As he tries to keep enough senators in town for long enough to hold confirmation votes for several of President Obama's nominees, Majority Leader Harry Reid expressed his sympathy for senators who want to go home, saying that "I haven't been home ... in such a long time," and that he has not even been able to sleep in a new home he bought in May. Cue Republicans trying to portray Reid as absent from his home state—the
Weekly Standard jumped right on it—and hacky Beltway media types following suit:
Paging Brian Sandoval RT @mkraju: Probably not Reid's reelect message. Says on the floor: "I haven't been home in such a long time."
— @TheFix
Um, guys? You might want to check out some of Reid's reasons for not being able to go home more often. In addition to the work of being majority leader and trying to do things like get nominees confirmed despite Republican obstruction, Reid
canceled one recent planned trip to Nevada because:
Reid flew back to Washington, D.C., to be with his adult daughter, Lana, who "unexpectedly became ill with a serious medical condition that requires surgery," according to the statement.
"She is receiving treatment in Washington D.C. so Sen. Reid flew back from Nevada to be with her," said spokeswoman Kristen Orthman. "The family asks for their privacy on this matter at this time."
So, you know, this might be an attack to research a little more before jumping on it too hard.
Also, note that Reid is talking about wanting to go home to a home he owns. It's not like his residence in Nevada is a time-share in a La-Z-Boy or anything like that.