Nursing sore ribs, Reid continues battering Republicans
A recent auto accident bruised Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's ribs, but it hasn't prevented him from punching at the opposition as Campaign 2012 enters its final week.
After an editorial board meeting with Review-Journal sister publication El Tiempo Spanish-language newspaper, in which Reid vilified Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney as a "plastic man" who has changed his position on major issues so often he can't be trusted, the senator wondered aloud whether the race for the White House can be purchased by a small group of wealthy businessmen.
"The problem is this," Reid said. "My concern is that Karl Rove and 17 angry old white men are trying to buy the election. And that's the truth. You have (Las Vegas Sands casino billionaire Sheldon) Adelson, the Koch brothers (billionaires David and Charles). You have (billionaire Harold) Simmons of Texas. They are literally trying to buy the election. Think about this. The day after the election, Karl Rove sits down and talks to the 17 angry old white guys and says, 'Hey, listen guys, we just bought America. And we're still rich.' That's the concern that we all have."
Right now I'm guessing some Republicans wish the accident had rendered Reid speechless until well after Nov. 6. No such luck.
Reid's discussion with the editors of El Tiempo is yet another reminder of the importance to the Democrats of firing up the Latino vote in Nevada and elsewhere. Not only does it speak to the growing political clout of that demographic, but it also may be the only way Obama campaign can outrun its problems with blue-collar voters hurt by high unemployment and a battered housing market.
It shouldn't exactly be a hard sell in the Latin community. During the Republican presidential primary, a list of contenders, Romney not least among them, took turns trying to see who could talk tougher on the immigration issue. Most delivered criticism of the Obama administration's push for the DREAM Act, which would give the undocumented a path to citizenship but has stalled along party lines in Congress.
If the president can be criticized for failing to act more decisively in the immigration issue, he can't be blamed for claiming the undocumented from Mexico would "self-deport," as Romney has said.
The immigration issue, Reid argued, is one of many examples of where Romney has been on both sides of issues: An anti-immigration hawk in February coos almost like a DREAM Act dove as the election approaches.
"Romney has said the DREAM Act, if it were law, he'd veto it," Reid said.
During the interview, Reid heralded the potential of renewable energy for Nevada and took time to thump the Review-Journal's conservative editorial policies. (The senator met with El Tiempo editors, but declined to spend time with the R-J.)
Reid's message was clear: Republicans have let down Latinos and are paying the price at the polls.
"I think that if this election turns out the way I want it to, I think you'll see Republicans running to see what they can do for the Hispanic community," he said. "Because the hell is being beaten out of them every place as a result of what they haven't done."
Meanwhile, it appears clear the president believes he still has work to do in Nevada. Obama is scheduled to return Thursday to Las Vegas, a political stage he has played in recent months more than Tony Bennett. The fact the president is coming back once more before Election Day is circumstantial evidence that the battle for the Battle Born state isn't decided.
"We have several places that are very close," Reid allowed.
As Obama's fiercest defender, Reid's sore ribs will be closer to healed by then.
Whether his rhetoric has sufficiently bruised the opposition's ribs will be known on the first Tuesday in November.
John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0295. He blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/Smith
