Hope Harry is Hardy

Harry Reid faced an uphill battle to retain his Senate seat even before Game Change revealed his observation that then candidate Obama was a "light-skinned" black man "with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one." The controversy unfolded over a weekend so it remains to be seen if it has legs, but it presented Michael Steele with his first opportunity realized.  He pointed out, rightly, that a double standard exists: a Republican could not have gotten away with it and moreover, Trent Lott resigned from Reid’s current post over a comment that turned into a racial scandal.

Reid’s gaffe, however, does not quite match Lott’s.  Reid’s terminology is dated but not charged and the racial stereotype basically amounts to more explicit rendering of Joe Biden’s “clean and articulate” flap, especially when seen in the context of praising Obama's political skills (by pointing out that he isn't above phony folksiness).  Lott, meanwhile, said the country would have been better off if a segregationist had been elected President.  One remark is condescending and anachronistic, the other is indefensible on any grounds.  Moreover, what cost Trent Lott his job was that his comment fed into the existing perception that Mississippi Republicans were racists.  Of course some Democrats are racists, some of every group of people are racists.  

Membership in the Democratic party should not grant immunity from the consequences of displaying ignorant offensiveness.  That said, the Democratic party has a black Congressional caucus with dozens of members and a black President, the Republicans have Michael Steele and prominent members who routinely engage in race baiting. 

I doubt that Harry Reid will lose his leadership over this because the timing would disrupt health care reform.  Too much has been sacrificed already for Harry Reid to take health care reform down with him - unless this becomes a full blown scandal.  However, in purple state Nevada with a 10% black population, Reid might lose more than that in the 2010 midterms.  Being majority leader attracts attention that ensured Reid became synonymous with the most liberal tendencies of the Democrats.  For this reason, selecting a majority leader from a solidly blue state might mitigate against electoral decapitation.  Nancy Pelosi is almost assuredly the least popular Democrat in the country, but she will be Speaker of the House until she retires or John Boehner replaces her.  In the likely scenario that the Democrats retain a smaller majority in the Senate minus a defeated or retired Reid, choosing Dick Durbin or Chuck Schumer as majority leader will prevent another Democratic leader from joining the Tom Foley club with Mr. Daschle.

UPDATE:  Never one to mind kicking a man when he's down, the Drudge Report now suggests that Harry Reid got plastic surgery with one Yahoo photo as proof.  Drudge got his big break from a sperm stain, so this might be considered a step up, but without better proof that is character assassination.