“An interesting report in the LV Sun from Jean Guerrero details the exodus from Las Vegas due to job loss and plummeting property values. Harry Reid will launch all the negative attacks he can against Sharron, but when people are in such a hurry to leave the state that they can’t even wait to reserve a U-Haul truck, then it’s time for Harry to look in the mirror.

“Well Harry, at least you’re providing business for the local U-Haul retailers. Too bad it’s in the wrong direction. ”

- Jarrod Agen, Communications Director, Angle for Senate, 9/2/10

The soundboard is the latest step in a revitalized campaign. As you may have seen from our “Faces” ad yesterday and recent stories, we are starting to turn the tables on Harry — attacking him for what he’s been attacking Sharron on.

• Reid attacked Sharron for weeks for ducking the press, but now the story has shifted to Harry sneaking around Nevada and avoiding voters/press.

• Reid’s ads attack Sharron for being extreme, but our latest ad throws the extreme title back at Harry showing how Reid’s extreme policies have left Nevada’s economy in an extreme crisis.

• Reid is always circulating Sharron’s old quotes but, as many of you know, Harry has a long history of making no sense.

- Jarrod Agen, Communications Director, Angle for Senate, 9/1/10

“I think that government needs to live within its means. I would like to go join my voice with Mike Pence and others who, when $62 billion came out to be spent on Katrina relief, he said, ‘wait a minute, I’m voting no and the reason is because I want to know where it’s going, what it’s going to be spent on, and who’s going to be spending it.’ So I’d like to join my voice there.”

So Harry, which part of this statement do you disagree with? Do you disagree that government needs to live within its means? Or do you disagree that we need to know where tax dollars are going, what it’s going to be spent on, and who’s going to be spending it?

- Jarrod Agen. Communications Director, Angle for Senate, 8/30/10

The ad is intended to highlight “the 1,400 education jobs that are no longer on the chopping block thanks to $83 million in emergency funding Sen. Reid delivered” to Nevada, Reid campaign spokeswoman Kelly Steele wrote in a news release last week, attacking GOP challenger Sharron Angle for being dismissive of the funding.

But Sen. Reid’s side of the story isn’t the slightest bit true.

In fact, no local schoolteachers were “on the chopping block” this September. Earlier this year, the school district’s bargaining units agreed to millions of dollars worth of contract concessions to spare educators from layoffs. Yes, some vacant teaching positions were set to be eliminated, but the district had to hire 430 new teachers for this year to make up for retirements and attrition. The only jobs “lost” were a handful of school-based administrative positions. Those workers were being returned to classrooms to teach at a reduced salary. No educator layoffs were planned.

- Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial, 8/29/10

8/23-8/25 Reid: 45 Angle: 44
8/8-8/11 Reid: 46 Angle: 44
7/26-7/28 Reid: 43 Angle: 42
7/12-7/14 Reid: 44 Angle: 37

“Today’s poll numbers explain why the Reid campaign has shifted their strategy to directly use the Senate Majority Leader as a political attack dog this week. His negative ads and campaign flacks are failing to provide separation. Harry himself has been tasked with carrying the water on the negative charges now – a move that will ultimately make him even more unpopular than his already dismal approval ratings.

“Look no further than today’s headline, “Nevada leads nation in foreclosures”, to see why Senator Reid’s ugly campaign is a desperate attempt to save his power, but will not save the voters of this state.” - Jarrod Agen, Communications Director, Angle for Senate, 8/27/10

Nevada Democratic Sen. Harry Reid is catching up to fellow Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California in terms of being disliked by Americans nationally.

A new poll out from Rasmussen Reports finds that, of course, a majority of Americans dislike both of the Democratic legislative leaders who lead one of the least popular and less trusted institutions in American society.

For much of this year, the crusty Reid’s unfavorable ratings lagged within the once-impressive 40% range, while Pelosi’s unfavorables have consistently led her male powerbroker in the more impressive 50+% range.

But now thanks to both of them carrying the heavy congressional water for Barack Obama’s controversial and expensive legislative agenda while the president boosted his….

…own unfavorable rating to majority status, Reid has been able to close to within screaming distance in the unfavorable gap with Pelosi, who’s next in line to the presidency after the VP.

Rasmussen finds that 59% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of the 11-term House member from San Francisco, while the four-term Reid now trails Pelosi by only 3 points at 56% unfavorable.

Something tells me Reid’s gonna overtake San Fran Nan before Election Day.

Fast-forward to 2006. Harry goes to the floor of the Senate and does a mea culpa, sans sackcloth and ashes, saying he had a change of heart on the illegal immigration issue because his wife got mad at him because her dad was an immigrant or some such nonsense.

And if you believe that one, I have a bridge to nowhere for sale.

The far more plausible explanation for Harry’s 180 on this issue is that his handlers at Big Labor, Inc. no longer saw illegals as competition, but as a huge new source of dues-paying members for a movement in serious decline.

