Capitol Hill Buzz: Reid a Clinton fan, but hasn’t endorsed
Jul 13, 2015, 12:48 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada will help play host when presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton visits Capitol Hill on Tuesday. But he hasn’t endorsed her yet.
“I’m really a Clinton fan but right now I’ve not endorsed anyone,” Reid said Monday on an interview on KNPR, the Nevada public radio station. “I’m going to go to an event for Hillary in a few days but I’ll do my endorsement later.”
Reid encouraged then-Sen. Barack Obama early on to enter the 2008 presidential race; Obama went on to beat Clinton.
Reid seemed to make clear on Monday he was in Clinton’s corner, but he also had kind words for Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the independent challenging Clinton from the left.
“He’s really a progressive guy and that’s an understatement,” Reid said, “but he’s also one of the nicest guys to have in the Senate Democratic caucus, and I like him a lot.”
“But anyway I’m more of a Hillary fan,” Reid said.
Other leading congressional Democrats have already enthusiastically endorsed Clinton, who will attend a series of meetings in the Capitol on Tuesday with House and Senate Democrats.
Reid, who is retiring in 2016, also weighed in on the race to replace him. He contended that the Republican candidate for his seat, Rep. Joe Heck, has “voted lockstep with the crazies in the House” but “tries to cover that up” when he returns to Nevada.
Reid is backing former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and said the Democrat has an “unblemished record.”
There was no immediate response from Heck’s office.
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