Balance of Power

It’s kind of hard not to talk about that decision, of course, since Republicans were pounding Democrats every day with visions of terrorists being released into U.S. neighborhoods — and Democrats were getting so nervous they were speaking out against the idea themselves. Today, Reid made it clear the leadership had absolutely no intention of leaving its caucus vulnerable to Republican attacks on the issue — even if it meant embarrassing Obama in the short term.

Obama is right to close Gitmo, Reid said, but “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.”

In fact, Reid felt so strongly about that message that he repeated it, almost word for word, over and over again, when reporters tried to pin him down on whether the detainees should even be transferred to prisons in the United States. “I think I’ve had about enough of this,” Reid said finally. He did leave open the possibility, though, that the Senate could revisit the issue if and when Obama provides more details on what to do with the detainees.

It was up to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs to catch the arrows. “We agree with Congress that before resources, that they should receive a more detailed plan,” he said, almost apologetically, at his briefing this afternoon. “The president and Congress will work together on a timeline for a renewed request for whatever resources are needed. The president still believes it is in our national interest to close Guantánamo Bay.”

All of this manuevering will probably guarantee Obama an even bigger audience when he gives a speech Thursday on Guantánamo and other aspects of his detainee policies. “He’ll outline the reasoning of why he strongly believes and many in both parties believe that closing Guantánamo Bay is in our best national security and foreign policy interests. And he will go through a number of the decisions related to that and other issues that we’ve discussed in the last few weeks,” Gibbs said.

It had better be a good speech, if Obama wants to get the Gitmo closing funds from Congress anytime soon.