Is there anyone on either whose naivete is so tender that they don’t believe this is true? In light of yesterday’s Democratic hack tour de force of tacit endorsement on the Sunday shows, I feel like the White House has all but confirmed that they greenlit it, Jay Carney’s perfunctory denials notwithstanding.

Politico minced no words in describing the arrangement over the weekend:

The ruthless Senate majority leader sees political gold in his attack on Romney — and he’s got the blessing from President Barack Obama’s campaign for the attack, even if he lacks evidence on Romney’s failure to pay taxes…

Asked if the Obama campaign agreed with Reid’s comments, Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said: “Reflecting the growing number of questions Americans have about Mitt Romney’s finances, Sen. Reid rightfully pointed out that Gov. Romney has something to hide.”…

Obama and Reid have developed a close partnership during the president’s time in office, as the two have increasingly coordinated the Senate’s agenda to match the campaign rhetoric. And Reid, an ultimate loyalist, benefited mightily from Obama’s aggressive effort in 2010 to help the majority leader pull off a hard-fought reelection battle many thought he had no chance of winning.

Politico reiterated today, in the course of a story about Reid’s aide calling Republicans “cowards” for daring to object to his McCarthyism, that Reid has “private backing from the White House and President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign.” And why wouldn’t he? No one seriously believes anymore that he takes his own “new brand of politics” B.S. seriously; that disappeared long ago in a haze of demagoguery aimed at the Koch brothers, the Chamber of Commerce, etc. It’s not in Reid’s interest to freelance an attack like this either. He may well have to deal with President Romney as majority leader, and even if he doesn’t, he’s irritating Republicans like McCain and Graham who might otherwise work with him during a second Obama term. O’s the one who clearly benefits from all this since he gets his dirty work done while staying “above the fray.” As always.

Exit question: I know Ed touched on this earlier but I’m still trying to parse the “logic” of it. Can anyone explain this comment from Pelosi: “Harry Reid made a statement that is true. Somebody told him. It is a fact”? Is she actually saying that if someone makes an unsubstantiated charge to you and you broadcast it while crediting them, you’ve been strictly “factual” because they did, in fact, say what you said they said? Hello?

Update: If you’re one of the many who’ve been crying their eyes out for poor Harry, he wants you to know that it’s now okay to stop.

“No one should feel sorry for me,” Reid said in Las Vegas on Monday afternoon during a preview of a clean energy summit he’s hosting there Tuesday, even as his incendiary remarks about Romney have turned the GOP magnifying glass onto himself…

Republicans have also made veiled and not-so-veiled hints that they’re prepared for an extended public discussion of Reid’s own finances.

Bring it on, Reid said.

“All you have to do is go look. I file every year, every stock trade, every piece of land I buy, all the money I have, it has the value of my homes, it’s got it all there,” Reid said. “So this is really a way to divert attention.”