Angle: Nevada cannot afford Reid

CARSON CITY -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle spent election eve Monday blasting Democratic Sen. Harry Reid for Nevada's "dismal economy" and promising to repeal national health care reform and "bring back good ole capitalism."

Angle made the comments on Fox News commentator Sean Hannity's national radio talk show.

She spent Monday eating lunch at a Reno senior citizen center, knocking on doors and making appearances on TV and conservative radio talk shows.

"We are pretty energized," Angle told Hannity. "We still have a lot of energy in our get-out-the-vote effort. It is a sprint to the finish."

She said Nevada's 14.4 percent unemployment rate really is 22.3 percent when you count in people who are underemployed or no longer looking for jobs.

"We have him to thank for it. Nevada just cannot afford Harry Reid," Angle said.

She and her husband, Ted, plan to vote about 10 a.m. Tuesday at McQueen High School, near her northwest Reno home, and then meet with supporters about 6 p.m. at a Republican party at the Peppermill hotel-casino.

Angle won't spend much time at the party because she plans to fly to Las Vegas early in the evening and watch election results at a GOP party at The Venetian.

The most recent poll for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and 8NewsNow, conducted last week, showed Angle with a 4 percentage point lead over Reid, who served four terms in the Senate and is the Senate's majority leader. The poll results have a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, so the race is considered a tossup.

If she had been senator over the past couple of years, Angle said, she would not have voted for national health care reform, the Wall Street bank bailout bill or the stimulus bill, all of which were supported by Reid.

"We need to take back our economy by repealing the extremist policies that have crushed our economy," Angle said.

She said Reid does not understand it is business that drives America.

"Harry Reid has done his very best to demonize me," Angle said. "That is all he has. He cannot run on his record. His record is that of totally devastating our economy."

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.