People here are wondrous over how Harry Reid closed the gap between himself and his opponents. He is now within the margin of error of beating Sharron Angle, who has yet to be put under the microscope the way Sue Lowden did. A blitz by the Nevada Democratic Party involving some viral videos against Lowden's hare-brained ideas drove the message home and led to her ultimate defeat in the GOP primary.
But how did he do it? How did he go from being behind by double digits to being neck-and-neck with the GOP primary winner? The answer is probably veteran campaigner Kelly Steele, although he's modest about his role.
More below the fold.
From Talking Points Memo:
. . .talk to Democratic consultants and aides in Washington and Nevada and they point to Steele's arrival on the majority leader's campaign in March as a pivotal move that helped turn Reid's fortunes around -- by merciless and withering criticism of Sue Lowden, the Republican once expected to be Reid's general election rival.
Three months later, Lowden's campaign has been swept into the dustbin and team Reid is breathing a sigh of relief that the general election opponent is the much more beatable Sharron Angle.
"In my opinion, Lowden would be the nominee if Kelly Steele and Matt Fuehrmeyer weren't so relentless and she'd still be leading in the polls," one Democratic strategist tells TPM. "[They knew] they were going to have to absolutely wreck whoever was running against them."
And that's where Steele factors in--to help Reid, as his team puts it, "vaporize" his opponent.
Steele has worked on numerous Democratic campaigns--for Senate candidate Bill Bradbury in 2002, for John Kerry in 2004, and for the team that helped Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) thump Mike McGavick in 2006. In Washington state, Steele developed a reputation as a bulldog, and a game changer.
And "vaporize" they did with Lowden. She became toxic overnight and nobody could take her seriously after she double- and triple-downed on the bartering idea and ran an ad trying to turn it against Reid before she finally walked it back (and by walk it back, I mean she acted like she had convenient amnesia). It was a political "hit job" waiting to happen. Now, he has only one opponent: the loon Sharron Angle. She has plenty of baggage, is a clueless corporatist, and there are numerous ways Harry Reid's wealthy campaign can attack her.
Good job on Sue Lowden; now, "vaporize" Sharron Angle!
UPDATE: P.S. Sharron Angle also opposed fluoridation of water in 1999 in the Nevada State Assembly for fear it would poison people.