Harry Reid, Not Obama, to Blame for Democrats’ Midterm Losses, Says Shapiro

CEA is "excited" that Republicans will retake control of the Senate because it will end the reign of Harry Reid, D-Nev., as Senate majority leader, CEA President Gary Shapiro said in an interview Wednesday on the results of the midterm elections and their CE industry implications..

CEA has no love lost for Reid because he "single-handedly stopped" patent reform legislation, which is "important to most of our companies," Shapiro said. By not allowing patent reform and other bills onto the Senate floor for a vote, "he really hurt the Senate," said Shapiro. "I think he hurt the whole election" for defeated Democrats, he said. "People blame Obama. I think they should be blaming Harry Reid, because he only let votes occur on issues he wanted."

Where President Barack Obama should be faulted most is in failing to build closer relationships with Congress and instead allowing Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to operate independently, Shapiro said. Shapiro's advice to Obama for the remainder of his term is to stake out an issue on which to build a "legacy," because it just can't be about health care reform, Shapiro said. That issue is "just too divisive," he said.

Under Reid’s watch, "there were probably the fewest votes ever by the Senate, and so every Senate Democrat incumbent was tarred with the same Republican line that ‘you voted with Obama 90 percent of the time,’" Shapiro said. Reid also "didn’t allow dissension," he said. "He didn’t allow any Republican amendments. He didn’t allow people to vote." Representatives in Reid’s office didn’t comment.

Patent reform legislation drew wide bipartisan support in the House and Senate, and Obama even mentioned backing it in his State of the Union speech, Shapiro said. But "Harry Reid killed it," he said. "Everyone knows why Harry Reid killed it, because the trial lawyers are one of the biggest funders of the Democratic Party, and they told Harry Reid to kill it. That will be reversed under a Republican Senate." Shapiro thinks there’s even enough Democratic support that "it will go through overwhelmingly," he said.

"Fast-track trade authority" legislation to reduce tariffs is another area that will progress rapidly through a Republican-controlled House and Senate, Shapiro said. Obama backed it in his State of the Union speech, he said. The next day, Reid said, "‘Not in my Senate,’ or something to that effect," Shapiro said. "Harry Reid didn’t want it because the unions didn’t want it. What it does, it allows us to negotiate treaties with other countries. We haven’t negotiated a free-trade agreement with another company in six years." In the tech world, "we’re not Republican or Democrat, we have bipartisan support for almost every one of our issues," said Shapiro. "But sometimes you get a person like a Harry Reid in the way."

Shapiro would "love to see" Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., as Senate minority leader in the next Congress, he said. "I think he’s a good Democratic vote. He’s the kind of guy who would cross party lines. I’ve spoken with Republican senators who’ve told me, ‘I could do business with Chuck Schumer,’ though he scares me because he’s so clever and smart, and I will disagree with him occasionally. But he is focused on the good of the country." But it would be "speculative" to predict whether any Democrat will challenge Reid for the minority leadership, Shapiro said.

Within the next year, Shapiro doubts there’s "a real shot" at comprehensive immigration reform, he said. But immigration reform for the "highly skilled" is possible, "because Obama and Republicans and Democrats agree on the parameters," he said. "The Senate did pass a bill, and the House would pass part of that bill. I think the Republicans have an incentive to give Obama a clean immigration bill for highly skilled workers." If Obama wants to veto it because it’s devoid of more comprehensive immigration report, as he has threatened to do in the past, "he can veto it," he said. "Everyone agrees we need highly skilled immigration reform," when 70 percent of those earning post-graduate engineering and math degrees are from foreign countries, "and we’re kicking them out," he said. "It’s not the wisest policy."

CEAPAC, CEA's political action committee, picked 59 candidates, mostly incumbents, to back in the midterm elections, and of those, 53 won their races, three lost and three remained too close to call through Wednesday morning, Shapiro said. Of the 59 candidates, 50 were in House races, the rest in the Senate, he said. "There were a couple of candidates we supported who were not incumbents," he said. They included Republican Mia Love, newly elected to the House from Utah, becoming Congress’ first black Republican woman, he said. "Who would think that a black Republican from Utah would win a seat?" CEAPAC supported Love because "she’s very pro-technology, she’s very dynamic and exciting and recognizes the value of innovation," Shapiro said. "We vetted her and made a decision."