FRESH IDEAS: Even out-there Angle appeals to 'Anyone But Reid' voters

Nevada's Republican Senate nominee and Tea Partier Sharron Angle must be a dream come true for "Elect Anyone 'Butt' Harry Reid" enthusiasts. She is the perfect candidate; she is not Harry Reid.

As a bonus, her ultra-conservative views provide a clear contrast with the Senate majority leader's. Angle has cultivated a political career by claiming the far right of the political spectrum. However, for angry frustrated voters, the incumbent senior senator is a symbol of an ineffective Congress, tax-and-spend government, and a beleaguered economy. Unfortunately Sharron Angle's reactionary politics may carry the day in Nevada - Election Day.

If the Elect Anyone campaign began in Ely, it had a reason. I first saw the anti-Reid signs after Sen. Reid announced in 2007 his sudden opposition to global-warming coal-fired power plants, planned by White Pine County for more than 20 years, nearly ready to build. Talk about climate change! Now front yards from Austin to Amargosa spread the slogan.

Reason does not seem to be part of the extreme world view of Sharron Angle. She is the antithesis of the politics of compromise. In the state Assembly, voting "no" was her claim to fame. She believes in a very limited role for government, while criticizing Reid for not bringing home more bacon for Nevada's unemployed and its sagging economy. She believes in liberty, but not a woman's right to choose. She has caused confusion and consternation by speaking of "Second Amendment remedies" if conservatives don't win in November.

"It is hardly out of the question that the populous Anybody-But-Reid Caucus will choose her instead of one of the ballot's other choices (including 'none of these candidates'), especially if she seems benignly eccentric instead of certifiably cuckoo," said John Ralston in the June 16 Las Vegas Sun.

Reid's persistence, persuasion and power have kept Yucca Mountain at bay and delivered leadership on health care, renewable energy and the economic crisis. His campaign website lists oodles of projects that have brought dollars to Nevada. But Reid has a mixed record on environmental issues. His opposition to coal-fired plants in Ely, the override of local officials' concerns on public lands bills, and the restoration of Walker Lake are controversial. His loyal support for the Las Vegas water grab is especially disappointing. The vast costly water piping scheme threatens rural Nevada and his own political legacy, the Great Basin National Park, which Reid created.

I do not underestimate the Anyone-Butt-Reid movement, and neither should Reid. As the saying goes, "Be careful what you wish for." Now the disaffected Anyone-Butt-Reid proponents have been granted their wish. And so has Senator Reid.

• Abby Johnson is a resident of Carson City, and a part-time resident of Baker, Nev. She consults on community development and nuclear waste issues.