Congressional Chronicle - Retreating to Their Bases

by Brian Friel

Sat. Jul. 28, 2007


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., can't seem to win. On the one hand, newspaper editorialists and GOP colleagues are bashing him for staging an overnight debate on the Iraq war that changed few senators' minds, and then pulling the Defense authorization bill from floor consideration after Republicans blocked an amendment that set a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawals. These critics are chastising Reid's unwillingness to compromise on the war. They cite, for example, his refusal to put up for a vote a measure sponsored by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Ken Salazar, D-Colo., that would urge, but not require, a change of course in Iraq.

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