WASHINGTON – Newly elected Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid prodded President Bush and Republicans on Tuesday to join him in working across party lines over the next two years and said, “I would always rather dance than fight.”

“But I know how to fight,” the 64-year-old Nevadan added in his first appearance as leader of a Democratic minority that was reduced to 44 seats in the Nov. 2 elections, fewest in seven decades.

Chosen without opposition to replace Sen. Tom Daschle as party leader, Reid also warned Republicans not to “mess with the rules” as they try to overcome opposition to Bush’s most controversial nominees for the federal courts.

While Democrats ushered in a new leadership era, House Republicans stood pat with their own team after elections that enlarged their majority.

Rep. Dennis Hastert of Illinois won support from the GOP rank and file for a fourth consecutive term as speaker and pledged a “reform Congress” when lawmakers convene in January.

“We will reform the legal system to stop lawsuit abuse. … We will reform Social Security without cutting benefits and raising taxes on senior citizens, and we will work to reform the tax code to make it more simple and more fair,” said Hastert, who has a close relationship with Bush.

Apart from Reid, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois was elected second-ranking party leader.

In the House, Republicans awarded Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas a new term as majority leader, and Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri was re-elected whip, the third-ranking position.

Daschle was defeated in a bid for re-election in South Dakota two weeks ago, and Reid’s ascension capped a remarkable rise for a native of tiny Searchlight, Nev., born into poor circumstances.

“If I can make it in America, anyone can,” he told reporters, adding he hopes to use his tenure to make sure that others have “the same opportunities that Harry Reid had.”

Reid said he intends to defer to Daschle while Congress completes its current post-election session.

At the same time, he already has begun to exercise his new power inside the party and the Senate.

He said he hopes Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack will seek chairmanship of the Democratic party, for example, and that Democrats will work harder to appeal to rural voters in states like his own.

Associated Press

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., will lead the Democratic minority in the new Senate.