Sharron Angle: An Uphill Fight Until November

Now comes the hard part for Sharron Angle.

Having won the Republican nomination for the
Senate seat now held by Majority Leader Harry
Reid, Ms. Angle must now take on the mammoth
and well-funded Reid organization to prevail
in November.

And judging from what we have seen so far, it
isn't going to be easy.

First of all, the majority leader has only begun
to spend the $16 million he currently has in the
bank for the fall campaign. Another $9 million
is on the way (adding up to the predicted $25
million war chest), and already the effects are
very noticeable.

Reid signs and billboards are everywhere
overnight. The radio and TV airwaves are full
of Reid commercials, extolling the many "things"
good ol' Harry has done for Nevada. And this is just the
opening salvo.

The negative ads attacking Angle have yet to start.

And on the surface, there's plenty of material for them
to pick from. Angle's stated positions include the abolition
of Social Security, Medicare, the Departments of Energy
and Education and the IRS. Her other positions include
the abolition of the Federal Reserve, a return to the gold
standard, and reinstituting Prohibition.

Not exactly a "mainstream" conservative agenda - but
one calculated to appeal to the tin-hat and wingnut
crowd.

And Ms. Angle shows few signs of "moderating" her
message. Despite a quick trip to Washington to meet
with top GOP operatives Dick Armey and Roger Ailes,
who advised her to downplay the "Tea Party" aspect of
her campaign, she promptly returned to Nevada to state
that we may need a "Second Amendment" solution to our
problems if things don't improve.

While this may play well to the "God and Guns" segment
of the electorate, it doesn't exactly sit well with mainstream
voters, who are far more worried about jobs and the economy
than taking to the streets with rifles and shotguns.

And this is starting to show up in some high-profile defections
from top GOP officeholders. The Republican mayor of Reno,
Bob Cashell, has come out for Reid, as has State Senate Majority
Leader Sig Rogich, who heads up the statewide "Republicans
For Reid" effort. Moreover, there are rumors that Sue Lowden,
of "cluckers for checkups" fame, may leave the GOP and endorse
Reid in the fall.

Add to this the fact that the big casino operators and mining
interests are all firmly in the Reid camp and Ms. Angle may
be outgunned on all sides.

But she has probably one one card to play - and that is to make
the election a referendum on Harry Reid himself - to make the
whole campaign one of Harry Reid vs. the little guy.

If I were Sharron Angles' campaign manager, I would be asking
just how Harry Reid's ties to big casino and mining interests,
his coziness with Big Government and Big Public Employee
Unions, and his slavish devotion to a far-left Democratic agenda
are going to help Nevada with its current 14.7% unemployment
rate and nation-leading foreclosure rate.

As a Senate Majority Leader he hasn't been particularly effective;
I can't imagine a Lyndon Johnson or even a Tom Daschle letting
himself get rolled on a badly-needed extension of unemployment
and Medicare benefits by members of his own party.

But I don't think that Sharron Angle is the solution - she's so
extreme that even Sarah Palin has avoided her. And while the
"Tea Partiers" may have had their feel-good moment in getting
her nominated, I think they are going to come up way short
in the fall.

And when Harry Reid exposes her "Club For Growth" backers
as apologists for multinational corporations (including BP),
the game will be all but over.

Anyhow, we'll see. A lot will happen between now and
November.