Democrats on Sunday defended Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for his private remarks during the 2008 campaign describing then-Sen. Barack Obama as "light skinned" and "with no Negro dialect." "I think if you look at the reports as I have, it was all in the context of saying positive things about Senator Obama," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine. "It definitely was in the context of recognizing in Senator Obama a great candidate and future president."
Sen. Diane Feinstein of California said Mr. Reid should not resign, and defended his remark as just a "mistake."
"Clearly, the leader misspoke. He has also apologized. He's not only apologized to the president, I think he's apologized to all of the black leadership that he could reach," she said.
"So the president has accepted the apology, and it would seem to me that the matter should be closed."