Sharron Angle promises to bring Senate business to a halt

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s reelection hopes are probably about 50/50 right now, and now his main message to hopefully tip the prospect in his favor is that only he has the clout to deliver federal money and assistance to Nevada.

Sharron Angle, on the other hand, is employing an only slightly different strategy. She challenges that as a Senator, she can do a lot to stop the legislative process, thereby killing any bill the Democrats offer, popular or not. As reported in the Las Vegas Review Journal, Angle told a gathering of about 200 Republicans:

Angle said that as a junior senator she could wield power by joining Republicans to block tax hikes, excess regulation and spending bills, and Supreme Court nominees who don\’t meet a strict constitutional test, including Elena Kagan.

“There are certain things that can be done just by your junior senator,” Angle said, explaining that even if Republicans remain in the minority after 2010, she could filibuster, which allows lone lawmakers to delay legislation through lengthy debate. “I guarantee that I can talk most anything to death.”

So, the lines are drawn: Harry says he can do more for the state, while Angle says she can do plenty to stop the legislative process. It’ll actually be fairly interesting to see how this plays. Do Nevadans really want more government gridlock and partisan parliamentary procedural shenanigans? Or do they want the government to do more to create jobs and opportunity? Chances are, like many in the populist right, they actually want the second, but scream that they want the first.