Folks, you need to understand that Harry is not a principled politician; he’s the ultimate political opportunist. It’s not what’s in Nevada’s best interest or the nation’s best interest but what’s in Harry’s best interest that dictates his positions.

When it was in his political interest to oppose birthright citizenship because that’s what his core supporters wanted, he opposed birthright citizenship. And when the political winds shifted and landscape changed, he changed with it.

And once you understand this about Harry Reid, you understand why he tossed the Constitution, his president and most of his party under the bus last week when he came out opposed to building that Muslim educational center a few blocks from Ground Zero in New York. There was no principle involved in that decision; it was all about saving his re-election bacon in the fall.

Harry Reid it and weep….and remember in November.

But that “does not even begin to tell the real story of the state’s dismal job situation,” reports Sean Whaley of the Nevada News Bureau. “The actual unemployment rate in Nevada through the second quarter of 2010 is 21.5 percent, according to data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.”

Hmm, chew on this….

Republican challenger candidate Sharron Angle said it wasn’t her job as a U.S. senator to create jobs…and the Reid campaign has slammed her incessantly for that position while simultaneously claiming that nobody can do more for Nevada than Harry Reid thanks to his power as Senate Majority Leader.

Well….if creating jobs IS the job of a U.S. senator….and Harry Reid is the most powerful U.S. senator on the planet….and yet Nevada still leads the nation in unemployment….doesn’t that mean that Harry Reid is, to borrow his own words, a “miserable failure”?

Or as the kids would say: Epic Fail.

Truly, nobody could do worse for Nevada.

“You’ve seen today’s numbers, Nevada’s unemployment climbs again to 14.3% and the jobless rate in Las Vegas climbs to 14.8%. Showing signs of delusion, Harry Reid continues to ask Nevadans to vote for him…a pitch that sounds a lot like the band taking song requests while the Titanic sinks.” – Jarrod Agen, Communications Director, Sharron Angle for Senate 2010, 8/20/10

“Harry Reid is directly to blame for today’s unemployment rates and for the fact that for 16 straight months Nevada’s jobless rate has increased. Reid has voted for tax increases over 300 times, rammed Obamacare through the Senate, and as we speak, he is freezing the jobs market and keeping small businesses from hiring by fighting an extension of the Tax Cuts.” – Sharron Angle, 8/1010

“Senator Reid has continued to stonewall the negotiating process so that no debates could be held before early voting begins, because his handlers are certain that the sooner he debates the more damage he will bring on himself. Senator Reid was not willing to debate his Republican opponent six years ago, and clearly he is trying to circumvent the process again because he is afraid to take responsibility of his disastrous record as Majority Leader and face his opponent.” – Jerry Stacy, Sharron Angle for Senate 2010, 8/20/10

Question for Nevada voters: Do you think Harry Reid tossed the Constitution aside and came out opposed to building a mosque a few blocks away from Ground Zero because it was in Nevada’s best interest….or because it was in the best interest of getting himself and other Senate Democrats re-elected this November?

Exactly.

• “The second most powerful Democrat in the country is not willing to support the President in his efforts to defend the right of Muslims to build a cultural center on private property, if the site in question is in the vicinity of Ground Zero.” – Washington Post blogger Greg Sargent

• “The next time Reid flack Jon Summers gives any of you a quote negatively referencing Sharron’s ‘DC handlers’ – as he did in an RJ post on Friday – please remind him of his own Twitter handle. Yes – it’s @jonsummersdc with his location listed as Washington D.C. This, by definition would make @jonsummersdc, the actual ‘DC handler’ in this race.” – Jarrod Agen, Communications Director for the Sharron Angle campaign, 8/16/10

• “If making it easy to be an illegal alien is not enough, how about offering a reward for being an illegal immigrant? No sane country would do that, right? Guess again. If you break our laws by entering this country without permission and give birth to a child, we reward that child with U.S. citizenship and guarantee full access to all public and social services this society provides. And that is a lot of services. Is it any wonder that two-thirds of the babies born at taxpayer expense in county-run hospitals in Los Angeles are born to illegal alien mothers?” – Sen. Harry Reid, 9/20/93

• “I believe that one of the reasons we have a continuing problem with illegal immigration is because we have an entitlement system that offers incentives to enter the country unlawfully. Whether it is undermanned border security or lax enforcement of laws prohibiting the distribution of funds to illegal immigrants, there just seems to be too many incentives.” – Sen. Harry Reid, 8/5/94

• “Harry Reid can wonder all he wants about why any Hispanic could be a Republican. I’ve been wondering something myself: In light of such flagrant condescension and an obvious lack of regard, why would any self-respecting Hispanic — in Nevada or anywhere else — support Harry Reid?” – Columnist Ruben Navarrette, Fresno Bee 8/15/10

• “The Daily Caller has learned that Sharron Angle has former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s endorsement. Palin’s brother, Chuck Heath, told The Daily Caller that his sister plans to ‘actively help’ Angle and ‘do whatever she can’ to help take out Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, the Senate’s majority leader, in Nevada this fall.” – The Daily Caller, 8/17/10