Reid plays nice after knocking off Angle

On the morning after his win over Sharron Angle, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid shelved the fight metaphors and struck a conciliatory tone in a morning press conference at Vdara.

In doing so, he followed the prevailing political storyline flowing from both parties: The American people have spoken, and they want cooperation from Democrats and Republicans in an effort to cure what ails the nation.

Tuesday night, a victorious Reid peppered his speech with boxing references and talked about taking a fighting spirit back to Washington. Trouble is, he watched the Democrats’ Senate majority dwindle and saw the GOP win a modern record number of seats as it swept back into power in the House.

Reid, of course, put the onus on Republicans to accept Democratic Party olive branches and invitations to play nice on contentious legislation. Instead, Republicans stonewalled and Democrats enjoying a sizable majority steamrolled the process.

That style will have to change if the nation’s business is going to be done without crushing gridlock.

Reid’s best line came when he was asked about remaining connected with the homefolks now that his leadership duties have him focused on national issues. Technology has improved since he first went to the nation’s capital, he said.

“When I went back to Washington, you couldn’t get a fax that wasn’t smeared,” Reid said.

Not that he’s been around Washington a long time, but is it true that Reid’s first faxes used papyrus?