MATT LAUER, co-host:
Now to politics and the looming midterm elections. Senator Majority Leader
Harry Reid
is in a tough fight to keep his seat, and last night he faced off with his Republican challenger in their only debate of the campaign.
NBC
's
Kelly O'Donnell
has details on that. Hi, Kelly.
KELLY O'DONNELL reporting:
Hi
,
Matt
, good morning. And this race more than any other really represents what's going on this year.
Reid
trying for his fifth term,
Sharron Angle
trying to prove that a
tea party
candidate can topple a Democratic giant. But this debate was unlike most others. Usually there is a theater with hundreds of voters watching. This was the candidates and plenty of tension.
Ms. SHARRON ANGLE (Republican, Nevada Senate Candidate):
I will just say,
there you go again
.
O'DONNELL:
The most unpredictable political outsider.
Ms. ANGLE:
I live in a middle-class neighborhood in
Reno
,
Nevada
. Senator
Reid
lives in the
Ritz-Carlton
in
Washington, DC.
O'DONNELL:
The seasoned incumbent with the most power to lose.
Senator HARRY REID (Democrat, Nevada Senate Candidate):
She simply doesn't understand what went on in
Washington
.
O'DONNELL:
A grandmother and former teacher,
Sharron Angle
is a lightning rod of the
tea party
. Unflinching against the
Senate
's top Democrat.
Ms. ANGLE:
Man up,
Harry Reid
. You need to understand that we have a problem with
Social Security
.
O'DONNELL:
Harry Reid
, a former amateur boxer, is on the ropes, unpopular in
Nevada
.
Ms. ANGLE:
Harry Reid
has voted to give
Social Security
to illegal aliens.
Sen. REID:
That is not the law in this country, she knows it and she should stop saying it.
O'DONNELL:
On issue after issue, a glaring divide.
Ms. ANGLE:
Obamacare
is destroying our economy.
O'DONNELL:
Reid
hammered
Angle
for opposing
health care reform
. She says
health insurance
companies should not be required to cover things like preventive care.
Sen. REID:
She is against mammograms, colonoscopies, and as we've heard lately,
insurance companies
cover kids that have autism. That's really extreme.
O'DONNELL:
When
Reid
said
insurance companies
are pressured to act by programs for
breast cancer
awareness, there was an awkward exchange.
Sen. REID:
That's why you see
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
, you see the baseball players wearing pink shoes and you see the football players having pink helmets.
Ms. ANGLE:
Pink ribbons are not going to make people have a better insurance plan.
O'DONNELL:
Angle
was challenged on some controversial things she said.
Unidentified Man:
Do you think the unemployed are spoiled?
Ms. ANGLE:
Well, no, I don't think that our unemployed are spoiled.
O'DONNELL:
Reid
and
Angle
disagree on what a senator can do about the economy.
Sen. REID:
My job is to create jobs. What she's talking about is extreme.
Ms. ANGLE:
Once again,
Harry Reid
, it's not your job to create jobs, it's your job to create policies that create the confidence for the private sector to create those jobs.
O'DONNELL:
Reid
must do well among
Nevada
's
Latino
voters and has fought for
immigration reform
.
Sen. REID:
We have to do something about the people that are here that are undocumented. Have them pay taxes, pay penalties, fines.
Ms. ANGLE:
What we have here is an
illegal alien
problem.
O'DONNELL:
Angle
took a surprising personal shot at
Reid
.
Ms. ANGLE:
How did you become so wealthy on a government payroll?
Sen. REID:
That's really kind of a low blow.
And I
'm really disappointed that she would suggest that.
O'DONNELL:
And
Reid
went on to explain that he had had a lucrative legal career and investments and that he lives on that. And he really did bristle at that. Now, of course,
Angle
raised an enormous amount of money in the third quarter, more than $14 million. And one issue really at the heart of this race is
Nevada
's unemployment rate. It is the highest in the nation.
Matt
:
“ ”