LAS VEGAS (AP) — Republican Sharron Angle again called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to “man up” and take responsibility for the state’s woes as she embraced a new campaign phrase plucked from Nevada’s only U.S. Senate race debate.
Angle said Thursday that Reid must accept his share of blame for Nevada’s record unemployment, bankruptcy and foreclosure levels and demanded the Nevada Democrat acknowledge Social Security’s faults.
“We are saying tonight and every night of early voting, man up, Harry Reid,” Angle said at a jobs tour hosted by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in Las Vegas.
“He needs to take some responsibility. He says it is not his fault on the economy. Man up, Harry Reid. He says there is no problem with Social Security. Man up, Harry Reid. He says this war is lost and your general is dishonest. You owe us an apology. Man up, Harry Reid.”
During the one debate in the brutal Senate race the candidates agreed to on Oct. 14, Angle urged Reid to “man up” on Social Security.
Reid has said he does not need to prove his manhood.
Last week’s debate unfolded at a particularly critical moment in their race, with polls showing an extremely tight contest.
Angle’s comments reflected her approach in the debate, to which Reid had responded by calling her an ally of the special interests and advocate for jettisoning government agencies that millions of Nevadans rely on.
Gingrich, 67, is on a 12-city tour as he weighs a run for president in 2012.
Gingrich was the latest marquee Republican to stump for Angle in Nevada as he launches his national jobs tour. He predicted Angle would prevail and decried Reid and the liberal media for characterizing her as too extreme.
Gingrich said Reid has been eager to take credit for any new job growth in Nevada, while distancing himself from the state’s economic woes.
“Sen. Reid belongs to the school of, ‘I don’t quite know how this happened,'” Gingrich said.
Gingrich framed the critical midterm election as a battle between “the party of food stamps” and “the party of jobs.”
“The American people don’t want food stamps,” he said. “They want a paycheck.”
Angle spoke briefly Thursday, drawing a standing ovation and a roar of applause from the hundreds of conservatives gathered at a Las Vegas casino. She implored Washington to stomp out the national deficit and presented a plan calling for a return to 2008 budget levels, followed by a five percent reduction in federal spending every year for five years.
“I like the K.I.S.S. principle: Keep it simple, Sharron,” she said.
Organizers portrayed the rally as a celebration of classic Americana — smaller government, lower taxes and patriotism.