# Will Harry Reid be forced to step down? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 10, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394 "2010-01-10T15:39:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/141 "2010-01-12T19:07:37Z")
[Byrd on his early mistakes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senator_Byrd#Participation_in_the_Ku_Klux_Klan) > [@](#): > > When running for the United States House of Representatives in 1952, he announced “After about a year, I became disinterested, quit paying my dues, and dropped my membership in the organization. During the nine years that have followed, I have never been interested in the Klan.” He said he had joined the Klan because he felt it offered excitement and was anti-communist.[8] However, in 1946 or 1947 he wrote a letter to a Grand Wizard stating, “The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia and in every state in the nation.”[13] > > In 1997, he told an interviewer he would encourage young people to become involved in politics, but to “Be sure you avoid the Ku Klux Klan. Don’t get that albatross around your neck. Once you’ve made that mistake, you inhibit your operations in the political arena.”[14] In his latest autobiography, Byrd explained that he was a member because he “was sorely afflicted with tunnel vision—a jejune and immature outlook—seeing only what I wanted to see because I thought the Klan could provide an outlet for my talents and ambitions.”[15] Byrd also said, in 2005, > > “ I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times… and I don’t mind apologizing over and over again. I can’t erase what happened. ” > — Robert C. Byrd, [8] Justice Hugo Black was responsible for some landmark civil rights rulings, despite also having been a Klansman in his youth. [But Thurmond never recanted.](http://www.slate.com/id/2075662) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/142 "2010-01-12T19:11:20Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Huh. > > Betcha Heilemann and Halperin have a difficult time getting interviews for their _next_ book… > ETA: > > They seem to have a different notion of what “privately” means, than some other people. They didn’t say he said it privately to _them_. Somebody else spilled the beans to them about what Reid had said in private. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/143 "2010-01-12T19:32:35Z")
Well, the article neither explicitly says that, nor does it explicitly say otherwise; the following two paragraphs, however, seem to undercut the notion that they were working with a secondhand report: > [@](#): > > One of the interviews for Game Change, apparently: Harry Reid. > > Reid’s people are suggesting the Nevada senator thought he was speaking off the record. Heilemann and Halperin say everyone knew the rules, and they didn’t burn anybody. ISTM that if they got the substance of that conversation from a third party and didn’t tell Reid that they had it, they certainly _did_ burn him. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/144 "2010-01-12T19:48:41Z")
> [@athelas](#): > > And of course, Reid was right. [Here’s](http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=33004@wbbm.dayport.com) Obama “speaking like a Negro when he wants to.” He’s giving a 2007 speech to a conference of black clergy, where he has a much different accent and body language: languid, cocky, florid, and Southern. Wow. If he’d talked like that, I think my southern church wouldn’t have been mostly Palin supporters. The only reason they gave for liking Palin was her church background. Obama would have fit in perfectly, even at my all-white church. ---
**Author:** ![Anduril](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Anduril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduril)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/145 "2010-01-12T19:49:20Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Cite for Obama engaging in race baiting? You may call the source biased, but anyone can verify what he says. I think it’s pretty accurate and fairly comprehensive. [http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/wilentz-blows-lid-off-obama-race-baiting-campaign/](http://riverdaughter.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/wilentz-blows-lid-off-obama-race-baiting-campaign/) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/146 "2010-01-12T20:34:23Z")
Aside from the fact that your cite is ridiculously tendentious and biased, it does not contain any actual examples of Obama engaging in race baiting. It just tries to attribute the tactic to him via (mostly extremely lame) examples of race being invoked by others, not by Obama himself. Can you cite a specific example of Obama himself (not Jesse Jackson Jr., or a NY Times editorial) engaing in what you would characterize as race baiting? He basically never did it, period. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/147 "2010-01-12T20:45:34Z")
It takes more to race bait than just, you know, being black. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/148 "2010-01-12T20:45:49Z")
As a Republican: Pleeeeeeease don’t get rid of Reid as Majority Leader. The longer he’s in, the more seats we get in the mid-term election. ---
