Menendez says new Angle ad is racist

Nevada Republican Sharron Angle's new TV ad is racist, the head of Senate Democrats' campaign efforts charged.

Sen. Robert Menendez (N.J.), the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), lambasted Angle's new ad, "The Wave," which targets Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on illegal immigration.

"I do," said Menendez, a Cuban-American, when asked if he thought Angle's new ad was racist.

The new TV spot talks about an influx of illegal immigrants into Nevada, depicting Latinos, who are presumed to be illegal immigrants in the ad, as dangerous. Angle's campaign hits Reid for supporting benefits for immigrants here illegally, and for voting against making English the national language of the U.S. 

"It's clear whose side he's on," the ad says of Reid. "Not ours."

Menendez condemned the ad in harsh terms, reflecting the already close nature of the race between Reid and Angle in the state.

"I think it's despicable. I think it tries to portray all Latinos in this country in a negative light, in a state that has such a large, vibrant, productive Latino population," Menendez said. "And it goes hand in hand with what Sharron Angle is doing in trying to suppress that vote in Nevada."