The Big Question: What will be the fallout after Reid’s ‘Negro’ remark?

Some of the nation’s top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals
offer some insight into the biggest question burning up the blogosphere today.

Today’s question:

How will Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s recently revealed
“Negro dialect” remark affect his leadership of the Senate and his
reelection race?

Hal Lewis, professor of Physics at UC Santa Barbara, said:

If we take this subject seriously, we are in deep deep trouble.

Frank Askin, professor of law at Rutgers University, said:

I doubt it will have any impact. What he said was not that much different from what Joe Biden said about Obama during the primary campaign — that he was so articulate and clean cut, or words to that effect. Those comments didn’t seem to have much impact on Biden’s career.

Cheri Jacobus, Pundits Blog contributor,
said:

Harry Reid is in serious trouble for reelection back home in Nevada. This latest racial kerfuffle obviously is damaging him even more. From a purely practical, political strategic standpoint, it is a bit of a mystery why Democratic leaders would want to “save” him when it hurts their party. He is not likely to be in the Senate next year and they can certainly afford to stand on principle — or at least pretend to — by forcing him to resign his post at Senate Majority Leader.
 
If a Republican congressional leader had uttered the exact words uttered by Harry Reid, there would be no discussion. The media, Democrats (including President Obama), African-American leaders and likely almost all Republicans with a microphone would remove the person from his or her post. It would be an open-and-shut case.
 
Most of us, and especially African-Americans, know very well what Harry Reid meant by his comments, and it isn’t good. As a woman, I have experienced my fair share of sexism, and I know it when I see it and hear it. The same is true with racism. The Democrat Party seems very willing to tolerate racism for political purposes, while the GOP is far more committed to purging its leadership ranks of racism, as was the case with former Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott. I suppose the only silver lining to the Democrats’ circling the wagons around Harry Reid is that it makes it much more difficult for them to use the racism charge against Republicans simply for criticizing a president on policy differences who merely happens to be African-American. It was a cheap ploy employed by many Democrats and many in the media during the 2008 presidential campaign and the first year of the Obama administration. Maybe now it can end.
 

Ron Walters, professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland, said:

I do not think Sen. Harry Reid’s “Negro dialect” statement will affect his leadership of the Senate because of his recent role in crafting the healthcare legislation, which will be regarded as a seminal achievement, making this incident shrink in comparison over time. Neither do I think it will affect his Senate race, because the African-American constituency in Nevada is small and in any case understands that the stakes of passing a healthcare bill and other coming legislation are greater than this racially insensitive reference. Whites will not hold it against him because they will most likely perceive his statements as true and the manner in which they themselves, unsophisticated on issues of racial ethics, might have expressed them. The context of his remarks will also be taken into consideration and the fact that he has a perfect rating by the NAACP will undoubtedly remind people of his long commitment to racial equality which mitigate this error.

Justin Raimondo, editorial director of Antiwar.com, said:

Reid’s reelection was already in doubt, and his remarks — which aren’t racist, but just dumb — won’t impact that race one way or another. And of course he’s getting the support of his caucus, so his leadership in the Senate is safe.

Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit blogger, said: 

It’s a distraction for the Democrats and an embarrassment for Reid. It’s unlikely that he’ll follow in Trent Lott’s footsteps and step down,
though, because (1) there’s a
double standard on racial remarks in favor of Democrats; and (2)
Republicans probably would rather have the unappealing Reid remain as the face
of Senate Democrats anyway.

John Feehery, Pundits Blog contributor, said:

As Chuck Todd put it Monday on “Morning Joe,” Harry Reid is toast. He has been getting increasingly erratic over the last several years, and this comment could mark the beginning of the end of his career. This means that other leaders will start competing to replace him, marginalizing his position as leader. Politicians react poorly when they smell blood in the water, and there is no question that the blood is in the water over this silly comment.

John F. McManus, president of The John Birch Society, said:

The country is not well served with Harry Reid in such a strategic post. If his recently revealed comments lead to his removal as Senate majority leader and turmoil for the Democrats in the Senate, the country will be well served. But the Democrats would likely put someone equally undeserving in his place. Reid’s comments bring to mind those made by Sen. Trent Lott several years ago. What he said cost him the post now held by Reid. It will be interesting to see if what was costly for one will be costly for the other.
 

Bill Press, Pundits Blog contributor,
said:

This is a non-story. Harry Reid’s comments will have zero effect on his leadership of the Senate, nor on his campaign for reelection in Nevada. Win or lose, it won’t be over this. Too bad the media can’t focus on more substantive issues.

Larry J. Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said:

At our Crystal Ball website, we now rate Harry Reid’s seat as Leans Republican. The “Negro” comment is only the latest problem on Reid’s electoral plate, and the platter is overflowing at the moment. The best news for Reid is that it’s January, not November. He has almost unlimited campaign money, he could end up with a weak or damaged GOP opponent, and the economy may improve over the year.

Peter Navarro, professor of Economics and Public Policy at U.C. Irvine, said:

Given that “negroes” only account for 7 percent of Nevada’s population, Reid’s remarks likely won’t hurt at all — and will maybe help with the blue-collar, redneck wing of the party. That said, the only thing going for Reid on the campaign trail is his position of authority and promise of bringing home the bacon. Other than that, Reid rivals George Bush on his worse days as a fumbling, bumbling fool. One wonders how a club of millionaires can elect someone like Reid to be their leader. 2010 elections are truly going to be a Dem carnage —  Reid can shoulder much of the blame.

Alan Abramowitz, professor of Political Science at
Emory University, said:

I don’t think it will have any significant effect on either. Democrats in Washington understand that they need to get healthcare reform done now. Voters in Nevada aren’t going to care about this.

Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, said:

This is a manufactured controversy.

Bernie Quigley, Pundits Blog contributor,
said:

Just shows Senate leadership to be strangely eclectic, out to lunch and away from, even alienated and possibly dangerously alienated from, the mainstream. There is technically nothing ethically or morally wrong with his using the term — Malcolm X used the term — but using it shows identification with a time when many people, apparently including Reid, saw our country as a bunch of vying ethnics. Anyone who has ever watched a football game in the last 50 years would enter into the “participation mystique” which has created America as a world without these archaic usages and categorizations. Perhaps he was raised in a broom closet.