Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is not backing down from a strong remark he made yesterday — that Hispanics should not be Republicans because of that party’s actions blocking immigration reform.
“I don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, OK,” Reid said on Tuesday. “Do I need to say more?”
The Republicans immediately took this as being a gaffe, and posted this very short video snippet online:
Republican nominee Sharron Angle’s campaign also pounced, telling Politico that “Harry Reid cannot give any good reasons why people should vote for him, so now he is turning to race and ethnicity,” also adding: “Reid is desperate to change the subject from the economy, which he knows is a losing issue for him.”
But in a statement this morning, Team Reid stood by it — and dug in further by asking how anyone could be a Republican.
Sen. Reid has long enjoyed the support of many Hispanic Republicans in Nevada and he appreciates that support. Sen. Reid’s contention was simply that he doesn’t understand how anyone, Hispanic or otherwise, would vote for Republican candidates because they oppose saving teachers’ jobs, oppose job-creating tax incentives for small businesses, oppose investments in job-creating clean energy projects, and oppose the help for struggling, unemployed Nevadans to put food on the table and stay in their homes.“Nevadans are suffering in this economy. Senator Reid was rightly pointing out that Republicans like Sharron Angle who oppose job-creating measures and unemployment benefits, oppose emergency aid to save 1200 Nevada teachers, and who want to wipe out critical programs like Social Security and Medicare, are part of the problem, not part of the solution.
The Reid camp also pointed out how Angle supports eliminating birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants, noting her use of the term “anchor babies,” and that Angle has reportedly shunned the state’s Hispanic media.
“Sharron Angle’s extreme and dangerous agenda for Hispanic Nevadans is something she obviously wants to hide, which is why she and her allies will do or say anything to attack Sen. Reid and shift the focus from the intense heat her campaign has been under,” said Reid campaign spokesman José Dante Parra. “Despite the efforts of Republicans like Sharron Angle to change the US Constitution and block comprehensive immigration reform, Sen. Reid will continue to wake up and fight every day for the interests of Hispanic Nevadans.”
The TPM Poll Average currently gives Reid a lead of 45.1%-42.7%.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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