Reid: Bachmann doesn't stand a chance of winning GOP nomination

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has no chance of securing the GOP presidential nomination, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on Friday, just one day before she won the Ames Straw Poll.

"She doesn't stand a chance to win the Republican nomination," Reid said.

Reid's made his comments, which were published on Monday, in a lunchtime meeting with staff members at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Reid also took a swing at Mitt Romney, implying that the former governor of Massachusetts had shifting policy positions. 

"He doesn't stand for anything," Reid said.

"Here is a person who was really big on gay rights in Massachusetts,” Reid said. “Now he's not. Here's a man who was totally in favor of abortion in Massachusetts. Now he's not. Here is a man who was the architect of the healthcare bill that we patterned ours after. Now he denies ever being in the same room when it took place."

Romney's campaign quickly fired back at Reid, according to the Review-Journal, pointing to economic troubles that plague Nevada under Reid’s watch.

"President Obama and his allies are already so desperate to hold onto power that they will say and do anything to distract voters from the 12.4 percent unemployment rate in Nevada and their overall miserable economic record," spokesman Andrea Saul said in a written statement. "They know Mitt Romney, with his 25 years of experience in the real-world economy, is the one candidate that can turn this economy around and get Americans working again."

Reid also said he was "very, very impressed" by Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), who has since dropped out of the race.

"I'm sorry he's not doing better, because I think he is a man of substance," Reid said.