Yesterday, Roll Call, which is like the high school paper for Capitol Hill, reported that the Capitol Hill press corps wasn't all that interested in the McCain/Gramm "nation of whiners" story:
Despite the media hubbub over former Sen. Phil Gramm’s (R-Texas) comments that the U.S. is in a “mental recession” and a “nation of whiners,” only a handful of reporters showed up Thursday to hear Senate Democrats blast the high-profile economic adviser to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).Those Hill reporters are all way too busy to cover the political story of the day. Plus, they might have to be critical of John McCain and miss a chance to ride on the Lap Dog Express.
But, Harry Reid is undeterred by that lack of media interest -- did his part to keep the story going and upped the ante. Reid blasted Gramm -- and McCain today. Nico Pitney at Huffington Post has the story and the video:
"Graham has a view of government which is that government is the enemy, not a friend," Reid said in an interview this afternoon with CongressionalVideo.com. "And, obviously from his comments, he now believes the American people are not his friend either, and he has a low view of the American people. Thinks they're a bunch of whiners."Yes, we should.
In fact, Reid said, "every segment of our economy is in deep trouble. Deep trouble. We have the housing market, which is falling apart. We have gas prices which are astronomical, people can't even afford to drive to work in many instances."
The Senate Majority Leader saved some of his powder for his colleague from Arizona. "You tie that in with what McCain has said, that he doesn't understand the economy...and he's relying on someone who says that the economy is in good shape and the Americans are a bunch of whiners. We should all worry about the Republican nominee."
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