Next Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: An Infighter with a Sharp Jab

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Harry Reid, an Infighter With a Sharp Jab
By MARK LEIBOVICH
Published: November 10, 2006

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 — Harry Reid began Election Day with 50 situps and 80 push-ups (very red state of him) and 40 minutes of yoga (very blue state of him).

He spent most of the momentous day in his Senate office, waiting. Just after 2 p.m., he finally heard some actual news: Britney Spears was filing for divorce.

“Britney Spears,” Mr. Reid said, shaking his head. “She loses a little weight, and now she’s getting all cocky about things.” He added, “Britney has gotten her mojo back.”

Few would peg Mr. Reid, 66, as someone with anything to say about Britney Spears or, for that matter, someone who would ever use the word “mojo.” But he is a tricky figure to pigeonhole or predict, a Democrat who is a Mormon opposed to abortion and who looks more like a civics teacher than someone set to become the most powerful person in the Senate.

He makes an unlikely front man, a role that was displayed Thursday amid chants of “Harry, Harry” at a Capitol Hill rally shortly after Senator George Allen’s concession in Virginia ensured that Democrats would have a majority in the Senate. Mr. Reid is low-key, deferential and somewhat sheepish, qualities that make it easy to misread or underestimate him.

“People can say he is a nice guy, but that just totally misses it,” said Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York. “He’s got a spine of steel, and he will go toe-to-toe with anyone.”...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/10/us/politics/10reid.html?ref=todayspaper