Reid struggles against economy, GOP rival

LAS VEGAS -- On the day early voting opened in the nation's most closely watched Senate race, Majority Leader Harry Reid implored supporters to propel him to a fast start over his opponent.

Yet like incumbent Democrats everywhere, it's not only a Republican rival that Reid is combating. It's the economy, in the state with the nation's highest rates of unemployment (14.4 percent) and home foreclosures, where the Las Vegas strip glitters a block or two away from the gloom of shuttered businesses.

The polls make the race between Reid and Republican Sharron Angle, a tea party favorite, a toss-up.