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politics and politicians Title: Harry Reid in winter The Senate Democrats' wounded leader is eager to show that he's still pulling the strings. Harry Reid doesn’t particularly like long phone calls. He is known to abruptly hang up after a quick conversation with an aide, a senator or a lobbyist. But in the aftermath of a grisly New Year’s Day exercise accident, which gave him four broken ribs and may leave him permanently blind in one eye, the 75- year-old Nevada Democrat has been burning up the phones with up to 50 calls per day, trying to make clear that he’s still in charge. He may be keeping largely out of the public eye, but his conversations with other senators, President Barack Obama and prominent Democratic players have shown he’s not yielding any of his power during his convalescence. He has been beginning his days earlier than usual, calling his press assistant, Brian Ahern, for his news briefing at 6 a.m. Moments after his executive assistant, Adelle Cruz, gets into office around 8 a.m., Reid retrieves his messages and begins fielding and placing calls all the way until after 9:30 p.m., according to his aides. Reid is quietly moving to retain his political clout, even as he's had to cede leadership of the Senate to Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell. From his telephone, he’s quieted speculation internally that he’ll retire, telling the new Senate Democratic campaign head, Jon Tester, on a conference call that he’s running for reelection next year so he wouldn’t have to worry about finding a replacement in Nevada. He’s been involved in recruiting decisions for next year’s Senate races, even making clear his preference that the party establishment not endorse a Democratic candidate in the California Senate primary, several people said. “The mind is still working so he’s got to do something with it,” said Tester, a Montana Democrat. Part of Reid’s routine is the result of pure restlessness. A workaholic who rarely takes vacations, doesn’t watch much TV and lives in a one-bedroom condo, Reid has been growing a bit stir-crazy, according to aides and friends. He tends to read during his spare time, but the injury to his right eye had made reading impossible until just a day ago. He’s been known as a workout nut who does yoga almost every morning combined with a healthy diet of situps, but he’s been told by doctors to avoid exercises that may strain his eyes or aggravate his ribs. So he’s turned to taking hour-long walks in the hallways of the Ritz- Carlton, where he’s owned his condo since 2001. And part of Reid’s effort, too, is to exert himself in the Democratic Caucus as his party struggles to find its way out of the minority. It was just over a month ago that Reid faced the most serious threat to his own leadership, after at least six Democrats opposed his reelection as the head of his caucus. Amid his absence, hiswould-be successors like Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer are now taking a more visible role running the Democratic minority. Republicans, too, are eager to take down Reid in 2016 and are hoping to recruit popular Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval — so the five-term senator wants to send every signal that he won’t miss a step and plans to run a forceful reelection next year. Reid returned Tuesday to the Capitol for the first time since his injury, running his party’s weekly lunch meeting, where he joined Democrats decrying leaks out of their party’s retreat in Baltimore last week, senators said. But he maintained an unusually low profile. He didn’t give an opening speech on the floor and avoided the press, taking a short-cut to the lunch through the Senate Reception Room that limited his time in the hallways. He skipped the president’s State of the Union address Tuesday night and missed a series of votes Wednesday, including what could have been a decisive vote to approve a resolution saying the Senate believes humans cause climate change. After his staff announced that Reid would be absent next week to undergo eye surgery at George Washington University Hospital, the senator agreed to hold his first press conference of the year. It was held in Reid’s small conference room Thursday afternoon, allowing him easy access but limiting the number of reporters and photographers who could attend. Seated at a table before the American and Nevada flags, with oil paintings of Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter hanging on the walls, Reid kicked off his remarks with a defiant call for Republicans to drop extraneous provisions on a homeland security spending bill. But the press was mostly interested in his injury and upcoming surgery — as well his future political plans.
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#2. To: out damned spot (#0)
I don't buy the story about an ''exercise equipment accident''. You know damned well somebody beat the stuffin' out of dingy Harry and it was probably a girl too.
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