Dingy Harry Getting Crushed in New Poll

Looks like his phony Tea Party candidate isn't quite helping split the vote. What a shame. Well, we've got a little more than six months to slap this clown around, so savor every moment of it.

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid must pick up far more support from crossover Republicans and independents to win re-election, according to a new poll that shows him losing to the GOP front-runner in a full-ballot election with eight contenders and a "none of these candidates" option.

The survey of Nevada voters commissioned by the Review-Journal shows Reid getting 37 percent of the vote compared with 47 percent for Republican Sue Lowden, who would win if the election were today, while the slate of third-party and nonpartisan candidates would get slim to no backing.

The latest Mason-Dixon poll for the first time measured Reid's and Lowden's support in a full general election test instead of in a head-to-head or three-way matchup to see how much of the vote the record number of Senate candidates on the Nov. 2 ballot would siphon off from the Democratic incumbent and the top GOP challenger, pollster Brad Coker said.

"The bottom line is that adding all these minor candidates won't really bleed support away exclusively from the Republican," Coker said. "They're not really bleeding much support from either candidate, Reid or Lowden, and if they do siphon off votes, it'll probably be about half and half."

According to the poll, the four nonpartisan candidates wouldn't pick up any measurable vote. Tim Fasano of the Independent American Party and "none of these candidates" would each get 3 percent, Scott Ashjian of the Tea Party of Nevada would get 2 percent, and 8 percent of voters are undecided.

Eight or nine out of 10 voters don't even know the names of the four nonpartisan contenders, according to the survey, which also found less than half of Nevadans recognized Fasano and Ashjian, a former Republican who isn't supported by local and national members of the Tea Party movement.

Ken Fernandez, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said voters rarely choose third-party and nonpartisan candidates in close races in which the stakes are high -- as in the nationally watched Reid race -- because "people don't want to throw away their vote."

On the upside, Reid will help boost the Nevada economy by wasting upwards of $25 million making stuff up about his Republican opponent.

He plans to raise a record $25 million to defend his seat, according to his campaign.

With that much money, Reid can tear apart his opponent's record and make voters feel the Republican isn't up to the Senate job, said Nathan Gonzales of the Rothenberg Political Report.

"It's up to Reid to change the dynamics of this race," Gonzales said. "He's going to have to completely demonize the Republican in the race, and he's got the money to do it."

As nasty as Democrats already are, expect the most negative campaign cycle ever this fall. It'll backfire badly.

Warm and Fuzzy Dingy Harry Plans to 'Vaporize' Senate Opponent

Considering how badly he's already trailing his prospective GOP opponents in head-to-head matchups in 2010, this seems like awfully brash talk from Dingy Harry.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is prepared to run a sharply negative campaign if that’s what it takes to win reelection next year, with a top adviser predicting that the Nevada Democrat will “vaporize” his Republican challengers with attack ads.

Trailing in the polls and under constant attack from the GOP, Reid’s campaign has just launched a warm-and-fuzzy million-dollar ad campaign to reintroduce the veteran senator to his constituents. But Reid’s team also wants to be the one that introduces lesser-known opponents to the electorate — and will be ready, when the time comes, to unleash a torrent of ads branding challengers as untested and unprepared for the job.

Now in the campaign’s sites: Sue Lowden, a wealthy gaming executive, former state senator and former chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party, and Danny Tarkanian, a Las Vegas businessman and the son of legendary basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian.

“I expect him to vaporize Lowden or Tarkanian or whoever is the opponent,” said a Reid adviser, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss campaign strategy.

Vaporizing people? Doesn't seems so warm and fuzzy now, does it?

“I think Harry Reid will attempt to savage whoever the nominee is,” said Jamie Fisfis, a top adviser to Tarkanian, a candidate he calls “an outsider” and a “fresh face” for the party.

Dingy Harry Trailing by Double Digits in 2010 Race

Why the long face, Harry? Oh, now I see why.

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."

He's more than welcome to claim any number of Obama's failures. In fact, I wonder if Obama will even be campaigning for Reid, or anyone else for that matter, in 2010, considering his own dwindling fortunes.