(Heidi Harris) – Harry Reid is desperate. The latest polls show him losing to the top two Republican challengers by 9 and 10 points respectively. His unfavorables are at 52%. Bleak numbers for an incumbent who’s packaged as someone so essential to Nevada.
And those numbers came out before the news broke about his “Negro” comments. Harry had a tough weekend, making phone calls on his knees to black leaders, begging forgiveness. We’ve all had enough, Harry.
Last fall, Nevadans watched from the sidelines while “the most powerful man in the Senate” allowed Nevada to become the laughingstock of the stimulus talks. While most Americans were dubious about the first stimulus package that was passed and were even more nervous about the prospect of another, Nevada somehow became the poster child for government earmarks.
Remember all the cable chatter about stimulus money going to fund a “sin train” between Nevada and California, or the “Mob Museum”? Where was Harry Reid to defend us? And besides, if the purpose was “stimulus,” why not earmark a few bucks for a Mob Museum that could “stimulate” tourism in downtown Las Vegas? After all, the mob is still alive and well, especially in D.C.
When President Obama used travel to Las Vegas as an example of corporate excess, there wasn’t a peep out of Harry. My show had to practically use a crowbar to get a statement out of his office, and it was tepid at best. Las Vegas lost millions of dollars in room and gambling revenue, not to mention the income lost by our hotel workers.
Had President Bush said anything similar about Las Vegas, can you imagine what would have happened? Harry would’ve dusted off his old boxing gloves. In reality, most of the companies that canceled conventions in Las Vegas just went to more expensive cities to have their events. Once again, Nevada lost in the eyes of America. “Most Powerful Man in the Senate”? Not by a long shot.
Harry has gone so far during this campaign as to completely misrepresent a 1981 incident where he claims he was “targeted by the mob.” His ad claims, “[W]hen the mob took over Vegas, Harry Reid took them on, and didn’t back down, even when they put a bomb in the family station wagon.” I guess ol’ Harry thought he could get away with it. It so happens I was raised in Nevada and didn’t remember anything about it. Neither did anyone else I asked. The 1981 police report describes a “wire” discovered in the car from the distributor leading to the gas tank. A bomb? Not!
Who put a wire under the hood? I can tell you who didn’t. The mob. Frank Culotta was Tony Spilotro’s enforcer in Vegas at that time, and I’ve asked Frank about it on my show. It so happens Frank was in jail the day of the alleged “bombing,” but if there had been any reason for the “mob” to be upset with Harry, Frank would have known, and more importantly, been the person to carry out any “hits.”
According to Harry’s ad, “the family station wagon” was supposedly targeted. Culotta claims there’s no way he or any member of “the outfit” would have targeted a car that could have been driven by Harry’s wife. They would have watched the car for weeks, verified Harry’s schedule, and made certain he was the only driver. But even if the mob had targeted Landra Reid’s car, why would the police report name “Harry Reid” as the victim?
The reaction from the liberal media in Nevada was predictable. The gnashing of teeth could be heard statewide. The libs were outraged that I would even have the audacity to question the “incident.” At last count, eleven articles had mentioned it.
Frank Culotta is an admitted thief and murderer (even killed a man in Chicago once with a real car bomb), so you can take his account for what it’s worth, but I’d believe Culotta before I’d believe anything Harry Reid says.
The really bad news for Harry Reid’s campaign is that he had to go back thirty years to try to come up with an example of his “toughness.” That’s the best you can do, Harry? Where was that “toughness” last fall? And where is it now, during the secret health care reform meetings, when other states are making deals “the outfit” would envy? The whole process reminds me of the scene in the movie Casino, where Joe Pesci (playing the Spilotro character) described the casinos’ skimming procedures. Nothing’s changed except the zip code. If everyone else is getting a “bag” from the backroom, where’s Nevada’s, Harry?
It speaks volumes that Harry’s own son, Rory Reid, is featuring only his first name on his campaign signs in his run for Nevada Governor. They read “Rory 2010”. Reid, the most powerful name in the Senate? It’s not even the most powerful name in Nevada.
(Ms. Harris is a talk radio host based in Las Vegas. “The Heidi Harris Show” is heard weekdays 5-9 AM on KDWN. Fan/hate mail can be sent to Heidi.harris @kdwn.com)
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