Nevada Voters Want To Retire Harry Reid

There are really two Harry Reids. In Washington DC, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is one of the nation's most powerful Democrats (even though he gives Nancy Pelosi the creeps).Through his leadership the senate has passed many of the Democratic party plans that are putting a foot on the neck of American's civil liberties.

Then there is the Nevada Harry Reid. The one that is supposed to represent the people of Nevada, a "purple state." What the Nevada voters have seen lately is a party leader that puts the progressive priorities of his party in front of the needs and wants of his home state.
 
The Nevada Harry Reid, who will be seeking a fifth term in office November 2010, is trailing possible Republican challengesr Danny Tarkanian, son of the legendary Jerry Tarkanian, former basketball coach at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and Sue Lowden, the Nevada Republican Party chairwoman and a former state senator.

One poll released today, suggests that if the election was held now Reid would be facing early retirement:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) trails two potential GOP challengers in 2010, a new poll found Friday.

If the election were held today, the top Senate Democrat would lose to either real estate businessman Danny Tarkanian (R) or former state GOP chairwoman Sue Lowden, a Mason-Dixon poll conducted for the Las Vegas Review-Journal found.

51 percent of Nevadans said they prefer Lowden over Reid with eight percent undecided, an increase in the margin between the two potential candidates since late August, when Lowden bested Reid 45-40 in a Mason-Dixon poll.

Tarkanian, meanwhile, leads Reid 48-42 with 10 percent undecided, a decrease in the former UNLV basketball player's 11-point margin over Reid in August.


Just as troubling for the majority leader's campaign may be his favorability numbers: 49 percent said they have an unfavorable opinion of Reid, compared to 38 percent who have a favorable opinion. No Nevadans said they were unfamiliar with the senator, while 13 percent were neutral.

Republicans have made a point of targeting Reid for reelection, though Reid's campaign has hardly been dormant in recent months.

The senator is already on-air with TV ads touting himself as "America's most powerful senator," while he's already raised and spent millions so far this cycle: Through the end of September, he's raised $7.5 million, spent $2.1 million, and has almost $9 million in cash on hand, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.

There's still the issue, however, of selecting a primary challenger.

The same poll found Lowden and Tarkanian neck-and-neck for the Republican nomination. 25 percent of Nevada Republicans prefer Lowden, compared to 24 percent for Tarkanian. Nevada Assemblywoman Sharron Angle (R) gets 13 percent of the primary vote, while 33 percent of state GOP voters are undecided.

The Mason-Dixon poll, released Friday, has a four percent margin of error for the general election matchup, and a six percent margin of error for the Republican primary sample.

Harry Reid is up for re-election 2010,  he may be in for the fight of his political life. Reid has always been more liberal than his home state of Nevada, and some of his more recent stances including his fight for Obamacare may have not exactly endeared himself to the voting public.