Reid Campaign Touts Health Care Bill in E-Mail
The campaign of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who has been trailing in recent polls as he seeks re-election, released an e-mail Monday night touting Reid’s role in promoting “the historic— health care reform bill that the Senate is on the verge of passing.“Garnering the necessary 60 votes to block a Republican filibuster wasn’t easy,— Brandon Hall, Reid’s campaign manager, wrote in an e-mail to supporters that was not a fundraising solicitation. “But Senator Reid has demonstrated he has what it takes to do what Congress has tried and failed to do since Harry Truman was president: ensure that every American has access to quality, affordable care.—Hall went on to write that the bill emerging from the Senate has also garnered support from the American Medical Association, senior citizens, small-business groups and advocates for universal health care coverage. “After this morning, health insurance reform has taken a giant leap forward,— Hall wrote. “And those who have a stake improving the health insurance system are proudly standing with Senator Reid as he leads the charge to ensure every American has access to quality, affordable care.“We’re now on track for the Senate to pass this legislation before the holiday. And it couldn’t come a moment sooner.—While political analysts on Monday hailed Reid’s behind-the-scenes role in securing the 60 Democratic votes needed to pass health care reform in the Senate, it is not clear whether the machinations on Capitol Hill will accrue to his political benefit back home.Several polls in recent weeks have shown Reid trailing the two leading Republicans in the Senate race, former state GOP Chairwoman Sue Lowden and attorney Danny Tarkanian. And the “tea party— movement sent out an e-mail solicitation Monday night urging conservatives to fund a TV ad that a political action committee, Our Country Deserves Better PAC, is hoping to air in Nevada, urging Reid’s defeat — and defeat of the health care bill.