Broder Mangles Facts In Order To Portray Reid's War Stance As An "Embarrassment"
April 23, 2007 -- 11:03 AM EST // // Post a Comment
This is a bad one. The Washington Post's David Broder was interviewed today by XM radio's Bob Edwards, and Broder hammered Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for declaring the "war is lost" as follows:
BRODER: "Democrats by and large wish that Harry Reid would learn to engage mind before mouth opens.This has become kind of a pattern for him. I think at some point down the road the Democrats are going to have to have a little caucus to decide how much further they want to carry Harry Reid. They've got able people on the Senate side and they don't have to put up with this kind of bumbling performance forever."EDWARDS: "Think Harry Reid is an embarrassment to the Democrats?"
BRODER: "I think so. I mean, he has been a pretty effective leader but he is verbally just a real loose cannon and it seems to me, Bob, that about every six weeks or so there's another episode where he has to apologize for the way in which he has bungled the Democratic case."
Audio here.
Look, you can argue that Reid's choice of words was a poor one -- that he could have made the same point more artfully. Nonetheless, there hasn't been any credible evidence yet that shows that Dems will pay a price for this; most polls show that pluralities basically agree with Reid here. Maybe some numbers will come out saying that Reid's comment is hurting them -- but for now there's simply no evidence that this is the case.
What's more, what on earth basis is there for suggesting that Reid's been an "embarrassment"? He currently has an approval rating of 46% -- a heck of a lot better than Bush.
Finally, it looks as if Broder completely butchered his facts in asserting that Reid has had to apologize "every six weeks." I just checked with Reid's office, and they told me in no uncertain terms that Reid has not apologized for any of his remarks during his first four months or so as majority leader. He certainly hasn't apologized for the "war is lost" comment.
Doesn't the Dean of Washington journalism check his facts?
Update: Atrios comments: "The disconnect between elite opinion in Washington and reality continues to grow. It's frightening." Indeed. And more on this from Think Progress.
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