… or was that the skeleton of Echelon which was used to illustrate Nevada’s economic woes in the TV spot that Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) is running this week? That’s no outrage in and of itself: Echelon was a casualty of the Great Recession, even if that wasn’t the main reason it was put into a coma. General Growth Properties‘ bankruptcy and Morgans Hotel Group‘s attempted withdrawal were the primary causative events. However, the ad (which I’ve not been able to find on either YouTube or Reid’s campaign site) then shifts to cheerful footage of CityCenter, for whose completion Reid takes credit.
Whoever crafted the spot appears willing to push Boyd Gaming under the campaign bus whilst throwing in a big-ass product placement for MGM Mirage. Since Sheldon Adelson has publicly endorsed Archon Corp. Treasurer Sue Lowden for Reid’s seat, wouldn’t it have been more apt to use Adelson’s St(ump) Regis as the poster child of Strip malaise, especially since it, unlike Echelon, ground to an involuntary, ignominous halt when money ran out? Besides, when both Reid and Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) were making calls to the banking industry on CityCenter’s behalf, contemporaneous political and business coverage reported that their efforts were fruitless. For the record, MGM CEO Jim Murren begs to differ.
There is no Echelon in there. It’s all Aria and Veer.
One would hope that Reid could have thought of any other kind of business that he helped, though. Preferably one without lobbyists and plenty of donations over the years.
Mike, are you referring to the TV ad, or the one on this blog post? I think McKee is referring to a TV ad that he could not find on the internet, so he used the Nevada Jobs ad (availabe above) for a comparison. Since you live in Las Vegas, I understand that you may have seen the TV ad and may be commenting about that.