Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will be treated to a tea party on election night.
The Tea Party Express, a major funder for Reid's Republican opponent, Sharron Angle, announced that it has booked space for a “Victory Watch Party” at the Aria Hotel and Casino – the same place where Reid has scheduled his election night party.
“We chose the Aria Hotel specifically because it’s where Harry Reid’s campaign will be,” Tea Party Express spokesman Levi Russell said. “We decided to go straight into the belly of the beast, just like we did when we kicked off the last tour in Searchlight, a mile or so from Harry Reid’s house.”
Reid's campaign picked the Aria for its headquarters to underscore the veteran Democrat's clout: The hotel is part of a major Las Vegas development that Reid helped to save from bankruptcy. His campaign welcomed the Tea Party Express's business.
“We're very pleased they've chosen to spend their money at a project Sen. Reid saved,” the campaign statement said.
The Tea Party Express has also booked a suite at the Venetian, “where we’ll join Angle to celebrate her victory later in the evening,” Russell said. But he promised to leave the Tea Party Express bus, fresh off its national campaign tour, “parked right out front” of the hotel where Reid will be hosting his guests.
Asked why the group, which has handed out endorsements in House and Senate races nationwide, chose Nevada as its election-night base, Russell said: “The race in Nevada is iconic for the tea party movement. Harry Reid is an example of what we’re rebelling against, so Las Vegas is the fishbowl.
“We loved the concept of having a presence right in Reid’s headquarters, which casts this race for what it really is – establishment big-spending liberals versus grassroots conservatives.”
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