Rest in peace, former Senate majority leader Harry Reid. I really admired Reid.
He was first elected in the ‘86 midterms, part of Dems’ strong year in Reagan’s 2nd midterm when they took back the Senate. He grew up poor in Searchlight, became a boxer, and stared down the mafia famously as Nevada gambling commissioner (it got physical!)
He went on to become Senate Democratic Leader at a critical time. After 2004, Dems were dispirited when Bush was reelected and the GOP not only grew their congressional majorities but also knocked out the Senate Dem leader himself: Tom Daschle in his own seat. Reid stepped into the void and he and Pelosi helped Dems recapture majorities in 2006. Reid then began a remarkable 8 years as majority leader.
Reid was no-holds-barred. He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. He called Bush a loser (though they worked together on TARP), he revealed Romney paid no taxes at one point (Jon Huntsman’s dad told him this apparently), he called Boehner a dictator in the House (Boehner then told him to go fuck yourself, in the White House no less). But most notably in speaking his mind, albeit privately here, he told Barack Obama in 2006 to run for president. He came to “love the man,” as he told David Axelrod.
They worked together to achieve great things, starting with the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Recovery Act. The ACA is here to stay because Reid got all 60 Senate Dems on Christmas Eve 2009 to pass the legislation. He held his fragile coalition together again for Dodd-Frank, the new START treaty, and, to his everlasting personal credit because he brought it to the floor without full White House certainty it’d pass: the repeal of Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell.
He did all of this and more while weathering sometimes brutal political fights at home. He won more comfortably in years good for Dems (‘86 and ‘92) but also survived very narrowly in 1998, won in 2004 despite Bush winning Nevada the same day, and in his final electoral triumph, he won in a somewhat upset fashion in 2010 against Tea Partier Sharron Angle. In that final campaign, he wasn’t afraid to deploy Obama even though Obama was unpopular at the time. He rallied the base and he didn’t take anything for granted.
Even after Democrats lost control of the House and thus no longer had a trifecta, Reid ensured from 2011-2015 that a Democratic Senate could get progress done. He got the votes finally for comprehensive immigration reform in 2013 in the Senate but alas was stopped by Boehner in the House. In other areas, where he could truly make things happen, he did; most importantly, that happened on presidential appointments. Reid hastened the end of the filibuster as he and Obama and Biden got filibuster reform done to make an exception for non-SCOTUS judicial nominees and executive appointments. Consequently, Obama got some great CFPB, EPA, NLRB, Labor Department appointees, Surgeon General, and more confirmed. He also got many federal judges confirmed in this crucial period.
As he left office in 2016, Reid ensured his mark would be felt politically still. He helped pave the way for his successor Catherine Cortez-Masto win a hotly contested race. He organized to turn out voters for Hillary Clinton in that year’s critical Nevada caucus. Four years later, he endorsed Joe Biden, despite their differences on the fiscal cliff deal, right before Super Tuesday in a flurry of endorsements Biden got. In some small way, Reid ensured his impact was still felt four years after retiring.
With millions more insured, consumers armed with more rights, and people able to serve openly, our country is a better place because of Harry Reid.
