NV-Sen, NV-Gov: Reid Steps In It

[ccharles000]

Mason-Dixon for the Las Vegas Review-Journal (1/5-7, likely voters, 11-30/12/2 in parens):

Harry Reid (D-inc): 41 (42)
Danny Tarkanian (R): 49 (48)
Undecided: 10 (10)

Harry Reid (D-inc): 40 (41)
Sue Lowden (R): 50 (51)
Undecided: 10 (8)

Harry Reid (D-inc): 40 (NA)
Sharron Angle (R): 45 (NA)
Undecided: 15 (NA)
(MoE: ±4%)

Danny Tarkanian (R): 28 (24)
Sue Lowden (R): 26 (25)
Sharron Angle (R): 14 (13)
Mark Amodei (R): 1 (1)
Bill Parson (R): 0 (1)
Robin Titus (R): 0 (1)
Mike Wiley (R): 0 (1)
John Chachas (R): 0 (1)
Undecided: 32 (33)
(MoE: ±6%)

Purely numerically, things haven't changed much in the Nevada Senate race, with only minor fluctuations in the general and primary (although that fluctuation does move Danny Tarkanian ahead of Sue Lowden). A new feature is a matchup between Harry Reid and right-wing ex-Assemblywoman Sharron Angle; even that turns up as a loss for Reid, although not by as big a margin.

These numbers, however, predate Harry Reid's latest woes. The "stepping in it" of the title, of course, refers to allegations in the new book Game Change that Reid observed several years ago, in his best attempts to sound like a 19th-century linguistics professor, that Barack Obama lacked a "Negro dialect." It looks like Reid may weather this particular storm -- for instance, John Cornyn said that while he'd like Reid to resign, he doesn't actually expect him to do so -- but it can't help when you're in a difficult re-election fight if you have to put out fires like this and belabor talking points that reiterate that you're staying on as majority leader. With stories and comments (Chuck Todd, Nate Silver) popping up more and more wondering if Reid has crossed the same horizon from which he can't re-emerge from the black hole -- much as Chris Dodd seemed to do last month -- it'll be interesting to watch his next series of moves.

http://www.swingstateproject.com/diary/6184/nvsen-nvgov-reid-steps-in-it