New Reid ad claims Angle would kill jobs in Nevada

Can Harry Reid convince Nevada voters that he's a better steward of jobs than Sharron Angle?

That's the message of the embattled Senate majority leader's latest—and possibly final—ad in Nevada's closely watched Senate race. The 30-second spot, which began airing over the weekend, features the testimony of top executives from the state's leading employers, including Harrah's Entertainment and MGM, all of whom say Angle would be a disaster for Nevada's economy.

"Electing Sharron Angle would cost thousands of jobs," Jan Jones, a vice president at Harrah's, says in the ad, which is called "A Better Choice."

"She will be the knockout punch for Nevada's economy," says Larry Ruvo, senior managing director at Southern Wine and Spirits.

The ad ends with an endorsement for Reid from Jim Mullen, CEO of MGM Resorts, who begins by telling viewers that he's a Republican. "Nobody has done more for the state" than Reid, he says.

You can watch the ad after the jump:

The spot cuts right to Reid's key vulnerability in the race: the state's dismal economy and massive job loss. While polls show that voters dislike Reid and Angle almost equally, Angle gained in the polls by linking Reid to the state's 14.4 percent rate of unemployment, the highest in the nation.

Framing the spot around an expression like "A Better Choice" is a blunt acknowledgment of the uphill battle Reid faces in the final week of the campaign. Democrats know Nevadans don't like Reid, which is perhaps why the senator has rarely appeared in his own ads. But his campaign believes he can win re-election if it can persuade voters to go with the person they know, as opposed to an unknown quantity like Angle.

(Screenshot of Reid ad)