Reid’s final hang up

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There will never be another like him. Not a chance. …

Harry Mason Reid, who died Tuesday at 82, never stopped moving forward, always searching for the light, making the deals, cajoling those he could with his strategic brilliance, running over those he couldn’t without grace or remorse, never looking back.

He just didn’t have time or the temperament for social niceties or for the self-editing mechanism most politicians have. But the caricature of Harry Reid — the former boxer who was not afraid to land a low blow, the ruthless tactician who would do anything to win, the charismatically challenged curmudgeon — is so one-dimensional.

All humans are complex, but some are more complex than others. CONTINUED

Jon Ralston, Nevada Independent

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Swing Voters Don’t Like the January 6 Committee Critics

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Republicans who disrespect the January 6 Committee are not winning over swing voters. Democrats, meanwhile, remain on firm political ground with “persuadables” when they endorse the committee’s investigation.

These are among the top takeaways from 13 Trump-to-Biden voters in key swing states, participating in two online focus groups on December 14. CONTINUED

Rich Thau & Susie Pieper, The Bulwark

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The 2021 High School Yearbook of American Politics

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Well, that was weird.

Much of the past 12 months felt as though 2021 came about by looking at the political insanity of 2020 and thinking smugly: Hold my beer.

The storming of the Capitol? A second Trump impeachment? Senator Ted Cruz going hard at Big Bird? Infrastructure Week actually happening? Many of the year’s political developments defied belief, much less explanation.

As usual, a smattering of people and events managed to rise above, or sink below, the baseline chaos. These notables deserve to be commemorated — and, in some cases, subpoenaed — for their roles in making 2021 so very memorable. CONTINUED

Michelle Cottle, New York Times

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Trump idolatry has undermined religious faith

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Much has been written about White evangelicals’ central role in the fraying of democracy. More attention, however, should be paid to the damage the political movement has inflicted on religion itself.

The demographic — which remains in the throes of White grievance and an apocalyptic vision that postulates America (indeed “Western civilization”) is under attack from socialists, foreigners and secularists — forms the core of the MAGA movement. Many have rejected the sanctity of elections, the principle of inclusion and even objective reality. The consequences have been dire for American politics. …

While lovers of democracy around the world view these developments in horror, we should not lose track of the damage the MAGA movement has wrought to religious values. CONTINUED

Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post

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One Year Later, Continued National Political Division Over the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol

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One year after thousands of supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to protest and disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, the results of a new national University of Massachusetts Amherst Poll released today show 71% of Republicans – and one-third of the nation – continue to believe that Biden’s victory was illegitimate, and that Republicans continue to blame Democrats, Antifa and the Capitol Police for the events of Jan. 6. They also oppose both the continuation of law enforcement efforts to prosecute the rioters and attempts to learn more about what happened that day. CONTINUED

UMass Amherst Poll

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It’s Not Over for Joe Biden

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… While the American Rescue Plan Act and the bipartisan infrastructure bill the president signed were indisputably major achievements, Mr. Manchin’s defection on the Build Back Better Act caused doubters to ask whether the president had placed too much faith in the Senate as an institution, in his own negotiating skills and in his steadfast belief that he could cajole the West Virginian, one Old Bull to another. Or maybe he misread what the Covid crisis would allow him to accomplish legislatively, causing him to shoot for too much.

The question is, what now?

No historical parallel is perfect, but the near-death and revival of the A.C.A. is a parable that does offer a path forward for this president and his administration. CONTINUED

David Axelrod, New York Times

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