Say what you will about his centrist positions and dry style, but Harry Reid, the Dems’ new Senate leader, is amazing behind the scenes. This is the kind of thing that helps explain why he’s risen through the Senate ranks.
Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, a moderate often at odds with GOP conservatives, disclosed Wednesday that the leader of Senate Democrats sounded him out about switching parties in the aftermath of President Bush’s re-election.
Chafee said he rebuffed the offer from Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada in a follow-up phone conversation the same day, adding that Reid offered “no deal or anything like that” as an incentive to cross the political aisle.
Obviously, it didn’t work out and Chafee, for reasons that defy comprehension, is sticking with the GOP. Still, I think it’s great that Reid, before securing his leadership post and in the immediate aftermath of a disheartening Election Day, quietly but immediately shifted his attention to wooing a disgruntled Republican lawmaker.
Reid isn’t going to be a flashy TV star or an inspiring orator, but he’ll be great for the Dems away from the cameras.