LAS VEGAS (AP) - Republican Sharron Angle, who began her campaign as an underdog outsider, faces off Thursday with Harry Reid in a televised debate that may help determine whether she unseats the most powerful Democrat in the U.S. Senate.
Angle, a former state legislator making her first statewide run, has quickly evolved with the backing of tea party followers and the support of Republican leaders nationwide eager to boot out the Senate majority leader. This week her campaign reported raising some $14 million in the last quarter.
Still, Angle has remained mostly an enigma, campaigning at quietly advertised tea party rallies and avoiding the mainstream press. The debate is the only one scheduled between the two rivals.
The stakes are just as high for Reid, a fourth-term Senate veteran whose Nevada roots and Beltway influence don't guarantee victory in an election year in which anti-government sentiment has proved to be the downfall of incumbents across the country.
With the candidates tied in the polls, the mere hint of a gaffe or an unrestrained gesture during the hourlong debate could anoint a winner.
"Because the race is so close, the key for each camp is not to make mistakes," said Dan Hart, a Las Vegas Democratic consultant. "I think they are both thinking the same things. They don't want to hand their opponent any opportunities."
More than 70 journalists are expected to attend the debate, including reporters from Japan, England, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
"It's very much the people's debate," said Bob Fisher, president of the Nevada Broadcasters Association, which is hosting the event.
Reid, a national leader accustomed to sparring with Republicans, would seem to have the natural advantage if not for Nevada's record unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy levels. Instead, he will need to convince an angry electorate that he has done as much as he can from Washington to turn the economy around and create jobs.
"If I was coaching him, I would tell him to go on the offense," said Jacob Thompson, a communications professor who focuses on political discourse and serves as the debate coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "He needs to throw Angle off of her speaking points."
In her first statewide debate and likely the brightest spotlight she's ever been under, Angle needs to keep her tone and body language measured and counter Reid's attacks that she is too far removed from the mainstream to represent Nevada.
"Angle should stick to the economy," Thompson said. "Going on the attack might make her sound more extreme."
Reid campaign spokesman Kelly Steele said Angle will be pushed into explaining her changing positions on public benefits such as Social Security and unemployment.
"Angle has to own up and explain the positions she has been lying about," Steele said.
Angle's campaign manager did not respond to a request for comment.
The candidates' brawling so far has been limited to a flood of attack ads that have portrayed Reid as an ally of child molesters and illegal immigrants and Angle as a sympathizer of foreign workers and sex offenders.
For hard-core supporters, the debate is an opportunity for the candidates to finally rebut the other side's claims face to face.
"I would like to see Sharron Angle crushed," said Chad Gautier, a 66-year-old Las Vegas consultant, at a rally Tuesday where Reid and Angle fans waved dueling campaign signs. "The moderator has to ask her the right questions."
Sandy Hanson said Reid needs to be aggressive about denouncing Angle's conservative positions.
"I hope to God that he is, or Heaven help us," said Hanson, a 63-year-old Las Vegas retiree.
Reid's critics, who see him as a co-conspirator to Obama's sweeping social and economic agenda, similarly place their hope in Angle.
"He is a phony," said Kathy Jamison, a 57-year-old Las Vegas homemaker. "He may have a million-dollar suit and speak like a politician, but when it comes down to speaking from the heart, that's Sharron."