The good news for Republicans who want to see Harry Reid defeated is that he just denied that illegal immigrants do construction work in Nevada, people are renouncing him on their deathbed, and here’s his percentage of the vote in the last fourteen polls: 43, 40, 40, 40, 37, 42, 38, 40, 40, 42, 41, 39, 41, 43. (Now that’s consistent.)
The bad news for Republicans who want Reid gone that Sharron Angle’s lead ranges from ahead by 11 to trailing by 3. She usually leads modestly, around or just outside the margin of error. She’s the favorite, but for much of the year, this race looked on par with Indiana, North Dakota, Delaware, or other near-automatic GOP Senate pickups.
I’ve heard from several GOP folks who are grumbling that what ought to be a slam-dunk win against a pulverized Democrat is now a competitive race. By any measure — the state’s lousy economy, high unemployment, brutal housing market, Reid’s gaffes, his role in enacting the Obama agenda, the administration’s knee-jerk Las Vegas–bashing — the GOP challenger ought to be crushing him. Instead, the race is becoming less of a referendum on the incumbent and more of a contest of which side can better spotlight the other’s more controversial comments.
For now, the grumbling is relatively quiet, and every Republican with a hand in this race is rowing in the same direction. But if Harry Reid somehow manages to squeak by, there will be an enormous amount of recrimination among Nevada Republicans for nominating Angle.
What the leaders of the Republican party is seeming to forget, that regaining control of congress (even the house) isn't a slam dunk. Its still months to this election, a lot can change, the Democrats are great at spinning things to their favor. The media still overwhelming supports Obama and the Democrats over any Republican, even RINO's. This is not the time to relax and many are. 2010 can be a great year for conservatives and the Republicans need to do far more for those voters. Otherwise November will be a big disappointment for Republicans who lose if they only pick a few seats and allow the Democrats to retain control. Democrats only have to hold congress to "win" this election even with some losses of seats. Democrats will believe in their policies even more if they keep the house in 2010.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseI don't see the Republican squishes pulling in the same direction. Day after day I'll read comments from Republicans how only Angle could have lost, and anyone else would win in a cakewalk. Self-fulfilling prophecies have a way of becoming true. Moderates never fully support conservaticves, especially ones they've lost to. Spectrr or Crist ring any bells on that?
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