**Author:** ![Anduril](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Anduril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduril)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/149 "2010-01-12T21:05:34Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Aside from the fact that your cite is ridiculously tendentious and biased, it does not contain any actual examples of Obama engaging in race baiting. It just tries to attribute the tactic to him via (mostly extremely lame) examples of race being invoked by others, not by Obama himself. > > Can you cite a specific example of Obama himself (not Jesse Jackson Jr., or a NY Times editorial) engaing in what you would characterize as race baiting? > > He basically never did it, period. That’s naive. He was in charge of his campaign. He could muzzle his surrogates just as effectively as he can make them start. And he can stop it by making definitive statements instead of letting the race-baiting roll when it’s shown to help him in the polls. There are a number of instances there that actually came directly from the campaign. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/150 "2010-01-12T21:07:32Z")
> [@](#): > > As a Republican:… Right now, there are about three Republican Parties, differing mostly on their respective commitments to batshitism. Which one are you? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/151 "2010-01-12T21:13:45Z")
> [@Anduril](#): > > .. He could muzzle his surrogates just as effectively as he can make them start… Ah, no, actually, no he can’t. That sort of crisply rigorous discipline and sharply defined authoritarian structure is, no doubt, a very effective approach, but Obama is a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/152 "2010-01-12T21:14:55Z")
About 99% of the stuff in that article has nothing to do with race, much less baiting. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Anduril](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Anduril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduril)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/153 "2010-01-12T22:01:46Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Ah, no, actually, no he can’t. That sort of crisply rigorous discipline and sharply defined authoritarian structure is, no doubt, a very effective approach, but Obama is a Democrat. You know what I mean. It doesn’t have to be authoritarian. The fact is, he CAN stop his surrogates from race-baiting. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/154 "2010-01-12T23:09:58Z")
> [@Anduril](#): > > You know what I mean. It doesn’t have to be authoritarian. The fact is, he CAN stop his surrogates from race-baiting. Not when you define “race baiting” as “campaigning while black” he can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/155 "2010-01-13T00:06:19Z")
I didn’t see anything on that list that came from the campaign that would qualify as “race baiting.” ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/156 "2010-01-13T01:28:01Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > As a Republican: > Pleeeeeeease don’t get rid of Reid as Majority Leader. The longer he’s in, the more seats we get in the mid-term election. Heh. Actually that was George Bush and Karl Rove’s attitude towards Trent Lott way back when. It wasn’t liberals who gave Lott the final heave ho. It was the Bush admin. In 2005 Lott returned the favor and [slipped the shiv into Rove](http://www.talkleft.com/story/2005/11/01/435/77398) > [@](#): > > Well, the question is, that you asked, is he [Karl Rove] good for American politics? Look, he has been very successful, very effective in the political arena. The question is should he be the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy under the current circumstances? I don’t know all that’s going on, so I can’t make that final conclusion. But, you know, how many times has the top political person become also the top policy advisor? Maybe you can make that transition, but it’s a real challenge, and I think they have to – I do think they need to look at bringing in some more people, you know, old gray beards that have been around this town for a while, help them out a little bit at the White House. As for **Paleface** ’s point that the Civil Rights Act had substantial Republican support: so what? There used to be an animal known as the liberal Republican. But they were drummed out of the tent starting in the 1970s. By the 1990s, they were extinct in Washington DC. In the hinterlands, what remains is farce: for example the so-called [Republicans for Choice](http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0110/A_PACs_spending.html) PAC has raised $5.5 million, but has forwarded less than 5% of that amount to -you know- actual candidates. The remainder has lined the pockets of Roger Stone’s wife. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/157 "2010-01-13T02:43:20Z")
Not a single person is going to change their vote in November because Harry Reid said “negro.” Not a single person in America is even genuinely offended by it, least of all Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/158 "2010-01-13T03:08:07Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Not a single person is going to change their vote in November because Harry Reid said “negro.” Not a single person in America is even genuinely offended by it, least of all Republicans. But some people might change their vote because Reid is not all too popular in his home state, and now he has the taint of scandal attached to him. The Republicans don’t really care about whether he’s the majority leader or not (I think), but whether or not they can flip his seat to a Pubbie in November. There’s a good chance that will happen, and the more negative news there is associated with him, the worse it is. This is politics, remember. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/159 "2010-01-13T03:55:54Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > now he has the taint of scandal attached to him. What scandal is that? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394/160 "2010-01-13T04:38:52Z")
He has no taint of scandal. Whatever problems he will have will have nothing to do with “negrogate.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-harry-reid-be-forced-to-step-down/524394.md?page=9)