Willie Horton is back!
Only this time, he’s an Arab guy who traffics in slave labor, and he really loves Harry Reid.
A new pair of anti-Reid television ads running on KTNV Channel 13 link Reid to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, prime minister and vice president of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai.
Like the Willie Horton ad, this one features the visage of a dark-skinned person whom we’re told we should fear. And like the Willie Horton ad, it’s designed to appeal to our prejudices.
The backstory: MGM Mirage is partners with Dubai World, a state-owned company, in CityCenter. That project was in danger of failing, and Reid called banks on behalf of MGM Mirage, asking them to speak with CEO Jim Murren. That intervention helped CityCenter avoid bankruptcy, and saved thousands of jobs in Las Vegas. Murren said as much in an ad cut for Reid that credits the senior senator with helping save the project.
But the producers of the ad — Floyd Brown, who produced the original Willie Horton ad in 1988, and Gary Kreep, chairman of the Republican Majority Campaign PAC — say that since Sheikh Al Maktoum allegedly used slave labor to build some of the massive buildings in Dubai, and since Dubai World is a partner in CityCenter, and since Reid helped CityCenter, and since Murren cut an ad for Reid and since MGM is the largest donor to Reid’s campaign, according to Open Secrets.org, then Reid must be connected to slave labor.
“Both the slave bosses and the union bosses want Harry Reid re-elected. Go figure,” one of the ads says.
Talk about a stretch. Is this ad about Harry Reid or Reed Richards?
MGM Mirage isn’t taking the matter lightly. In a letter signed by attorney Frank Schreck, the company tells Brown and Kreep that the allegations (in the ad and an accompanying news release, which referred to Reid, Murren and Al Maktoum as a “corrupt triumvirate”) are false, and that they could be sued if they don’t pull the ads and correct the record.
Kreep said the central thrust of the ad was to tie Reid to slave labor, but also to point out how MGM Mirage doesn’t pay for gambling license investigations. He noted that the industry refused during the recent special session to pay a requested $32 million to the state to cover the cost of regulation.
But the thing is, the gambling industry does pay the cost of its investigations. Kreep pointed to one gambling industry regulation that says applicants aren’t required to pay for the cost of investigations, but a quick reading shows that regulation actually applies to people who do business on casino premises. And since gambling industry taxes pay for nearly half of the state’s general fund, skipping out on taxes is a tough argument to make.
But isn’t it curious that conservatives seeking to oust the Democratic majority leader are attacking him and a private-sector company (the state’s largest private employer) … for not paying enough in taxes? When did the right-wingers turn into Joe Neal?
And while Reid may have helped CityCenter maintain its financing, and may have benefitted from donations, there’s nothing to suggest he supports slave labor. The jobs he helped save in Las Vegas were union jobs, and a company hit hard by recession and unemployment is understandably grateful.
But isn’t it interesting to see the lengths to which the right will go to torpedo Harry Reid?
Tags: Harry Reid
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This is why the Republicans are blowing it this year. They’re so desperate to bash Harry Reid that they make “arguments” that make no sense try framing issues in a way that doesn’t help Republicans.
So Reid supports “slave labor”? If this is so, then don’t the Republicans, too? Sheldon Adelson is a BIG GOP donor, and we all know how much he’s investing in “BIG BAD COMMUNIST CHINA!!!” these days.
See how the crazy can be turned against them? All in all, this is a really ridiculous “line of attack” that I doubt will hurt Reid. (If anything, this seems to be angering BOTH MGM Mirage AND the unions enough to help Reid some more!) I was really expecting worse from Floyd Brown, but I guess he lost “that magic touch”.