Following Harry Reid’s announcement that he would not seek reelection, a brutal intraparty fight immediately broke out between his two chief lieutenants seeking to climb the leadership ladder.
Reid’s deputies, Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) either did or did not reach some agreement last week regarding new leadership following Reid’s departure, according to Politico:
“When Sen. Durbin took Sen. Schumer aside and told him that he would not run for leader, the two senators agreed to support one another,” said Ben Marter, a spokesman for Durbin. “Schumer as leader and Durbin as whip. And they shook hands on it.”
“That never happened and they know it,” said Schumer spokesman Matt House.
Marter fired back: “That’s what a deal is.”
Yikes!
But is anyone really surprised by this? The Washington Post just yesterday called Reid “appalling” for his lies during the 2012 campaign. On that episode, respected Nevada journalist Jon Ralston wrote a column that was never published because Reid supporters at the Las Vegas Sun suppressed it. It includes these chilling lines:
He doesn’t care about being criticized for using the same tactics that Joe McCarthy used or, in the formulation of some overheating Republicans, that were employed at the Salem witch trials. He doesn’t care that an avalanche of ridicule and obloquy is raining down on him for his outrageous statements – ones he continues to repeat almost daily. And he doesn’t care that almost no one is joining him to repeat these blithe allegations-without-proof about the Republican presidential nominee.
Is there anything more dangerous than a man who does not care?
Good riddance.