Sharron Angle is holding steady but may not be getting the desired bang for her recent advertising bucks. A look at the four most recent Mason-Dixon polls shows Angle gaining in July and early August but then leveling out in the two most recent surveys:

8/23-8/25 Reid: 45 Angle: 44

8/8-8/11 Reid: 46 Angle: 44

7/26-7/28 Reid: 43 Angle: 42

7/12-7/14 Reid: 44 Angle: 37

The narrative from the Angle campaign is that she has jumped seven points since last month and remains locked in a statistical tie with the Senate Majority Leader. This is true, but another way to see it is that Angle has spent over a million dollars in advertising—nearly half of the funds raised in the last cycle—over the past several weeks and has not gained an inch.

“[S]he has been out-buying Reid 2-to-1 and may not have much to show for it,” Democratic consultant Dan Hart says in an interview with Battle ‘10.

And for Angle, the worst is yet to come. “It’s widely known that Reid has made a significant advertising buy for the latter part of the election season,” said Hart. “In addition, the Democrats are going to spend a tremendous amount of money on Get Out the Vote in order to get Reid supporters to the polls.”

Republican consultant Ryan Erwin tells Battle ’10 he agrees that Angle has some work to do but also that she is not by any means out of the race.

“Angle was defined before she was able to define herself after the primary, so it’s going to take a longer time for her to compensate in terms of numbers,” said Erwin. “[S]he must first convince people who have decided she isn’t the right candidate to at least come back to an undecided position, and then she has to move them into her camp,” says Erwin.

Erwin believes it will probably require several more strong ads for Angle to see a real impact. But after Labor Day, she will have to contend with the fact that gubernatorial candidates Brian Sandoval and Rory Reid, as well as congressional candidates Dina Titus and Joe Heck, will increase their advertising visibility.

“The airwaves will be far more crowded,” said Erwin. “Angle will need to cut through better because the clutter generally causes people to pay less attention.”