Unbelievably stupid. What was the point of notifying political reporters writing a book that you made racist comments while discussing a man who was on track to become the first black president? And yet, here we are:

Could Harry Reid himself be the source for the explosive anecdote about his racially charged comments — ones that have created the biggest mess of his political lifetime?

Yep. Reid himself is the source of the anecdote, the Majority Leader’s office confirms. And this raises a bunch of questions about what happened here.

Like, oh, what the hell Dingy Harry was thinking. He must’ve known they’d publish the remarks and hellfire would ensue from everyone but liberal activists and colleagues. In fact, the book notes that the quote came from him:

The authors’ note at the beginning of Game Change, the book about Campaign 2008 by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, states clearly that any comments that appear “within quotation marks” come from “the speaker himself, someone who was present and heard the remark, contemporaneous notes, or transcripts.”

While Reid’s office confirms that he was the source, it wouldn’t elaborate on why Dingy Harry would do something so stupid. Perhaps even his staff is trying to figure that out.

Via HAH.