Top Democratic senator debates to save his job

LAS VEGAS — The most powerful Democrat in the Senate battles for his political life Thursday in a highly symbolic debate with an ultraconservative Tea Party-backed Republican in a contest that is too close to call.

Sen. Harry Reid's predicament mirrors that of many Democrats in this difficult election year for the majority party. His situation is compounded by Nevada's tradition of conservatism. The state has been one of the hardest hit in the stunning economic downturn that has gripped the United States through the term of President Barack Obama.

1. Top politics news
   1. O'Donnell calls Coons a Marxist in Del. debate

      Senate candidates Christine O'Donnell and Chris Coons tangled over taxes, Afghanistan and whether Coons is a Marxist in a combative 90-minute debate.

   2. I want my MTV
   3. Top Democratic senator debates to save his job
   4. Updated 1 minutes ago 10/14/2010 5:27:51 PM +00:00 Paul, Conway spar over union balloting in Ky.
   5. Updated 21 minutes ago 10/14/2010 5:08:01 PM +00:00 RI gov candidate Chafee's campaign manager resigns
   6. Poll: Blumenthal's lead grows in Conn. Senate race
   7. In search of a game-changer in California
   8. Poll: Reid leads Angle by 3
2. More politics
   1. Political Cartoons
      

      politcalcartoons.com
   2. Obama's first year
   3. 
      BLTWY: Political news, photos and gossip

With voters disenchanted with both Obama and Democrats, Republicans were widely expected to take majority control over the House of Representatives in the Nov. 2 election. A Republican takeover of the Senate, while possible, was seen as a longer shot.

A Republican majority in either or both houses of Congress was likely to snuff out Obama's hopes of completing an ambitious legislative agenda in the final two years of his term.

All 435 seats in the House are on the line. In the Senate, 37 of 100 seats are at stake. Also, 37 state governorships are on ballots nationwide.

Reid and Sharron Angle square off in the televised debate as a new poll released on Thursday showed Angle with a 47 percent to 45 percent edge over Reid. The results were well within the 4 percent sampling error margin.

Four percent of respondents said they were undecided and another 4 percent said they want neither candidate or someone else.

Mind the gaffes
Both candidates have shown a tendency to make gaffs, and public speaking isn't a strong skill for either candidate.

Reid, a fourth-term incumbent, has praised Obama's absent "Negro dialect" and deemed New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand the Senate's "hottest member."

1. Most popular
   1. Rescued miners face celebrity, ponder future
   2. Queen Elizabeth cancels Christmas party for staff
   3. Man shot by Cheney 'lucky' to escape death
   4. Rabbits feast on cars in Denver
   5. Eight-year-old girl dazzles art world

Angle, a former state legislator making her first statewide run, has hinted that voters might take to "Second Amendment remedies" if Reid is re-elected and mused that some American cities are grappling with a "militant terrorist situation." The Second Amendment guarantees Americans' right to gun ownership.

It will be an introductory meeting for many voters, whose contact with the candidates have mostly been limited to a flood of bruising ads since the June Republican primary.

Reid has portrayed Angle as a crazy extremist who wants to protect foreign workers and sex offenders.

Angle has painted Reid as a shadowy politician whose back-room deals have benefited illegal immigrants and child molesters.

More than 70 journalists are expected to attend the debate, including reporters from Japan, England, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

• Tweet