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Harry Reid In Political Trouble In Nevada?

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Is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in political trouble in his homestate of Nevada? A new poll suggests he is:

It’s the highest stakes ever for a Nevada election, and former boxer Sen. Harry Reid is on the ropes early. Either Republican Danny Tarkanian or Sue Lowden would knock out Reid in a general election, according to a recent poll of Nevada voters.

The results suggest the Democratic Senate majority leader will have to punch hard and often in order to retain his position as the most accomplished politician in state history, in terms of job status.

Nevadans favored Tarkanian over Reid 49 percent to 38 percent and Lowden over Reid 45 percent to 40 percent, according to the poll.

Reid’s status makes him an icon of the Democratic Party and ties him to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and President Barack Obama, both of whom are losing ground among centrist and right-leaning voters in the country.

Winning “becomes more difficult when you are actually the one having to carry the water for the president,” said Richard Davis, a professor of political science at Brigham Young University in Utah. “He (Reid) has got to get something out of the Obama administration that he can claim as his own.”

But with the election more than a year away, Reid has plenty of time to attract more supporters to his corner.

Even so, he will be a prime target. The GOP successfully targeted and defeated former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle who became a major political trophy. Reid will be a key target next time around.

  • Leonidas
    I have a very liberal friend in Nevada who tells me why Reid wont lose, if he lost, the folks of nevada would have to endure him instead of the folks in D.C.

    Thats from one of the staunchest liberals I know, LOL.
    Seriously though, its too early to call but Reid has a bullseye on him, thats a good thing. Too bad Nancy Pelosi is bullet-proof as she serves one of the most liberal districts in the nation, she doesn't have much accountability to the center, her toughest opposition last election was Cindy Sheehan the one of the few people more to the left than Pelosi.
  • elrod
    Reid has never won his state with ease. That said, Nevada went for Obama by 11 points in November. Nobody - and I mean NOBODY - predicted Nevada would go so hard to the Dems just nine months ago. The reason people were caught off guard, I think, was demographics: Nevada has become much more Hispanic since the 2000 census The utter collapse of the real estate market and the horrid corruption and abuse from the state's Republican Governor certainly contributed. Since that time the state's GOP Senator John Ensign has admitted to cheating on his wife.

    That said, Nevada also has a lot of older voters who have shown themselves to oppose the health care bill. And Harry Reid is not exactly a charismatic fellow with broad appeal across the aisle.
  • DLS
    "Too bad Nancy Pelosi is bullet-proof "

    You beat me to it. For shame, Pelosi's Single-Digit Percentile District...
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