Another take on Reid and race
A week after Sen. Harry Reid apologized for a clumsy reference to President Barack Obama’s skin color comes another take on the Nevada Democrat and race.
A piece in Politico this morning recounts a 2002 episode in which Reid demanded the Senate vote on an amendment to restore voting rights to ex-felons — many of them African Americans — who were barred from voting under state laws.
It was an unpopular cause that Reid took on after taking calls from listeners on KCEP-FM, a Las Vegas radio station that reports on the city’s black community.
Reid ended up losing the vote, 63-31, but in the process won fans in the civil rights community and may help explain why African American leaders were forgiving of him for his latest gaffe.