WASHINGTON — Chuck Schumer just got one step closer to assuming leadership of the Senate Democratic caucus.
After a long and bruising fight, Nevada Republicans finally picked their gal, former Nevada Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, last night to challenge Majority Leader Harry Reid in November.
Seeking his fifth term, Reid has become the face of establishment and incumbency in an election that is about as anti-establishment and anti-incumbency as any America has seen in decades. Just ask Reid.
In campaign ads he launched last fall that are sure to come back to haunt him, Reid touted his position as Senate leader and emphasized how valuable he is to Nevada voters as the top Democrat in the Senate.
This is not a winning message in these times and could prove his undoing in November.
The race for the Republican nomination in Nevada certainly was not pretty.
Polls showed that businessman Danny Tarkanian, son of famed UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, would have done the best against Reid.
And Republicans worry that Angle is not yet ready for prime time.
As if Reid, who once publicly complained about the bad smell of Americans touring their nation’s Capitol, has ever been ready for primetime.
A former boxer with an impressive record cracking down on the mob, Reid is a fighter and will not go lightly.
But if he is bounced from office, it will spark a major fight for his leadership post, and few are better positioned to fill it than Chuck Schumer.