Standing Small

The New York Observer opines about the state of Harry Reid and his fight to surrender in Iraq:

Harry Reid left Washington last month a frustrated but optimistic man. He is returning, it seems, a humbled one—at least as far as the Iraq debate goes.

It was at the end of July that just about every Republican in the Senate—plus Joe Lieberman—stood together to block a vote on a troop withdrawal plan, dealing a blow to Mr. Reid and his antiwar allies, who had championed the proposal. But Mr. Reid was also confident that the August Congressional recess would change the math, with irate constituents giving the holdout Republicans a piece of their mind about their unwillingness to end the war.

But recess is almost over now, and with the Senate reconvening on Sept. 4, Mr. Reid doesn’t seem nearly as sure of his hand. Of the Iraq debate that will soon resume, the majority leader told The Washington Post late last week that “I don’t think we have to think that our way is the only way.”

For Mr. Reid, that willingness to meet some hesitant Republicans halfway is a significant shift. After the Democratic withdrawal plan fizzled in July, he refused to allow consideration of any other Iraq proposals, even those that might have attracted more substantial bipartisan support. His calculation was that Republicans, come September, would feel so much pressure—from their consciences and from the political realities of the approaching election year—that they’d cave and back the Democratic withdrawal plan, potentially providing the votes to override President Bush’s inevitable veto and to enact a withdrawal over his head.

That hasn’t happened.

You can read the rest here. Reid will continue to play the role of the Senate's Eeyore, but events are turning against him and there is less and less reason to listen to what he says.