WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid will command the biggest party majority of any Senate leader in a quarter century when the new Congress convenes in January. But the Nevada Democrat is already worried about his own re-election fight in 2010.
Sen. Reid, perhaps the most-vulnerable Democrat who will face re-election in a midterm race that is likely to favor his party once again, began interviewing campaign managers last week. The Senate majority leader also recently stepped up fund-raising.
Starting early could help Sen. Reid avoid the fate of his predecessor, Tom Daschle, who was Democratic leader for a decade before losing his re-election bid in South Dakota in 2004. The current Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, narrowly won re-election in Kentucky this year.
Sen. Reid "saw what happened to Tom Daschle and Mitch McConnell," said Republican Sen. John Ensign, Nevada's the other senator. "He saw the consequences of being the majority leader or the leader of one of the parties."
Jon Summers, a Reid spokesman, said Sen. Reid knows he will be a Republican target in 2010 and has been preparing for his re-election campaign for some time. He added that Sen. Reid's leadership position in the Senate is an asset, not a liability. "Being the majority leader means he can do things no one else can."
2010 will be another realignment year. The GOP probably won't win enough to take control, but they will win a lot of close seats, including Harry's. Reid has been an embarrassment to Congress, to the Democrats, and to Nevada, and they won't send him back.
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