Reid Goes on the Air With First Ads of 2010 Race

By Emily Cadei | October 15, 2009 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Harry Reid is beginning to dip into his $8.7 million campaign war chest, airing two new television ads starting Friday to reintroduce the increasingly unpopular Senate majority leader to Nevada voters.

The ads, entitled "Nevada Jobs" and "Hard Work," emphasize Reid's Nevada roots and his ability to use his clout in the Senate to help his homestate. The tag line in both: "Determination that makes a difference."

The Reid campaign noted in a release announcing the ad launch that "approximately one third of all registered voters" in Nevada are new to the state since Reid's last election in 2004 and framed the ads an introduction for those new voters.

Recent polls show that Reid's problem is not that he is not well-known, but that what Nevada residents know of the four-term incumbent, a majority of them don't like.

A Mason Dixon and the Las Vegas Review-Journal poll released over the weekend show found that half of the voters polled said they held a negative opinion of their senior senator, compared with 38 percent who view him favorably.And Reid continues to trail two relatively unknown Republican candidates -- former state Sen and former Republican party Chairwoman Sue Lowden and real estate developer Danny Tarkanian -- in hypothetical general election match-ups.

Reid is hoping that his seniority and leadership post, as well as the resources to air ads emphasizing those traits early and often, will compensate for the lack of warmth voters feel for him. But Republicans have the Senate race down as one of their top 2010 targets and together with outside conservative groups, are expected to counter Reid's spending with millions of their own.

The Republican National Committee is running a radio ad Thursday and Friday in the Reno, Nev. media market, timed to coincide with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s Nevada visit and Friday fundraiser for Reid, that knocks the "reckless economic policies" of the two men.

CQ Politics rates the general election contest Leans Democratic.

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