Politico reports that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is “bristling at the notion that he has been out-foxed” by Roland Burris, who appears on his way to eventually being seated as a United States Senator from Illinois.
The wiliest fox in the Senate is bristling at the notion that he has been out-foxed by a DC novice with a dubious political pedigree.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said “It’s simply not true” he’s been out-maneuvered by Illinois Senate hopeful Roland Burris, who seems to be leveraging his way into a seat Reid sorely wanted to deny him.
Reid, joined by President-Elect Obama, had initially said Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s pick of Burris “tainted” the appointment.
But he changed his tune today after a 45-minute meeting with the former Illinois AG, saying all that stood between Burris and likely Senate approval of his seating was a state court decision and Burris’s testimony before a state panel, where he will presumably say that he didn’t pay fr the seat.
That’s “a pretty easy hurdle,” added Reid, smarting from an unexpected, embarrassing defeat at a time when he commands an overwhelming majority of the upper chamber.
Asked if he regretted so stridently defending his initial decision to block Burris from being seated, the Leader shot back: “If you didn’t know anything it doesn’t look very good,” referring to the circumstances of the appointment.
