One More Thing: Reid and his Yellow Papers

As I mentioned in my Politics Daily piece, Senator Harry Reid began scribbling on yellow legal paper the moment he got to the podium, and the pages kept multiplying throughout the hour until he couldn't figure out where he'd put a tepid closing remark he would have been better served to wing. Is it really possible that he doesn't know what to say for himself if it's not written out for him?

Actually, yeah. On the secret tape I obtained of Angle talking to a business group in July and wrote about for AOL News at the time, she was asked about the plans for debates. And among other things, she said this:

[Reid] said he would like to have his talking points available to him, we said, no, we want a microphone, no podium and no notes. Let’s just talk.

Reid spokesman Jon Summers denied that to VegasHappensHere.Com at the time:

Her take on the debates is wrong and over-the-top. NPR never came up. Neither did this whole thing about talking points and podiums.

But seeing Reid get to work writing up a novel on stage and being so dependent on it in at the end of the hour, I've got to think it must have really been something they wanted.