Joe Biden email aims to boost Senate Democrats, keep Harry Reid in majority leader spot

By Karoun Demirjian

Tuesday, March 22, 2011 | 4:15 p.m.

WASHINGTON - A little over two years ago, Barack Obama’s team rode into the White House on a message of hope. This next time out, it seems to be relying on fear to motivate voters to go to the polls.

The threat? If you don’t, Harry Reid will be out of his clout.

That’s not actually how Vice President Joe Biden phrased his chain-rattling email, sent today to Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee donors in an effort to rustle up funding for the 23 Senate races where Democrats will be defending their seats.

But that is the partial upshot of the stakes for Nevada, where winning and losing nationwide means the difference between keeping or losing the influence of a home-grown majority leader.

Democrats have to hold on to 20 of the seats in play to retain their majority -- assuming, of course, that Obama keeps the White House. Tie always goes to the vice president, so for extra insurance, Senate Democrats would like to hold on to at least 21.

But that’s a tall order when already, at least three Democrats from conservative or swing states have announced they are retiring. And the Democrats’ two best pick-up options, according to the DSCC, are anything but locks: Massachusetts’ Sen. Scott Brown has the largest campaign chest of any Republican facing re-election thus far, and Sen. John Ensign’s announcement that he’d be retiring seemed to open an early door to Rep. Dean Heller to capitalize on his candidacy, absent any opposition.

Reid will likely find himself fighting just as hard for Democrats to pick up Ensign’s seat as he did to save his own last year.

“Republicans only need to pick up four to take control of the Senate,” Biden wrote in his note, sent out Tuesday, aimed at drumming up $233,533 by the end of the month. “While Republicans in Congress are trying to drag us back to the past, President Obama and I are working to win the future ... we need a Senate that’s working with us.”