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Coburn And Ensign: Stop The 'Gotcha' Politics And Lay Off Harry Reid

Jillian Rayfield | January 12, 2010, 11:26AM

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Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK).

Barack Obama, Harry Reid, John Ensign, Racism, Tom Coburn

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Sens. John Ensign (R-NV) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) have both broken with many other GOPers and spoken out in defense of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Following Sen. Reid's racial remarks about then-Sen. Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign, a number of Republicans have called for his resignation from the Senate.

Now, some GOP senators are speaking out in support of Reid.

Ensign said yesterday that "we need to get away from this politics of gotcha," and that "I don't think there's a person walking, certainly not a politician out there, that hasn't made comments they regret."

Sen. Coburn, for his part, also said that "Washington plays a game of gotcha."

He continued:

It pains me that Republicans are saying Harry Reid ought to step down. When you point a finger, you have four fingers pointing back at you. There is not anybody in Washington who has not said something that could be judged inappropriate and wrong.

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Cleo

January 12, 2010 12:46 PM

Did Hell freeze over?

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mJJ

January 12, 2010 5:22 PM in reply to Cleo

No and your comment sounds decidedly judgmental. As a moderate Republican, I have found any number of moderate Republicans who feel the same way. In fact any thinking person, on the issues, will conclude while Reid's comment was poorly stated, it is in fact, correct. That is the sad part of all this stuff. Imagine how this discussion affects black kids whose skin is not toned down or mixed with some white blood. As adults, we seldom even try to think of how we are destroying the next generation with our vile speech and it is a heavy burden for children. But that is another issue. The differences between these two comments is that Lott was decidedly a racist and Reid has a long history of support for minorities. I am very proud of the two Senators who made a clear cut statement and I will leave their motive to their conscience. I am grateful to them for speaking out.

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