Welcome.
SEN. HARRY REID, (D-NV): Thank you very much.
MR. RUSSERT: In 1994, when the Republicans seized control of both houses of Congress, this is what Senator Harry Reid said. "We all have to swallow a little bit of our pride and go toward the middle."
Is that still your advice to the Democrats?
SEN. REID: I think there's no question about it. You know, we don't accomplish anything on the far right and the far left. Things are accomplished in the middle. We have to work toward the middle. And I think that that's clear. I feel no differently than I did 10 years ago.
MR. RUSSERT: There were a lot of eyebrows raised across the town when the Las Vegas Review- Journal and The Hill newspaper reported this. "Harry Reid, the incoming Senate minority leader, said he is forming a communications `war room' to promote Democratic messages and respond to Republican criticism."
Is creating a war room the prescription to try to solve the partisan problems we face right now?
SEN. REID: Well, I think war room designation is something that comes from inside Washington. What I've created is a communications center where we're going to take some of the resources that are already there and make sure that when someone comes to the Senate floor to give a speech, that talk radio stations know what that person had to say. We're going to communicate with the American people to make sure that they understand the Democrats are in tune with millions of Americans across the country. In fact, we represent the people of this country, and this communications center that we have will certainly be an indication of how we feel.
MR. RUSSERT: So you're not going to war with Republicans the first week on your job?
SEN. REID: No. I hope we don't have to go to war. As I said, Tim, I'd rather dance than fight. But people have to understand that the president controls the White House, of course. The House of Representatives, the Senate--if he wants to get something done, he has to come to us. We are constitutionally empowered by the Constitution to have certain powers that are inherent in this body, and we want to work with the president. But they can't jam things down our throats. The American people wouldn't want us to do that.
MR. RUSSERT: You're a former boxer. If you're punched, you'll punch back?
SEN. REID: Sure will...
