DENNIS MYERS Against the Grain Advertisement

After Republicans targeted Democrat Tom Daschle in South Dakota and defeated him in the 2004 election, Nevada's Harry Reid became the Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate. This was before the Democrats won the senate majority.

As he settled into the job of minority leader, Reid slowly became aware that the things he said in public had taken on a whole new weight.

"One of the things that's been interesting for me ... is that even when I was assistant leader, nobody really cared what I said," he told me in July 2005. "And certainly when I was just a senator, it was rare that anybody even wrote what I said."

He marveled at the fact that interest groups in D.C. were having his interviews in Nevada taped and shipped to the nation's capital ("Packed in ice," I joked).

"Now, people are even wondering what I'm thinking about," he said. "And so it's a lot different that it was before. I mean, who would think that somebody would cover a high school class I was talking to?"

He became more cautious with his words -- not all of them, but mostly those on policy. There are occasional demonstrations of what can happen when he speaks. On Feb. 12, the Wall Street Journal reported, "Stocks dipped mid-session, but bounced after Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada said that a deal had been reached on a $US789 billion ($1.2 trillion) economic stimulus bill, adding that the Senate could vote on as soon as tomorrow."

Last year there was less positive news, as reported by CNN Money: "Several big life insurance stocks fell sharply Thursday, dragged down by jitters about their role in the credit crisis and fears sparked by a comment from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Wednesday about a potential bankruptcy in the industry."

On some matters, or as a result of verbal slips, he was sometimes just as free swinging as ever, as when he called Alan Greenspan a "political hack" or declared the Iraq war lost.

Still, he clearly has become progressively more cautious, and that caution was on full display at the Nevada Legislature last week. The lawmakers invite all the members of the Nevada congressional delegation to address joint sessions of both houses. One indication of Reid's caution with his words was the brevity of his speech (2,342 words, 16 minutes). Another came in the news conference after his speech.

Reid was asked by a Las Vegas reporter to elaborate on one section of his speech comments. It was a section that talked about how the federal stimulus package will not solve all the problems of local officials. Reid started to reply, "What I said in the speech --." Then he turned to his press aide Jon Summers and said, "Do you have the exact words of my speech, Jon?"

Summers brought him the text of the speech and Reid read the section out loud, less (it appeared) for the benefit of the reporters than to remind himself of how far he wanted to go. This was the section:

"This legislation invests our tax dollars. But unlike the fiscal policies of the past decade, this plan recognizes that every dollar spent belongs to the American people. That is why it ensures accountability, transparency and oversight. It is not meant to line the pockets of the corporate CEOs who helped create this mess. Here at the state level, it is not meant to plug every budget hole to let leaders at the state and local levels avoid their responsibilities."

Reid then said "and that's just what I meant" and that he had "worked that over a couple of other times" to be precise in his meaning.

His caution showed up in another way, too. At least three times, in response to leading or loaded questions, he declined to criticize Gov. Jim Gibbons, saying he had no incentive to tangle with the controversial Republican. "I've been very careful in not criticizing Gov. Gibbons. ... I'm not going to get into that. It's just -- there's no reason for me to do it. Just not going to do it. What good would it do for me to criticize him?"

He also avoided saying whether the section of the speech quoted above was aimed specifically at Gibbons (it was probably intended as much for state legislators who hoped the stimulus was going to solve most of their funding problems), though he did send at least two understated messages to Gibbons without mentioning the governor by name. He went out of his way to fulsomely praise Nevada higher education chancellor Jim Rogers, who is a sharp critic of the governor, and he asked the lawmakers to keep the state's anti-Yucca Mountain waste dump office fully funded, which would override Gibbons' own recommendation.

In all, it was a fascinating day's exercise in watching a politician watch his words.