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Dems defend Reid's slavery remarks
Democrats defended Sen. Reid after remarks comparing GOP healthcare opposition to the 19th-century debate over slavery.
Republicans immediately called on Reid to apologize on Monday, but Reid’s Democratic colleagues said the GOP is continuing to play politics.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said, “This was just a call to kind of recall that at great, historic moments, there have always been voices of doubt and doom, and we can’t listen to them.”
“At pivotal points in American history, the tactics of distortion and delay have certainly been present,” Reid said. “They’ve certainly been used to stop progress. That’s what we’re talking about here. That’s what’s happening here. It’s very clear. That’s the point I made — no more, no less. Anyone who willingly distorts my comments is only proving my point.”
Reid on Monday said Republicans were displaying the same mindset as those who defended slavery: “If you think you’ve heard these same excuses before, you’re right. When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said, ‘Slow down, it’s too early, things aren’t bad enough.’ ”
After those remarks, 2008 GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) took to the floor to publicly call for an apology, and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said Reid should lose his leadership position if he does not apologize.
But Democrats dismissed such talk. Conference Secretary Patty Murray (Wash.) said there was no discussion of the topic within the caucus and no talk of a Reid apology.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said Reid meant no offense and at most was guilty of “perhaps an exaggerated presentation.”
“The fact of the matter is that they are structuralists, they do march in line together, and that there are relatively severe threats that come from the leadership to their members,” Lautenberg said of the GOP. “That’s the concern. They should think for themselves, come along and let’s evaluate these things in the interest of the American people.”
Republicans continued to bristle on Tuesday. South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint said it was Republican President Abraham Lincoln who ended slavery, and Southern Democrats who blocked civil rights in the 1960s.
“Let’s get the facts out there: The Republican Party grew up around the idea of abolishing slavery, with Abraham Lincoln,” DeMint said. “And the whole civil rights movement would have been dead if it were not for Republicans who ended a Democrat filibuster. It’s a complete misrepresentation. I hope it’s a sign of desperation, that all [Reid’s] members who said they’re not going to vote for [healthcare reform] are not going to cave.”
Danny Tarkanian and Sue Lowden, who are vying for the GOP nod to face Reid in the general election next year, have both called on Reid to apologize for his slavery remark.
Reid has made his share of controversial utterances in recent years. He said the war in Iraq “was lost,” labeled former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan “a partisan hack” and called President George W. Bush a “loser” and a “liar.”
Reid subsequently apologized for the “loser” remark, but defended calling the president a “liar.”
In his autobiography, The Good Fight, Reid wrote, “I speak bluntly. I can be impulsive. I believe something to be right and I do it. And then I don’t worry about it. This has not always necessarily served me well, but it is who I am.”
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