Harry Reid’s easy ride almost over

There are 10 happy days left for Harry Reid.

Ten days to savor the panic of Nevada's too-close-to-call Republican Senate primary. Ten days for his henchmen to attack the field's leaders, snicker about their flaws and hide on the sidelines. Ten days for his cheerleaders to dress as chickens and his staff to think that he can win back large numbers of independent voters.

On June 9, once the GOP primary is settled, Reid will be flushed into the open and subjected to a five-month, scorched-earth campaign the likes of which he's never seen.

There are so many easy ways to savage the Senate majority leader, the Republican nominee -- likely to be Sue Lowden or Sharron Angle -- and anti-Reid PACs could produce a new campaign ad a day through Nov. 2 and still have a mountain of ammunition remaining. Reid's a big fish in a small barrel, and Republicans can't wait to start shooting.

He's enjoying a nice bump in the polls from his jabs at Lowden and Lowden's attacks on Angle. But that's going to go away once he's in the line of fire, too.

If Reid keeps knocking Lowden for her suggestion that patients barter with physicians to settle medical bills (the inspiration for the left's "chickens for checkups" stunts), Lowden can run a dozen ads on all of Reid's verbal gaffes. And didn't he author the health care legislation that a majority of Nevadans want repealed? Good luck defending the Cornhusker Kickback, Harry. You've got a winner, there.

If Reid's camp hammers Lowden over campaign finance errors, she can remind voters that cheapskate Harry used campaign funds to provide Christmas bonuses to the staff of the Washington hotel where he lives.

And those slams are the gentle ones.

How does a man who's been an elected official or public employee his entire working life become a millionaire who pays cash for a Ritz-Carlton condo? How can Reid criticize any corporate lobby when he has ushered passage of legislation for interests that employ his children and family members as well-paid lobbyists?

But the most devastating blows will be the hundreds of images of a smiling Reid standing next to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. These are the two most despised politicians in America, the poster couple for incompetent incumbents. They've been in charge of Congress for 3½ years, and they've sent its approval rating below 20 percent.

Reid can't cast himself as a humble son of the desert -- he's a consummate Washington insider dedicated to enacting a far-left agenda. Cue the video clips of Reid promising amnesty for illegal immigrants, a job-killing cap and trade bill and card check for his union masters. Then there are all those bailouts and the Goldman Sachs fundraiser he doesn't want to talk about.

We're supposed to believe this track record looks good against any Republican? Half of this state's registered voters already hate his guts. Just wait until they're reminded of all the reasons why. Reid might as well stick a "kick me" sign on his back side.

Democrats will survive the 2010 elections running to the center, away from Reid, Pelosi and President Obama. Reid can't do that. The former boxer has put himself in a corner.

He'll run on his purported power as majority leader and claim that Nevada needs his clout. Nevada's record unemployment rate -- still climbing -- suggests otherwise. Throw in the fact that Nevada is scraping the bottom of the rankings in federal tax dollars returned and federal stimulus dollars received per capita, and Harry's argument doesn't hold water.

Yes, Reid will spend millions of dollars attacking his opponent and getting registered Democrats to the polls. Yes, Big Labor will spend millions more propping him up and tearing the GOP down. But union politics don't play well with independents, especially in Nevada, where tin-eared, public-sector bargaining units are bankrupting governments.

Lowden and Angle are both capable of losing November's election to Reid. Neither is especially polished or quick on her feet.

The primary winner will get her act together and land a lot of punches throughout the summer and fall. The only question is whether the winning woman swings so wildly that she punches herself out.

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is a Review-Journal editorial writer.