Quote of the Day: Harry Reid's Bling?

David Herszenhorn sees Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's outsized Democratic majority as "a chain around Mr. Reid's neck..."

Quote of the day, courtesy of health care beat reporter David Herszenhorn, referring to the Democratic caucus's 60-vote, filibuster proof Senate majority. From Tuesday's edition:

Maybe it was fate. Or just bad luck. But pity the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, of Nevada. For months, Mr. Reid kept spinning the political roulette wheel and no matter how many times he tried, the ball kept landing on 60.

Sixty is the number of senators in the Democratic caucus, and the precise number needed to overcome Republican filibusters. It is the magic number of votes that Mr. Reid needs to pull together to advance major health care legislation.

....

And now the number 60 seems to hang from a chain around Mr. Reid's neck like some outsized piece of political bling, a 12-ton golden medal of electoral achievement that weights him down at virtually every legislative twist and turn.