Harry Reid's Damage Control Phone Tree Helped Stifle Controversy

When comments he thought were off the record to two reporters surfaced in the new book "Game Change," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid knew it wasn't going to be good. Reid (D-NV) already was facing a tough political climate back home and the added fallout from remarks about President Obama's race could pose a big problem if his fellow Democrats turned against him.

Reid quickly went about locking down support, initiating a phone tree first to apologize to key black leaders in and out of Congress and also to make sure they wouldn't be speaking out against him.

One of the first calls was to Rep Barbara Lee (D-CA), who leads the Congressional Black Caucus. She issued a supportive statement as the news sped around the Internet.

He issued a statement apologizing just before 1 p.m. and sources tell us that by 1:30 p.m. Reid had spoken with several Congressional leaders, Obama and civil rights leaders.

Obama's statement came in at 3:55 p.m. ordering the book closed.

In remarks yesterday, Reid said he phoned "everyone within the sound of my voice" to apologize.

A Politico tick-tock said Reid's staff first learned the comments were in the book at 10 p.m. Friday. By midnight the Atlatnic's Marc Ambinder had posted them online and the staff got to work.

From the Politico piece:

[Reid spokesman Jim] Manley and other aides worked until 2 a.m. Saturday to draft Reid's carefully written apology, which emphasized his record on African-American issues.

...

Later on Saturday, Manley helped lead a counteroffensive, calling White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, a friend from his days as communications director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, to set up an apology call between Reid, at home in Searchlight, Nev., and Obama back in Washington.

...

Aides say their boss quickly understood the danger and spent much of Saturday working a call list of about 30 prominent African-Americans across the country. On the calls, he apologized for his words and argued that the book's main takeaway should be that he had quietly supported Obama over Clinton, long before those made his feelings public.

Among those he called were the Rev. Al Sharpton; longtime civil rights leader Julian Bond; Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus; political consultant and talk-show fixture Donna Brazile; House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.); Wade Henderson, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; and Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington office.

Several House Democratic leadership aides told TPMDC the phone calls were a smart move but in some cases not needed.

"Reid has a level of credibility that Trent Lott never had that helped him quickly navigate these choppy waters," one aide said.

Several House sources said Reid has such an established relationship with black leaders and a civil rights record that diffused the situation before he even picked up the phone.

When assuming the majority leader position, Reid hired a diversity consultant to help young black men get Senate jobs, sources noted.

Obama on Monday told CNN's Roland Martin the language was "inartful" but said making "hay out of that makes absolutely no sense."

"He's always been on the right side of the issues," Obama said.

Reading the Politico piece, it's still not clear how the remarks ended up in the book given the conditions of the interview and the rules the authors outlined of "deep background" given to all sources.

Late Update: Gov. David Patterson (D-NY) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) seem to be the only Democrats publicly questioning Reid's comments. Meanwhile, some Republicans say it's time to move on.