Republicans’ ‘Fire Harry Reid’ campaign grows
By Amber Phillips, Las Vegas Sun
WASHINGTON — Sen. Harry Reid is not running for re-election, but Republicans are turning up the volume on a new campaign slogan to “Fire Harry Reid.”
With momentum recently swinging to their side to take back the Senate in November, the Republican National Committee is sending out a memo to reporters and donors daring Democrats in tough re-election campaigns to distance themselves from the Senate leader. The committee launched the anti-Reid campaign in late July with robocalls and a social media push, #FireReid.
The strategy is to paint Reid, the Senate majority leader, as the boogeyman, especially for voters in Republican-leaning states with contested Senate races that could decide the future of the Senate, said Michael Short, an RNC spokesman.
“He’s not a very popular figure, he’s the face of Senate Democrats,” Short said.
Kristen Orthman, a Reid spokeswoman, said Republicans are attacking Reid because he calls them out for not helping get legislation passed. Reid also said on the Senate floor in May that Republicans’ attacks against him are a sign nothing else is working.