Reid Hearts Republicans (Reno Gazette: Reid, Ensign forging close ties)

[iconoclastic cat]

:puke:

Reid, Ensign forging close ties

WASHINGTON — The home state of the Senate Democratic leader might not seem like the best place to be a first-term Republican senator up for re-election. But Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is finding he could hardly ask for a safer haven.

Once bitter opponents, Ensign and now-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid emerged from a hard-fought 1998 campaign, which Ensign lost by 428 votes, to forge a close relationship.

Now Reid, in charge of growing the Democratic minority in the Senate, is signaling that Ensign is one Republican who won’t be in his cross-hairs.

“We’ve got other places where we’re going to focus our attention,” Reid said.

:banghead:

More on this:
http://www.lasvegasgleaner.com/las_vegas_gleaner/2005/08/reid_coddling_e.html

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/14/134817/115

You're making me very angry.

[Totally Committed]

1. We are being played.

Gingrich, Vilsack team up at Iowa State Fair
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/14/gingrich.vilsack.ap/index.html

New odd couple: Hillary Clinton and Newt Gingrich
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/13/news/clinton.php

Now Reid. We have got to put a stop to all collusion with Republicans.

[iconoclastic cat]

3. Perhaps they are making sure they have a place in the new regime.

[punpirate]

2. Here's the thing that pisses me off about this...

... it was Ensign, in conjunction with Mitch McConnell, who screwed around with HAVA to ensure that paperless electronic voting machines met the requirements.

A pox on Ensign. And if Reid gets too near him, hope he catches it, too.

[kestrel91316]

6. I know John Ensign PERSONALLY from college (24 yrs ago)

He is a punk. Slimy, smarmy, kiss-ass brown-noser. And not very bright among his peers. I think they want this pretty boy for their future plans. He is charming and easy on the eyes, but I smelled a rat then and still do.

Oh and I have always wondered at the hint of mob connection with him. Rich casino-owning family. I think the DVM is mainly for brownie points on his CV.

Just my impressions.

[TwilightZone]

4. As many in the blue states tend to forget...

you can't win a red state and then act like a partisan liberal and expect to hang around very long.

In fact, unless you're already pretty moderate, you're not going to win an election in a red state as a Democrat in the first place. So, anyone who is surprised by Reid acting moderate or bi-partisan simply doesn't understand reality in red state land.

Would we prefer that they act like liberals? Of course, but that's assuming that they were ever liberals in the first place.

[iconoclastic cat]

5. Interesting point.

[blondeatlast]

7. Indeed so. Even if you really are true blue, you can't come off

that wya or you are trashed and hopeless.

[Cocoa]

8. Bernie Sanders must be a sellout too

:sarcasm:


http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/printer_080105P.shtml

<snip>

It is not only on civil liberties that Sanders is a master at forging unlikely coalitions. Right-wingers like North Carolina Republican Walter Jones are regular Sanders allies on issues as diverse as trade policy, foreign investment and, recently, setting a timetable for getting US troops out of Iraq. "I suppose some people think it's strange that I work so well with a liberal," Jones said on a recent afternoon, wrapping his arm around Sanders's shoulders as the two men shared a seat on the underground train that connects the Rayburn Office Building with the Capitol. (Informed that Sanders identifies himself as a "socialist," Jones smiled. "I know. I was trying to be polite.") "You can disagree with someone 98 percent of the time, but if you can find the 2 percent where you agree and get together, that's what matters," Jones explained. "Bernie understands that better than some of the Democrats do."

more...

[iconoclastic cat]

9. Point taken.