Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Harry Reid blasts Sharron Angle for not denouncing ‘don’t vote’ ad

Harry Reid Early Votes at UNLV

Steve Marcus

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid votes at an early voting polling place after an early voting rally at UNLV Tuesday, October 19, 2010. Reid faces Republican challenger Sharron Angle in the general election.

Harry Reid Votes at UNLV

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, center, leads a group to an early voting polling place during a rally at UNLV Tuesday, October 19, 2010. Reid faces Republican challenger Sharron Angle in the general election. Launch slideshow »

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ripped into his Republican challenger Sharron Angle on Tuesday for failing to denounce an ad that encourages Hispanics not to vote.

"Can you think of anything less patriotic and more un-American?" Reid asked a group of students gathered in a field at UNLV, where he campaigned and voted. "It's the American thing to do — to vote. How can she possibly not speak out against what they've done?"

On Monday, a group called “Latinos for Reform” — an independent political organization that is not subject to disclosure rules — joined the electoral fray, with two commercials urging Hispanics to sit out the election.

The group's leader, Robert Deposada, a conservative pundit on Spanish-language Univision who helped President George W. Bush brainstorm ways to privatize Social Security, said Hispanics should boycott the polls because Obama has not yet delivered on his campaign promise to tackle immigration reform.

Hispanic leaders gathered immediately to urge politicians to denounce the ads. Today, gubernatorial candidates Rory Reid and Brian Sandoval did just that.

Angle remains the only politician in a major Nevada race to remain silent on the subject. A request for comment to her campaign was not returned.

Reid also blasted his opponent for failing to speak to the media.

"Have you noticed that every time my opponent screws up — which is often — she goes into her bunker?" Reid asked.

He paused, then added: "If you made some of her comments, you'd go underground also."

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