Harry Reid often doesn't get much credit around here

[Tom Rinaldo]

But I've been thinking of late that he's been doing pretty damn well under all of the circumstances. I don't consider Reid weak or spineless. He isn't loud or flashy, but Reid is willing to stand his ground and forcefully speak his mind, soft spoken as he might be. There is never real talk about disgruntled Senators from any wing of the Democratic Party plotting how to potentially unseat him. I believe Harry has won all of their respect, and that in itself is a pretty impressive accomplishment.

[young_at_heart]

1. I'm just wild about Harry!!

I call him Mr. Cool.

[longship]

2. As a former Golden Gloves, he is aware of the rope-a-dope.

I like Harry Reid. He is the leader of a chamber of government where his job is to herd cats, or possibly shovel water up hill.

He is doing a good job. He is dealing with a situation which is unique in governance. He doesn't always do what I would do, but when things get tough, and he sees an opening, he takes advantage of it.

I see that he is cautious, but he is also the one who has to make the call. Remember, he is a former boxer.

I would be more aggressive, but I am not the majority leader.

[Paka]

3. He doesn't have a lot of charisma...

but he's a good man and true to his beliefs.

[musiclawyer]

4. Reid will be judged by one thing and only one thing IMHO:

Will he blow up the filibuster on day one 2013 or not? Because I do think we will keep the Senate. Call it nuclear option, whatever. The Senate needs to be able to pass laws with 51 votes or everything else is for naught. You KNOW the GOP will do it if they get the Senate. 20th century politics and protocol don't matter. When you have an enemy hellbent on destrucition of the USA as we know it, all weapons need to be used. With the filibuster completely gone, or significantly reformed, we can actually get necessary laws passed, if we have a Dem house, and even if there is still a GOP house, the pressure on them will be so enormous that the slightest bit of intransigence will see them punished and removed in 2014. Reid really has not choice. Failure to act will constitute malpractice of epic proportions on his part.

[monmouth]

6. Excellent post and right on the mark...n/t

[Spazito]

5. I really like Senator Reid...

The first time I really took notice of him was when this happened:

" Reid's combativeness came out when Republicans ran all-night sessions in November 2003 to protest Democratic filibusters of nominees for appellate judgeships. Reid spoke for nine hours, reading from his book about his upbringing in Searchlight, Nevada."

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/harry_reid/index.html

He is soft-spoken but dogged and is VERY good at inserting very well directed verbal daggers when needed, imo.

[marsis]

7. When the bar is

set low, most anything can be seen as success.

He may be a good man but I think he is the weakest leader (on either side) in the Senate that I can remember. Just my 2cents. Mostly I picture him in a very nice tutu begging the Repugs for forgiveness.

[rufus dog]

8. I have been trying to call him out for the past week

He went attack dog on the tax issue, claiming Rmoney bad little to no taxes in multiple years, and did the theater on the USA uniforms knowing full well it would come out that under Rmoney they outsourced to Burma.

[Ruby the Liberal]

9. Sternly worded letters aside,

You do know that when he goes out on an apparent limb, that he is absolutely confident about what he is saying. He isn't one to shoot from the hip. I give him credit for that.

[Canuckistanian]

10. I heard him interviewed last week

And he expressed regret that he didn't change the filibuster rule at the beginning of the session.

NEXT TIME he will, especially with the behavior of GOP Senators during THIS session. So many good bills lost.