Ads attack Reid over Nevada's high jobless rate
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/07/09/art.anglead.0709u.gi.jpg caption ="Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle is out Friday with a new ad slamming her opponent, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid."]Updated at 2:30 p.m. ET
(CNN) - Call it a one two punch on a dubious honor.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's Republican challenger is out with a new ad Friday that slams Reid over the state's 14 percent unemployment rate, the highest in the nation.
"When Harry Reid became Majority Leader, Nevada's unemployment was only 4.4 percent. Now Nevada unemployment hits 14 percent, leads nation," states a headline in the commercial, which Sharron Angle's campaign says starts running Friday statewide in Nevada on broadcast and cable television.
The ad then uses copy from various news reports about Nevada overtaking Michigan to claim the highest state employment level in the country. The commercial ends by saying "Help is on the way. Visit http://www.SharronAngle.com."
When Reid took over as Senate Majority Leader in January 2007, Nevada's unemployment rate stood at 4.4 percent. The national unemloyment rate at that time was 4.6 percent at that time.
The ad is the first by Angle since she beat 12 other candidates in the June 8 GOP primary to capture her party's Senate nomination. Angle, a former Nevada state lawmaker, enjoys strong support from many in the Tea Party movement.
The commercial was released the same day that the Republican National Committee went up with a new ad also taking on Reid, as well as President Barack Obama, over the high jobless rate.
"It took thousands of men to build Hoover Dam and modern Nevada. But it only took two men to help tear down its economy," says the narrator in the commercial,
which begins running Friday on cable television in Las Vegas, according to an RNC official.
The state's unemployment rate stood at 9.6 percent when Obama took over in the White House at beginning of last year.
The release of the two ads comes just hours after Obama headlined two campaign events in Las Vegas Thursday night for the top Democrat in the Senate, who polls suggest faces a difficult re-election this year as he bids for a fifth term in office.
"We knew it would take us months, years, to dig ourselves out of the holes that we found ourselves in. That's longer than anybody would like, but here's what I also know. An economy that last year was shrinking by 6 percent is now growing. An economy that was shredding jobs at an unbelievable pace - we've now had six months in a row of private sector job growth," said Obama at the event. "That's because of policies that Harry Reid helped bring about. We have turned things around, and we are moving in the right direction."
The president is continuing that theme Friday, in a speech on the economy he was scheduled to deliver at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Describing Reid, Obama said "he's a fighter, and you should never bet against him. And that's just what we need right now. We need someone who's going to fight for the people of Nevada and for the American people," according to excerpts released before the speech.
The ad wars in Nevada should continue next week, following an announcement Friday by the Tea Party Express, a national Tea Party group based in California that helped Angle during her primary bid. A spokesman for the organization tells CNN that new ads in support of Angle will air on Nevada TV next week, now that the group has met its fundraising goal of $100,000 to produce the commercials.
Updated at 2:30 p.m. ET with reaction from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee: “After saying she would not be in the business of creating jobs and admitting she would not have acted to save 22,000 jobs at CityCenter, Sharron Angle’s first television advertisement blatantly contradicts her own words," said DSCC Press Secretary Deirdre Murphy. "In reality, Sharron Angle subscribes to the same reckless economic playbook put forth by Republicans that brought our economy to its knees and led to massive job losses. Nevadans rejected this failed economic approach before and will do so again this fall.”
Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn
Well, at least we know where a great deal of the GOPer 200 million dollar slush fund is heading . . .
Can't say it's creating any more jobs for Nevada than Angle herself will create, though.
They should attack Reid. He is horrendous and between Reid and Obama's reckless spending & inept leadership the US Economy has tanked and unemployment skyrocketed. Reid has been horrible for our State and even his own son tries to campaign without mentioning his own last name. Anyone and I mean anyone could do a better job than Harry Reid.
Might as well tell it like it is.......Reid sure won't.
Too bad he was so enthralled with passing ObamaCare, that the citizens didn't want, when he should have been working on job creation for his constituents.
Since he didn't care about people's jobs, the people shouldn't give him back, his.
He's an old fighter, fighting for old ways, old habits, old, old. Sharron Angle old too.
We need new young, energetic blood, excited to take our country into new paths, willing to give new ideas a try.
Come on, they even shut down NASA because they saw no need for it!!!!! talk about putting us back 100 years!!!!! what else will they shut down next, the internet?????
That's a pretty big increase (10%) over what it was when he began....doesn't look good when you factor in the wow effect (mother, father, children, local stores, local economy)...it's a spiral that ends on his lap. .
Hey, the more people unemployed the more on government dole (excuse me, I mean taxpayers' dole) the more votes for the "redistribution" party...ie: Democrats. Well, that is until all responsible working people say enough and join the Tea Party. THEN we will see real reform.
