Mitt Romney may be promising bipartisanship in his closing argument in the 2012 contest, but one of the Republican presidential nominee's harshest critics on the other side is calling that pledge "laughable."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) -- who looks likely to keep his leadership job and would be the top Democrat for a President Romney to deal with -- said in a statement Friday that he and the Democratic caucus have already shot down most of the things over which Romney says he could find cross-aisle agreement.
"Mitt Romney’s fantasy that Senate Democrats will work with him to pass his 'severely conservative' agenda is laughable," said Reid, paraphrasing Romney's assertion during the earlier part of the campaign that he was a severe conservative.
"In the past few months, we have voted down many of the major policies that Mitt Romney has run on, from the Ryan plan to end Medicare as we know it, to the Blunt Amendment to deny women access to contraception, to more tax giveaways for millionaires and billionaires, to a draconian spending plan that would gut critical services for seniors and the most vulnerable Americans," Reid said.
"Mitt Romney has demonstrated that he lacks the courage to stand up to the Tea Party, kowtowing to their demands time and again. There is nothing in Mitt Romney’s record to suggest he would act any differently as president," Reid said. "As governor of Massachusetts, he had a terrible relationship with Democrats, cordoning himself off behind a velvet rope instead of reaching out to build relationships."
Reid has been a painful thorn in Romney's side during the campaign, often bringing up the former Massachusetts governor's taxes and driving weeks of discussion over whether or not Romney even paid taxes.
The Romney campaign did not immediately respond to Reid's comments.
UPDATE: 3:30 p.m. -- Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus released a statement later Friday firing back at Reid, suggesting that the majority leader -- by his statements -- was actually recognizing that Romney would win.
"I am encouraged that Harry Reid recognizes Governor Romney's momentum and is joining the hundreds of millions of Americans who are preparing for a Romney Administration," Priebus said. "While Sen. Reid might want to continue Washington politics as usual, I'm confident that there are many Democrats who value balancing the budget, reducing burdensome regulations, investing in U.S. energy resources and will be willing to work with Gov. Romney to help grow our stagnant economy."
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