HARRY REID IS IN TROUBLE, TRA-LA, TRA-LA – AT 12:04 P.M. ET:  Look, with that personality, Harry Reid is lucky to be considered alive.  But now, facing strong odds against reelection in Nevada this year, Reid is in further political trouble.  The Politico reports the damage:

Republican leaders called on Harry Reid to step down as Senate majority leader, Sunday, after the Nevada senator apologized for calling Barack Obama as a "light-skinned" African-American who lacked a "Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."

"The reality of it is this, there is this standard where Democrats feel they can say these things and apologize as long as it comes from one of their own," Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele said on “Fox News Sunday,” equating Reid’s comments with the racially charged ones that led to the ouster of Former Republican Leader Trent Lott. "And if it comes from somebody else, it’s racism."

Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) , the second ranking Republican in Senate, also pointed to a "double standard" in how Democrats have treated Reid as compared to Lott.

It's about time somebody said this. 

"If he should resign, then Harry Reid should," Kyl said on Fox. "If they apologize and you know what is in their heart, my feeling is they shouldn't but in this case he should."

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), though, warned Republicans Sunday against trying to make hay out of Harry Reid's comments.

“While Sen. Reid has been producing for African Americans, many of his critics were opposing him on these same issues,” Norton, a black woman who represents one of the most heavily African American cities in the country, said in a statement.

COMMENT:  The double standard is a disgrace.  Beyond Reid there is the case of Robert Byrd, the "revered" senator from West Virginia, once a member of the Ku Klux Klan, who has made racist comments periodically during his "distinguished" career in the Senate. 

The political rule is that only Republicans can be racists.  Democrats have "bad moments," or "express themselves awkwardly," or, well, you know the drill. 

And then there is he case of Bill Clinton, quoted in a new book about the 2008 campaign as saying to Ted Kennedy that Barack Obama would have been serving coffee to them not many years before.  The comment has not been confirmed by an independent source, but let's see how far the controversy goes. 

As far as Eleanor Holmes Norton is concerned, she's loyal only to herself.  She used to be a player in New York politics, moved to Washington, became the non-voting D.C. rep in Congress, and has melted away.

January 10, 2010