I think that is a little unfair to link Harry Reid to unemployment in Nevada. I mean the economy tanked in 2007, and I think almost every State has seen a rise in unemployment. I think negative attack ads never work, and they end up backfiring.
If you want to beat Reid (and I would love to see him go), you need to talk about the issues and where Reid sits on major issues.
Harry Reid is just like Tom Dashille .I hope for Nevada's sake they send this person to the unemployment line !!!!
Harrys a great leader.We have Rush on the run now,he married,moved and is hiding his workers.
Sen Reid should be ashamed of himself for spearheading the destruction of our economy. If it wasn't for the wild-eyed liberals like Reid, this country would still be premier in the world but we have given too much to the communists in China and our socialist friends in Europe. Why do these people not see that their extreme fanatical liberalism is destroying the foundations of faith which once made America so great.
What's the beef? As Sharron Angle said, it's not the job of a senator to create jobs. Or did she mean to say that it's not the job of Republican senators to create jobs?
Sorry Augsbee: We don't need new ideas. We need to revive old ideas. Like honoring our Constitution, protecting our borders, providing safety net for people in need but not a lifestyle based on government largess, people taking responsibility for their own lives with less government interference. Those are NEW IDEAS based on the socialist/marxist direction Obamaxist has taken us.
"WE THE PEOPLE" will reclaim the United States of America and you will see NEW IDEAS that are directly from the history books that the progressives have not been able to alter yet.
economy... afganistan....jobs....are you better off now with our new president ?.....if you are vote for reid and obama....they have brought change ..... ugh...
Nevada has low unemployment because there is nothing there except gambling casinos and since the GOP caused the biggest economic crash since the Great Depression only the world's wealthiest individuals can afford to gamble there. Just walk throught eh casinos and you'll see this for yourself. Do not take my word for it. This a fact of life. No longer can Vegas afford to let people win the jackpots prior to the crash of Wall Street and the U.S. banking system. As you move from casino to casino, regular clientelle and old timers all know that things have changed and it had nothing to do with Harry Reid. Vegas and Nevada are broke because of the unregulated financial system set up and torn down by intentional lack of oversight by Republicans who kept saying "everything is fine, the economy is stronger than ever before." McCain made this statement on prime time TV and almost without missing a beat, the economy crashed and Obama and Reid are still working their brains off trying to fix the mess Republicans created.
This is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help us God.
Putting a Republican in power is like adding a stronger noose around America's neck – sooner or later you choke to death.
The unemployment figure is really higher since they don't count the mexicans taking jobs.
But but but ... didn't Sharon Angle say it wouldn't be her job as senator to create new jobs? She doesn't get to have it both ways, even though she thinks she does. I'm confused.
Electing a right-winger will do nothing for Nevada's economy. Other than repeating their mantra of lower taxes, the Republicans have no substantive ideas to combat the unemployment in large part created by the policies of the Bush admin. Once the benefits of the new health care ideas kick in, and the people benefit from them, should make Reid more popular.
We need to either elect this woman or have her replace one of the magic acts on the Strip. She is truly a magician of uncommon abilities.
Who would have believed that anyone in the world could make Sarah Palin look intelligent?
Of course the state's employment is mostly a state issue, not one of the federal government which Reid belongs to. I think Reid is a horrid senator, but the Republicans attacks on him are so wacky I hope he wins
And of course in the Bizarro world the rethugs live in, bush and cheney had nothing to do with Nevada's, or the country as a whole's, poor economy and jobless rate. I just pray there are enough sane, reality-connected people in Nevada and the rest of the country to take this nonsense and throw it back in the liars' faces.
Reid and Pelosi both need to go. Both of them decided, regardless of what the people wanted, that they would shove their agendas down our throats. Now its time for the American people to shove back. Vote 'em in. Vote 'em out.
Is Reid dragging Obama down, or is Obama dragging Reid down. Either way, together they're unstoppable.
If you are an Independent, a Moderate, a Conservative, a Republican-even if you are a Democrat leaning away from your party-we cannot leave it up to a loony-bin Sharron Angle to be our only option to Reid. She is waaay ou there, means only trouble come the election (as if she hasn't made enough trouble for herself already). Come on-if you have a good name to put in or write in, even at this late stage, let's hear it!
This woman Angle is one of Sarah Palins "Grizzlly Moms" that Palin says is going to take back our Government......That's what we need a bunch of Grizzly Moms and Pit Bulls with lipstick......All the progress that women have made over the years,Sarah Palin and her Grizzly mom's and Pit Bulls have distroyed........
Harry Reid is the poster child for bad bahavior and for what is wrong in Washington - partisan back stabbing; back room deals; government for the lobbyists; votes for sale; deficits for all; pork spending at its worst in US history; no jobs; no economy; no border security; no country for the people as we'd like to see it.
Reid needs to be retired from public life for the benefit of all mankind...