Titus comes home to honors, attacks

Home from Washington for the congressional recess this week, Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., is being inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Nevada State Senate, a body she served in for two decades, leading her party much of that time.

It's not the only laurel Titus will be collecting. Tonight at the annual reception of the Paradise Democratic Club, one of the central see-and-be-seen events for Southern Nevada Democrats, she'll be honored as Democrat of the Year.

But there are jeers as well as cheers in store for Titus on the home front. The National Republican Congressional Committee is airing a radio ad attacking her for voting for "$1.2 trillion in spending in less than two months."

The ad, which the committee said is airing on local stations in Las Vegas all week, is a reminder that Titus can't rest easy in her new job in Congress. The 3rd Congressional District that she represents has always been competitive, and that clearly hasn't changed, although no one has yet stepped up to run against Titus in 2010.

The NRCC is targeting nine Democrats in vulnerable seats with similar radio spots, one (Zack Space, D-Ohio) with a television ad and 33 with robocalls.

Titus spokesman Andrew Stoddard said the congresswoman "is hard at work to address the economic challenges that have been inherited due to the policies of the Bush administration." In supporting the stimulus package and budget, he said, Titus "is taking action on the difficult task of turning our economy around."

The state Senate is scheduled to pass the hall of fame resolution Tuesday in Carson City. On Wednesday, Titus is scheduled to address the Legislature, a biennial tradition for the state's members of Congress.