OUT IN THE OPEN

Anyone looking for a hint as to whom Sen. Harry Reid supports in the Democratic primary won't find one in his new book "The Good Fight: Hard Lessons from Searchlight to Washington."

The senate majority leader praises both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in print, never giving so much as a clue as to whom he prefers for the nominee.

How he plans to cast his superdelegate vote may remain a mystery, but Reid reveals something else, something politicians usually shy away from revealing: himself.

Throughout his 291-page book, written with Mark Warren, Reid paints a vivid portrait of his life, even the hard stuff, from his hardscrabble beginnings in the little mining town of Searchlight to his Washington, D.C., days as one of the most powerful men in the world.

Those who know nothing of Reid beyond his title, hometown and nickname "Pinky," will learn more from his book than how he feels about President George W. Bush. Reid reveals things about himself that he calls "surprisingly hard for me to say," writing about his parents' drinking; his father's occasional abuse of his mother; and the privation of a childhood that served as the foundation for his American rags-to-riches story.

Reid's not the sort of man who keeps a journal, beyond the diary he says he kept during his first year as a member of the House of Representatives in 1983 and the sporadic entries he has made since. The book's material came from talks with Warren, his co-writer, about what would be interesting to include.

"It was very therapeutic for me to do this," Reid said during a recent interview. "It was therapeutic for me to go back to some of these things I haven't gone back to."

Reid talked to his two brothers about what he planned to write, because some things were from a traumatic period in their lives. One particularly difficult story he recounts in the book was the time he and his younger brother, Larry, kept their father from beating their mother. He was about 14.

"He was hurting my mother and I said, 'Larry, let's take him,' " Reid recalled. "We didn't hurt him, but we sure took him down. ... That was hard to do, to talk about some of those things publicly."

Though it seems his childhood had the makings of an unhappy one, Reid said it wasn't. There were unhappy moments; for instance, few kids hope their parents run out of money but Reid did because it meant they couldn't buy alcohol. But he added he always felt that his parents cared about him and his brothers.

He decided to write the book now because, he said, so many people have moved to Nevada since he was first elected to the Senate in 1986; Reid wants them to know the history of the man who represents them in Washington.

Reid doesn't recount much about his legislative record; that's a book for another time, he said. But chapters about his past are alternated with chapters about the present, including recent battles with Bush over Social Security, judicial appointees and the Iraq war.

He doesn't mince words, either. History will remember Bush as the worst president, ever, Reid said.

And, when asked about regrets, he doesn't hesitate to admit he has them.

"One thing that jumps out at me: During the run-up to the war, I wish I asked more questions. I should have done that," he said. "I will always regret not having asked more questions."

Reporter Sonya Padgett can be reached at spadgett@reviewjournal.com or at 380-4564.