A political campaign is a lot like a tennis match. He who serves, volleys and plays the net best over a protracted time period wins. As reported in the Las Vegas Review Journal this weekend, an editor at the Cook Political Report gives the advantage to Joe Heck Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District even though he is currently in a statistical tie with Representative Dina Titus:

David Wasserman, House editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said a tie is “a little misleading,” and actually represents an advantage for Heck.
“Typically a challenger gets the majority of the undecided bloc before the election,” Wasserman said. “If voters haven’t made up their mind to support Dina Titus now, it is unlikely they will before election day.”
Wasserman rated the race as a tossup, but added: “If that is what polls are showing the day before the election, the odds are Dina Titus is not coming back to Congress.”

The Las Vegas Review-Journal/8NewsNow poll shows 43 percent of likely voters like Titus, 42 percent prefer Heck and 8 percent are undecided.

The more telling numbers may be that 44 percent of respondents view Titus unfavorably, while only 16 percent have a negative view of Heck. On the other hand, those surveyed were 33 percent neutral on Heck and 16 percent didn’t even recognize his name so the Titus campaign does have an opportunity to make some inroads between now and election day.

Titus has a significant cash advantage–$1.2 million on hand compared to about $360,000 for Heck at the end of the last period–some of which she will no doubt use on negative ads in an attempt to turn neutral voters against Heck. Her campaign press releases have recently been attempting to link Heck with the more controversial remarks and positions of Sharron Angle, including statements that she wants to do away with or privatize Social Security.

Of course, the Heck campaign links the incumbent Titus to the terrible economic conditions in Nevada–as well as to Harry Reid, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the president–every chance it gets.