By: Guest ContributorMay. 19th, 2009more from Guest Contributor

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared in press conference today that he will not support GITMO detainees being held in the United States. Reid said that he supports Obama’s plan to close GITMO, but will not support, “terrorists to be released in the United States.” Reid is screwing Obama to save his reelection bid.

Reid was asked why the Senate wouldn’t fund the closure of GITMO He said,“I agree with President Bush. I agree with John McCain. I agree with Barack Obama. Guantanamo makes us less save. However, this is neither the time nor the bill to deal with this. Democrats under no circumstances will move forward without a comprehensive, responsible plan from the president. We will never allow terrorists to be released into the United States.”

Reid also said that he would not support terrorists being released into the United States, “I think there’s a general feeling, as I’ve already said, that the American people, and certainly the Senate, overwhelmingly doesn’t want terrorists to be released in the United States. And I think we’re going to stick with that. If people are — if terrorists are released in the United States, part of what we don’t want is them be put in prisons in the United States. We don’t want them around the United States.”

You may be asking yourself why Harry Reid is now echoing Republican talking points. The answer is in a recent poll, that shows Reid in deep trouble in Nevada, where 45% of voters said that they would not reelect Reid. Reid’s approval rating is at 38%, compared to 55% for Obama in Nevada. Reid’s disapproval rating is 50%.

Harry Reid is trying to move to the right to save his job. My personal opinion is that Reid was a lousy Minority Leader, and he is even worse as the Majority Leader. Both he and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi should be replaced with Democrats who can keep their coalition together to get things done. What Reid was telling the White House today was once he wins reelection, he will fund closing GITMO.

The funding for closing GITMO is being held hostage because some Democrats, like Reid, are afraid that a vote to close the detention center will lead to them having to face reelection campaigns where they are charged with importing terrorists into the United States. Reid managed to label detainees terrorists, even though they haven’t been tried and convicted of anything. Reid is convicting detainees to save his reelection bid. This behavior is not the mark of a good Majority Leader.