Why Is Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Sending Staffers to Trail and Videotape the Tea Party Express?

As the Tea Party Express rolls out of Las Vegas, there is at least one person who may be glad to see it go: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

“There’s been kind of an underground gathering of opponents of Harry Reid,” said Mark Williams, one of the organizers of the cross country conservative caravan that is making its way towards Washington.

Williams says that dislike of the Nevada Democrat is one of the key factors that is driving people to come out to the five Nevada stops on the tour. With Reid not being up for election until 2010, Williams says people are using the tea parties to come together and vent their frustration with the state’s senior senator.

Protesters at a tea party event in Sparks, Nevada drew a rather unflattering caricature of the senator and taped it to the door of a port-a-pottie.

In Winnemucca, Nevada Deborah Johns, another tour organizer, won big applause when she brought up Reid.

“It’s time to let Harry Reid know it’s time to go back to searchlight,” she said, referring to Reid’s hometown in Nevada. “When he gets there the lights are going to be out.”

Meanwhile, Reid’s office sent a young staffer, Sean Kennedy, on the road to trail the caravan as it made its way across the Silver State. He has videotaped each event.