POLITICS: Reid, Congress and the president-elect

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid continues to take shots in the political talkarazzi with conservative syndicated columnist Pat Buchanan thumping him on “The McLaughlin Group” over his role, whatever it may be, in the Roland Burris dustup over President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat.

  Interestingly, Buchanan pointed out what might be behind the rumored chilled relations between Reid and Obama.

  “He cut Reid dead,” Buchanan said.

  That relationship, and Obama’s acquaintance and influence with Congress generally, is on many minds in Washington these days.

  Here’s a Washington Post view today by Shailagh Murray and Paul Kane:

  "Even before taking office, President-elect Barack Obama has endured a baptism by friendly fire.

  "Last week, an expanded and emboldened group of congressional Democrats greeted his tax proposals with disdain, dragged him into a political squabble over his Senate successor and chafed at key appointments to his administration. Obama called for bold action on a stimulus plan to rescue the sagging economy and saw his party's leaders respond by pushing the deadline for the package from Inauguration Day to mid-February."