Washington, DC — After infuriating majority Republicans on Tuesday by forcing the Senate into a closed session over the Bush administration’s handling of intelligence before the Iraq war, the jury was out regarding the extent to which the Harry Reid-led maneuver would pan out politically and strategically.
Despite Bill Frist’s denunciation of the procedural gambit as a “stunt,” it’s apparent by now that the Dems are reaping dividends: Iraq is back on the front page after a game White House effort on Monday to shift attention from the Libby indictment to the Alito Supreme Court nomination.
As West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller observed last night on Hardball, the procedural move “frayed some friendships… but so what?… We accomplished more in two hours than we had in two years.”
Charlie Cook gets it right in today’s New York Times: “I thought it was a pretty deft move. If the focus is on Iraq, that is a bad day for the president.”
Score a win for Harry Reid — at least for now.