Nevada's Senate race is coming down to the wire as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican opponent Sharron Angle are beginning their final campaign efforts to get voters to head to the polls.
Reid stayed on the attack Thursday, painting Angle as a suspect and dangerous candidate who spoke cryptically in order to mask a more devious agenda.
"You know, your viewers, they know names like Paul Laxalt, Jim Santini, John Ensign -- these are just a few of the people I've run against. They all were able to speak in non-code words," Reid said on MSNBC's "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell."
"Never have I run against someone that speaks in code words that are not explainable. This is a situation that I have never, never come across," Reid continued. "People in Nevada have to get out and vote. We have just a few days left, and they have to go to that ballot box and say 'we can't have a woman that's this extreme and this dangerous, someone who wants to privatize the V.A., someone who believes in these crazy ideas.'"
A recording of Sharron Angle delivering a religious address in October surfaced earlier this week, raising further questions about her stance on Social Security and other entitlement programs.
Speaking about a specific bible passage, Angle appeared to refer to government systems such as "medicare and social security" as sinfully "wicked ways," a contention that the Angle campaign has since denied.
Meanwhile, Angle is hitting the airwaves with a strong new television ad, as well as two mailers, that seek to highlight Reid's position in a highly unpopular Obama-Pelosi-Reid trifecta.
The latest spot focuses on Obama and Democrats' 2008 campaign promises of "change," a goal that the ad claims has fallen miserably short.
"Now, it's our turn," the ad's narrator concludes.
Angle's mailers, provided here by Nevada journalist Jon Ralston, highlight the state's skyrocketing unemployment, as well as maligned comments made by President Obama earlier this year warning people not to "go gamble your money away in Las Vegas."
The latest polls of the contest show Angle leading Reid by four points -- within the margin of error.
Michael P. McDonald sees potential signs of a Democratic resurgence in the race, as the party's early voting numbers have increased over the past few days, while Republicans' appear to have plateaued.
While Democrats are still hanging on to the hope that the Senate's most powerful legislator can eke out a victory, some may already be preparing a contingency plan to fill the leadership roll should he lose.
Though Senators Durbin (D-Ill.) and Schumer (N.Y.) have both poured money into the campaign to bolster Reid's effort, it is widely speculated that there is some degree of internal calculus going on between the two powerful Democrats who would could soon find themselves jockeying for the Senate's top post.
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