Nevada Democrat says he'll vote to acquit Clinton

"I think that the American public deserves an end to this, an end to it as quickly as possible," said Reid, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate.

"I'm going to vote acquittal," he said during an interview Wednesday night on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS.

Reid, who previously said it was his responsibility as a juror to keep an open mind on the impeachment vote, said he continues to believe Clinton should be sanctioned for his conduct.

"We'll sanction the president. That would be fine with I think almost every Democrat. But let's move forward with this and get rid of it."

Reid, recently narrowly re-elected to a third term, said he has spoken to Clinton "personally about how his conduct I think is objectionable.

"He can't defend it in any way. But the facts do not allow this to be an impeachable case within the confines of the Constitution," the senator said.

Reid said a whole list of important issues await the Senate's attention, from Social Security and Medicare to education and campaign finance reform.

"'We're wasting our time on the Senate floor by having this thing go on and on and on. It doesn't' take a mathematician to figure out that they don't have the votes to convict the president," he said.

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