Harry Reid to Begin Airing TV Ads
While the release announcing the ads said they were "long planned to begin airing a year out from the election," the TV spots start airing on the same day as a new radio ad from the Republican National Committee slamming Reid and Vice President Joe Biden on the stimulus.
A recent Mason-Dixon poll shows the Nevada senator trailing two possible Republican challengers as he seeks a fifth six-year term. Real estate developer Danny Tarkanian would beat Reid 48 percent to 43 percent, while former GOP party official Sue Lowden leads Reid 49 percent to 39 percent.
Democrats are hoping to avoid a repeat of the 2004 elections, when then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) was unseated by Republican John Thune.
Reid's campaign says the ads are intended to introduce the majority leader to the 395,749 new voters registered in Nevada since his last election in 2004. The new voters account for approximately one third of all registered voters in the state.
The first ad, called "Hard Work," emphasizes Reid's Nevada roots and his track record of creating jobs and delivering for hardworking Nevadans. It also highlights his clout as Senate Majority Leader.
"I can look back and it doesn't seem that long ago that I lived in a home that didn't have hot water," Reid says in the ad, shown above. "I know that the people in Nevada are struggling. I think of this every day."
The second ad, "Nevada Jobs," tells the story of Reid's efforts to help save the nation's largest construction project, City Center in Las Vegas, an endeavor that would have cost 10,000 construction jobs and 12,000 permanent jobs if it had shut down. The ad features Jim Murren, the CEO of MGM Mirage.
