Reid's Gambit

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by Harry Reid's unorthodox maneuver today. It's so rare to see that kind of creativity and media savviness from a Democratic politician. Reid understood that something dramatic had to be done to wrestle the news cycle away from the White House's well-scripted string of diversions (sidenote: isn't it pathetic how easily the press corps is manipulated by both sides? They're like labrador retrievers, willing to chase a ball wherever it's thrown). Reid also apparently understood that his Republican counterpart, Bill Frist, would unwittingly play right into his hand. Reid played him like a fiddle. I've never seen such whining from a grown man. By getting all bent out of shape, Frist only ratcheted up the media frenzy and further obscured the issues that the White House had hoped people would be paying attention to today. And for someone who's repeatedly shown a willingness to employ hardball tactics and ignore tradition (e.g. trying to do away with the filibuster and campaigning against then-Democratic minority leader Tom Daschle), Frist revealed himself to be remarkably thin-skinned. I guess he can dish it out, but he can't take it. Somehow that doesn't surprise me. Frist is very much out-matched by Reid. Despite his significant advantage in numbers, Frist has been consistently out-maneuvered. I just hope Reid is the kind of chess player who always thinks a few moves ahead, because the Republicans will surely respond to this surprise attack, and it won't be pretty.