he’s not up for re-election until 2010.
PS: Coincidentally, Harry Reid’s son, Rory Reid, was hired by Hillary Clinton as her Nevada campaign manager.
Read another opinion on Reid’s Iraq vote at the Las Vegas Gleaner.
Cross posted from Turn Tahoe Blue.
