Reid apologizes for ‘no Negro dialect’ comment about Obama
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WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid apologized today for saying in 2008 that Barack Obama should seek — and could win — the White House because Obama was a “light-skinned” African American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”
Obama quickly accepted, saying “As far as I am concerned, the book is closed.”
According to a new book, Reid made the comments in private during the long 2008 campaign, which elevated Obama from first-term Illinois senator to the first black president.
After excerpts from the book appeared on the website of The Atlantic, Reid released a statement expressing regret for “using such a poor choice of words. I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African-Americans for my improper comments.”
Obama issued a statement saying he had spoken with Reid, who faces a difficult 2010 reelection amid liberal frustration with his leadership in the Senate and conservative ire toward his agenda. For Reid, trailing in polls, the comments can’t help, even as Obama relies heavily on him to try to pass a healthcare overhaul.
The revelations — included in the book ‘Game Change’ by Time magazine’s Mark Halperin and New York magazine’s John Heilemann, to be released on Monday and obtained by the Associated Press today — are based on interviews with more than 200 people involved in the campaign, including Obama. The writers’ sources were granted anonymity and the writers offer no documentation for their accounts.
“I was a proud and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama during the campaign and have worked as hard as I can to advance President Obama’s legislative agenda,” Reid said in his apology.
Reid was neutral during the bitter Democratic primary that became a marathon contest between Obama and then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom Obama picked as his secretary of State after the election.
The book also says Reid urged Obama to run, perceiving the freshman senator’s impatience.
“You’re not going to go any place here,” Reid told Obama of the Senate. “I know that you don’t like it, doing what you’re doing.”
Reid needs the White House’s help if he wants to keep his seat. Obama’s administration has dispatched officials on dozens of trips to buoy his bid and Obama has raised money for his campaign.Recognizing the threat, Reid’s apologies also played to his home state: “Moreover, throughout my career, from efforts to integrate the Las Vegas strip and the gaming industry to opposing radical judges and promoting diversity in the Senate, I have worked hard to advance issues.”
Even before his ill-considered remarks were reported, a new survey released today by the Las Vegas Review Journal showed him continuing to earn poor polling numbers. In the poll, by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Reid trailed former state Republican party chairwoman Sue Lowden by 10 percentage points, 50% to 40%, and also lagging behind two other opponents.
More than half of Nevadans had an unfavorable opinion of Reid. Just 33% of respondents held a favorable opinion.
-- Associated Press