Voting for Reid makes sense, including for Republicans

Tom Breitling

Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010 | 2:01 a.m.

I am not the kind of guy who walks into the voting booth and checks all the boxes on the Democratic side of the ballot. It’s important for you to understand that because it brings more meaning to what I’m about to say. I am pro-business. I am conservative. My track record demonstrates that.

I believe in creating a culture where innovative ideas power businesses that give every level of society a better future. In short, I generally line up on the Republican side although, like many Nevadans, I tend to vote for whom I feel is the best candidate.

Which is why I feel it important to come out and tell you that on Election Day I will enter the voting booth and check the box next to our Democratic U.S. senator, Harry Reid.

Why? It’s very simple. I don’t need to cite a long list of statistics to tell you how hard our state has been pounded by the recession. I only need to ask one question: Which candidate for Senate stands the best chance of lifting our state out of its current problems?

Do we put our faith in Sen. Reid, a man who has been an economic and political force in Nevada for 40 years, who wields great influence as the Senate majority leader and who has the ability to protect Nevada with his knowledge of the Senate and its inner workings? Or do we put our faith in Sharron Angle, who would have no status as a freshman senator?

I have nothing against Mrs. Angle or the Tea Party. I understand why they and others are upset. Our national debt is way out of proportion and it’s vital to sound an alarm. But this is not the time for reactionary experiments to be performed by novices. This is a time for highly skilled and experienced people to come together to get everybody back to work and the economy prospering.

What’s more, if Sen. Reid is not re-elected, and the Democrats maintain control of the Senate, it’s possible that Dick Durbin of Illinois or Chuck Schumer of New York would become the Senate majority leader. Take a step back and think about that. Would the next Senate majority leader have an understanding of what is important to the gaming industry — or would he view Nevada as a flyover state on his way to California? The answer is obvious and it’s clearly not good for the most powerful gaming state in America.

I don’t agree with every vote that Harry Reid has cast. Like everybody else, I’m frustrated with the way things are going in Washington. But nobody can deny that Sen. Reid has given our scarcely populated state significant visibility and clout.

This is no time to lose his experience and influence. Nor is it time to endure a learning curve for a freshman senator who would be scrambling to gain on-the-job training. Nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the nation. We need results now.

Sen. Reid has protected Nevada in the past and this will be his legacy term. We need him to enhance a business climate that will create well-paying jobs. We need him to help Las Vegas recharge itself. He knows how to do this because he understands the qualities that have made Las Vegas great in the past. He recognizes that those same qualities, along with real innovation and dedication, will ensure the city’s vibrancy in the future.

We need someone like Sen. Reid, who has been, and will continue to be, responsive to the needs of the gaming industry that is so vital to the economic well-being of Las Vegas. To my knowledge, Mrs. Angle hasn’t even taken the time to reach out to its key players. I have no idea what solutions she plans to bring to the table. All we seem to hear from her are attacks on Sen. Reid.

For Mrs. Angle to remain aloof and avoid communication with this state’s largest industry is not only a huge disappointment, but it also suggests an ominous future. Mrs. Angle seems to pride herself on her independence and the inflexibility of her positions. But we know that during her tenure in the Nevada Legislature, these traits left her isolated and ineffective. These are hardly the characteristics we need to help get things done for Nevada. A vote for Mrs. Angle is a vote to replace a savvy train engineer with someone who doesn’t understand how the engine runs.

It’s one thing to be able to point out problems in government. But it’s another to have solutions that will actually work — and the influence and experience to execute them.

Voting for Harry Reid will not make me a Democrat. But it will make Nevada better off.

Tom Breitling helped create a hotel reservation business in Las Vegas that merged into Expedia. A few years later, he and his business partner, Tim Poster, reinvested hundreds of millions of dollars in the Golden Nugget in an effort to revitalize downtown. More recently, he worked with Steve Wynn. H