Is Harry Reid Ready to Fight?

Is Harry Reid ready to fight for those who fight for us? Is Harry Reid ready to fight for the Iraqi people? Is Harry Reid ready to fight for what’s best for the United States and the world? The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein seems to think so:

For the past few weeks, a cadre of close consultants advising Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, was split over how to approach the looming legislative battles on Iraq.

Those in favor of giving Republicans an opening for compromise outnumbered those who believed such a deal would fail politically. The former argued that “progress” on Iraq – in this case passing drawdown legislation even without a firm exit date – was preferable to passing nothing at all.

And we’ve all been expressing our feelings about that, just a bit.

Those in favor of giving Republicans an opening for compromise outnumbered those who believed such a deal would fail politically. The former argued that “progress” on Iraq – in this case passing drawdown legislation even without a firm exit date – was preferable to passing nothing at all.

Reid’s been holding regular meetings with:

-former advisers to President Clinton, Paul Begala and Stan Greenberg
-adviser to Senator Dodd, Doug Sosnick
-adviser to Senator Obama, Jim Margolis
-his own pollster, Mark Mellman
-his own advisers, Stephanie Cutter and Susan McCue

Their advice?

According to several sources, the majority of these consultants were touting the efficacy of a compromise with Republicans on Iraq legislation as recently as last week.

And Reid made a serious effort to recruit Republicans. We know how that worked out. How many times do Democratic leaders need to be told to ignore the advisers and follow their instincts?

This past Monday, Reid’s tactics changed.

Let me repeat that:

This past Monday, Reid’s tactics changed.

We’ve all been desperately waiting for that. And this:

According to party insiders who spoke to the Huffington Post, there is now almost complete unanimity among Reid’s circle that this is the best way forward.

There will soon be a new Reid-Feingold attempt to pass legislation calling for nearly complete withdrawal, by June 2008. He will also have the chance to attach a firm deadline to an upcoming appropriations bill.

We know where Senator Reid’s heart is. As I’ve previously noted, he’s previously said this:

This war is a serious situation. It involves the worst foreign policy mistake in the history of this country.

this:

At a time when President Bush is asking our troops to shoulder a larger and unsustainable burden policing a civil war, his failed policies have left us increasingly isolated in Iraq and less secure here at home.

And he was reported to have said this:

…he now saw ending the war as a moral duty, and even if the Senate again falls short… would turn again and again to Iraq until either the president relents or enough Republicans join Democrats to overrule Mr. Bush.

If today’s report is accurate, Senator Reid is ready to act on those beliefs. If this reporting is accurate, it’s not a matter of him finally ignoring his advisers, it’s a matter of those advisers finally figuring out what we all figured out a long time ago: the Republicans will not end this war. Since July, we’ve known that the American people want the Democrats to lead us out of Iraq. If today’s report is accurate, they may be about to start doing that.