Reid pleased with his debate performance, says format favored Angle

By Delen Goldberg

Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010 | 7:16 p.m.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, after two days of reflection on his debate with Republican challenger Sharron Angle, shared some thoughts Saturday about how he thinks it went.

Reid acknowledged that he “should have been more aware she’d do some unusual things” — he didn’t specify — and said it’s “very typical for her to not tell the truth” and “walk away from positions.”

Reid stressed that he lives in a second-floor, one-bedroom apartment in Washington, D.C., not a penthouse as Angle implied during the debate, and spent much of his personal wealth putting his children through college.

Many pundits declared Angle the winner, but Reid said David Gergen, a senior political analyst for CNN and former presidential advisor, called the debate in his favor.

When asked if he thought the perception of an Angle victory would hurt him, Reid said he wasn’t aware of any journalists or pundits who declared her the winner and said he’d “take Gergen’s word.”

In an interview with Anderson Cooper, Gergen said he thought Reid had a much better grasp of Washington legislation but Angle captured “the spirit of the times” and “probably helped herself.” Gergen also said Reid looked “a little old at times.”

Reid said Saturday he wouldn’t have done anything different during the debate. He did, however, lament having only one minute to answer questions, a format he said “was set for her.”