Just so there’s not ever any mistake: Harry’s no racist

The new book "Game Change" by John Heilemann, set to be released on Monday, contains some bombshell excerpts that have Sen. Harry Reid quoted as calling then-candidate Barack Obama "light skinned" and "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."

An advance copy of the book was obtained by the Associated Press, who asked Reid about the excerpts. Reid apologized for his remarks.

Obviously, I've not seen the book yet. And the things Sen. Reid admits he said were pretty stupid for anyone, much less a man who represents the people of Nevada.

I had one or two conversations with Sen. Harry Reid in that time frame about the presidential elections. In fact, Reid was the first person to alert me to the merits of Sen. Obama. And I can tell you that Sen. Reid spoke of Obama in nothing but respectful terms.

Not sure where all this racist-sounding stuff is coming from. It will no doubt haunt Sen. Reid.

I just think it is important to say that from my informed perspective, Harry Reid is no racist.

Look, I've not exactly seen eye-to-eye with Harry in the last 24 months. I'm probably his chief critic in the media in Nevada. I'm still PO'd at him for telling my Ad Director Bob Brown that he hoped the Review-Journal would go out of business. And, I don't think he has much of a chance of winning re-election come November and all of this is due to his own bad judgment. This may be the final staw in a long line of bad judgments.

But, I can tell you that I have never, ever heard Sen. Reid use the kind of language attributed him in this new book. And, I personally will vouch for him as a human being. He's no racist.

Take it for what's its worth.