Ex-Reagan campaign manager Ed Rollins says GOP Senate primary too close to call

Republican political guru Ed Rollins says the GOP primary in the U.S. Senate race is too close to call, but he's backing Sue Lowden because he thinks she'll learn from her campaign mistakes –– and he thinks she's the best bet to beat Harry Reid in the fall.

"I think we won't know the winner until Tuesday," Rollins said in a telephone interview Thursday with the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I think it's the most exciting race in the country."

Rollins endorsed Lowden but wasn't able to come to Nevada to campaign with her in the final days before the primary because he's suffering from bronchitis, he said from New York.

Why Lowden and not Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle, who has momentum and could run away with the GOP nomination, or Danny Tarkanian who remains a contender.

"I'm not opposed to the others," Rollins said. "I'm pro-Sue. I think she has the best chance to beat Reid. In the end, I think she'll win the nomination and then everybody will get behind her."

But isn't Lowden too damaged by her comments that people could barter for health care and questions about whether she's played by the campaign finance rules?

"The mistakes she made she won't make again," Rollins said of Lowden, who used to be the head of the Nevada Republican Party before she got into the race.

Rollins said Angle is more vulnerable than Lowden because she has a longer record as a former four-term Reno Assemblywoman that could be attacked by the Reid campaign. Still, Angle has consistently voted against most taxes, a plus this election year, while Lowden as a one-term state senator in the mid-1990s backed some tax hikes and fees.

As for Tarkanian, Rollins said he doesn't want to bad-mouth him, but he has lost two elections already and "he's tried to live off his famous name." Tarkanian is the son of Jerry Tarkanian, one of the most well-known former coaches in college basketball, including at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he coached his son. What about after the primary, if Lowden doesn't win and Angle or even Tarkanian win the chance to take on Reid? Will Rollins and other Republicans get behind them?

Rollins said he's confident the Republican Party, including the conservative Tea Party members who have fought the GOP establishment, will come together.

"It's very important when this thing is over that there be a party of the coalition that helps defeat Reid. My sense is these people will not walk away," Rollins said of the Tea Party contingent of conservatives who have been wooed by all three top GOP candidates. "I know I will do whatever I can to help defeat Harry Reid."

Reid's popularity has been at its lowest this past year with more than half of Nevadans unhappy with him. But the Democratic incumbent seems to have a fighting chance to win re-election with the latest polls showing the Senate majority leader in a statistical dead heat with Lowden, Angle or Tarkanian following what has been a brutal GOP primary.

Rollins said the eventual GOP nominee will have five months to recover, and can win if the Republican puts the focus back on Reid.

"Nevadans want change and they don't want Harry Reid," Rollins said. "Many people think he's out of touch and he's not fighting for Nevada."

Rollins is perhaps best known for running Ronald Reagan's successful 1984 presidential re-election campaign.

But he said the Nevada race reminds him of the time he managed the campaign of former New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman. The Republican took on the Democratic Gov. Jame Florio, who was vulnerable because he had raised taxes. Whitman stunned the incumbent with a come-from-behind victory.

"At the end of the day, we got the race focused back on him and we won," Rollins said of the 1993 race. "That's the key to beating Reid, too."