His father is one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington. But Rory Reid said he's running for governor in his home state because, in his words, "We're not going to solve all Nevada's problems here in Washington."

"We've been kicking the can down the road for decades in Nevada," Reid told a group of reporters in Washington Wednesday. He talked about a 1955 Colliers Magazine story that discussed Nevada's "boom-and-bust revenue cycle, an education system with tremendous problems, and gaping holes in its social safety net." " If you erased the date on that story and typed in today's date, it would be exactly the same. And I'm running because we need to change the end of the story."

The story almost everyone else wanted to talk about, though, was the political spectacle that will take place in the Silver State next year when Reid shares the ballot with his father, the Senate majority leader and one of the top GOP targets. The younger Reid, who resembles his father both in appearance and temperament, said he was happy to discuss what he conceded was a "curious" situation. And he came armed with a number of one-liners.

"I love my father more -- than any of you," he deadpanned. "Lots more."

But he says he took the decision to run very seriously, doing "every kind of qualitative and quantitative research that you can do."

"That data and my personal experience lead me to believe that, while it's interesting to talk about, in a race that's yet unformed ultimately I'm going to be running against somebody," he said. "It's a binary decision -- people are going to vote for me or the other person. As they make that decision they're going to consider the thing that any voter does when they make that decision - which one of these candidates will make my life better. That's why they're going to vote for me or not vote for me."

Continue reading "Running In His Father's Shadow, Reid Zeroes In On Economy" »

Posted by Mike Memoli at 08:00 AM | Email Author | Permalink

The Republican Governors Association captures the difficult political road ahead for both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his son, Rory, as both run for office in Nevada next year. As we noted in Strategy Memo, the younger Reid has now officially kicked off his gubernatorial campaign. Here's the RGA's welcome:

"Senator Reid has complete control of the Democratic Party in Nevada, so we'd like to thank him for clearing the field for his son to be the Democratic nominee," said RGA communications director Mike Schrimpf. "Harry Reid doesn't do many favors for Republicans, but we could not have asked for a better present than having two Reids on the ballot instead of just one."

"Harry Reid running the United States Senate and his son running the State of Nevada would send most Nevadans running for cover," Schrimpf said. "The only thing more shocking than the lack of political strategy involved in this decision, is the utter arrogance it took to make."

Democrats have said Nevada is one of their top pick-up opportunities in 2010. Incumbent Gov. Jim Gibbons (R) faces several primary challengers.

Posted by Mike Memoli at 02:54 PM | Email Author | Permalink