Dueling ads blame Reid and praise him on jobs
Should U.S. Sen. Harry Reid be blamed for not creating enough jobs in Nevada?
Or should he be praised for backing clean energy projects that are creating new jobs despite economic hard times?
It depends, of course, on your political point of view.
A couple of new 30-second TV ads by outside groups provide two starkly different views of what the Democratic Senate majority leader has done on jobs.
One new anti-Reid spot by American Crossroads makes fun of Reid's campaign claim that "no one can do more" for Nevada than him. It quotes a speech Reid made recently on the Senate floor in which he said that "only 36,000 people lost their jobs today, which is really good."
"Really, Harry?" the ad's narrator asks. "No wonder Nevada now has the highest unemployment in the nation. Bailouts. Deficits. ObamaCare. No one can do more? Really, Harry? For Nevadans, haven't you done enough?”
The initial Nevada ad buy is for $120,000, the group said. It's the second ad from American Crossroads, which is backed by GOP operative Karl Rove, in the Nevada Senate race.
The commercial leaves out the fact that Reid noted the job losses were less than expected, which meant less people lost their jobs.
The new pro-Reid ad released today comes from the League of Conservation Voters, VoteVets.org Action Fund, Sierra Club and the Service Employees International Union.
The commercial praises Reid for voting against what it called Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s “big oil bailout” and for supporting clean energy policies. The ad is part of a $2 million ad buy across four states, the group said.
In Nevada, the ad features Kevin Johnson, an Iraq War veteran who works for a Chicago-based wind energy development company with projects across the country.
"This year, thousands of soldiers will return home, looking to get on with their lives," Johnson says. "Senator Harry Reid is making that a little easier, voting to hold oil companies accountable and creating tens of thousands of clean energy jobs across Nevada."
The ad says the stimulus bill that Reid backed in 2009 created 52,000 clean energy jobs, but it's unclear how many of those reported jobs are in Nevada.
Reid has his own ads running, too, promoting his clean energy and job creation efforts. He also has a couple of attacks ads running against his Republican opponent, Sharron Angle.
Angle, a former Reno assemblywoman, hasn't started airing any general election ads yet. But the Tea Party Express, which endorsed Angle and ran commercials that helped her win the highly competitive GOP primary on June 8, said it's raising money now in hopes of launching a new pro-Angle ad in Nevada as soon as next week.
Pro-Reid ad
Anti-Reid ad
