Reid invokes Rush, Bush in latest fundraising bid

WASHINGTON -- For Democrats, Sen. Harry Reid on Wednesday invoked the unholy trio of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh in his latest fundraising appeal for re-election.

"The Limbaugh-led Republican party would like nothing more than to take me out in 2010," Reid said in an email sent to supporters. "In fact they are already on the attack on TV and the Internet with the usual partisan distortions."

"I'm not one to back down from a fight," Reid wrote as he asked for donations of $25 or $50. "Especially from a Republican party that takes its cues from right wing talk radio."

By invoking Limbaugh, Reid became the latest Democrat to cast the polarizing radio personality as the face of the Republicans, after Democratic polling concluded he was deeply unpopular with many Americans.

With Barack Obama in the White House, Reid, the Senate majority leader, said Democrats "are finally able to work with a president who is ready to move this country forward."

"But I'll be straight with you, George Bush and Dick Cheney drove us into a deep, deep ditch and families across the country, including those in Nevada, are struggling just to get by. Getting out won't be easy."

Reid's appeal was designed to give his bank account a boost in the final days before March 31, the close of the latest fundraising quarter set by the Federal Election Commission.

By the middle of April, Reid will file an update on his re-election finances. As of the end of December, he had raised $5.3 million, and counted $3.3 million cash on hand.