Incumbent Democratic Senator Harry Reid is holding on to a very small lead over his Republican challenger, Sharron Angle. The “Las Vegas Review-Journal” is out with a new Mason-Dixon poll showing the dynamics of the Nevada Senate race have changed little since late July:
Mason-Dixon (8/9-11)
Harry Reid 46
Sharron Angle 44
Other 3
None of these 3
Undecided 5
This shows effectively almost no change since late July when Mason-Dixon last polled the contest. In that poll, Reid had only a one-point lead over Angle.
Reid’s favorable numbers are terrible. Of people who recognize him, only 40 percent hold a favorable view of him, while 51 percent view him unfavorably. Given how well known Reid is in the state and how bad the economy currently is, improving his own favorable numbers will be a very difficult task.
Not surprisingly, Reid’s campaign therefore has adopted a strategy of doing anything it can to tear down Angle’s favorable numbers. His brutal new ad actually calls Angle’s past statements “crazy” and “dangerous.” So far, this strategy of hitting Angle hard seems to be working. Among voters who recognize Angle, only 37 percent have a favorable view of her, while 45 percent have an unfavorable view.
Thanks to our two-party system, this is zero-sum politics at its worst. If this contest continues as expected, by November the people of Nevada will very much dislike both candidates. This is going to be a battle to see whose voters are un-disgusted enough to still show up at the polls.
