He derided his Republican opponent, Sharron Angle, as “radical,” “dangerous” and “embarrassing to the state of Nevada,” in a Thursday interview with MSNBC’s Ed Schultz.

At an appearance earlier in the week, he asked the crowd, “Have you noticed that every time my opponent screws up, which is quite often, she goes into her bunker? … If you can’t talk to the media while you’re running for the United States Senate, you shouldn’t be running for the United States Senate.”…

The turning point seems to have come with Reid’s widely panned performance in his sole debate with Angle earlier this month. On the debate stage, the closest he came to a dig was to say, with a bemused look, “These ideas of my opponent are really extreme.” It was Angle’s forced but punchy “Man up, Harry Reid” that became the takeaway soundbite.