Tuesday, Nov. 02, 2010
Harry Reid's Pet Names
Senate majority leader Harry Reid went way off script during a fundraiser on Sept. 20 in New York. In the midst of an all-around laudatory speech on the Empire State's junior Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, Reid revealed a bit too much about the boys'-club attitude of the upper chamber when he remarked, "We in the Senate refer to Senator Gillibrand as the hottest member." The comment reportedly caused Gillibrand, who was sitting a few feet away, to turn bright red and later prompted an outcry from some feminist groups. It was hardly Reid's first nicknaming offense; he made headlines a week earlier for referring to Delaware Democratic Senate candidate Chris Coons (Christine O'Donnell's opponent) as "my pet."