“[S]ince Republicans have no power to remove Reid from his position, the majority leader remain in place unless he decides to step down voluntarily or Democratic senators turn against him. Neither seems likely.

“‘He has no intention of stepping down as majority leader,’ Reid spokesman Jim Manley said. ‘Unlike others who advocate moving our nation backwards, and viewing this moment for political gain, he’s working, today, tomorrow and the next day to move our country forward.’

“‘Mr. Steele and Sen. Cornyn want Reid out because they know they can’t beat Reid’ in November, Manley said.”

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WILL: I don’t think there’s a scintilla of racism in what Harry Reid said. At long last, Harry Reid has said something that no one can disagree with, and he gets in trouble for it.
CHENEY: George, give me a break. I mean, talking about the color of the president’s skin…
WILL: Did he get it wrong?
CHENEY: … and the candidate’s…
WILL: Did he say anything false?
CHENEY: … it’s — these are clearly racist comments, George.

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“If any Republican were caught speaking this way about Obama — even in private — liberal cries of racism would be filling the air. I can’t imagine how anyone can disagree with that. I see nothing wrong with acknowledging that double standard. I’m not sure that taking it to the next level and calling Reid a racist is the way to go. It’s a hateful and dispiriting tactic when liberals use it against conservatives. It would be hypocritical for conservatives to mimic it solely in the spirit of payback.

“As far as political tactics go, I’d rather Republicans simply acknowledged the double standard and chalked it up as yet another example of how Washington’s liberal Democrats have one set of rules for themselves and another for everybody else. That’s the sort of message that will win elections for Republicans in November. Shouting ‘the Democrats are racist’ won’t.”

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“Recall that Reid once rushed to declare Justice Thomas to be ‘an embarrassment to the Supreme Court.’ When pressed for specifics, Reid declared that one of Thomas’s opinions was similar to ‘an eighth-grade dissertation’ — far inferior, Reid said, to the opinion of Justice Scalia in the same case. Except that Thomas’s short opinion was perfectly logical . . . and Scalia hadn’t even written an opinion in the case…

“So decry the attacks on Reid as political correctness — if you think that’s what they are. Some of us don’t agree. Some of us happen to think that his declarations about the comings and goings of Obama’s ‘Negro dialect’ are a little window into Harry’s soul.

“And if we’re wrong, I won’t feel too bad. Reid is simply getting a taste of the medicine he has so eagerly dished out to others.”

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