On the coffee table — ‘The Good Fight’ by Harry Reid

“The Good Fight,” available here at Amazon, explains well why Harry Reid is a good Democrat on most social issues.

Growing up in a shack with an outhouse in half-dead Searchlight, Nev., in the New Deal, he learned about the hope and support government programs can offer to people on the edge.

Searchlight is detailed with warts, vivid colors and all by Reid. So, too, are his parents.

Beyond that, the best part of the book was Reid’s discussion of his years as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission. While he doesn’t go into a tell-all of Mob influence over Vegas casinos, he gives the reader enough information to see how much the city needed cleaning up. And, with Reid presiding over the commission at the time non-Mafiosi like Steve Wynn and Kirk Kerkorian started building, he was part of Vegas’ transition to the world of today.

That said, the Washington years are somewhat thin. All Democrats are great, as is independent Joe Lieberman on anything besides Iraq. The difficulty of herding cats as Senate Majority Leader is discussed in brief, but not too much on any one issue or vote.

Nor do we hear anything about how Obama-Clinton has played out inside the Senate Democratic caucus. I would have loved to hear Reid drop a few “fly on the wall” comments.

This is a borderline three/four star book overall.

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