Posted on 10/15/2007 6:09:16 AM PDT by Nevadan
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's appeal among Nevadans has plunged dramatically in a new Review-Journal poll, which finds him viewed unfavorably by most likely voters in his home state.
Reid is still slightly more well-liked than Gov. Jim Gibbons. Both the Democratic senator and the Republican governor are less favorably viewed than President Bush.
"Fortunately for Reid, he doesn't have to run for re-election for a while," said Brad Coker, managing partner of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., the Washington, D.C.-based firm that conducted the poll. If they decide to run again, Reid's name won't be on the ballot until 2010, nor will Gibbons'.
The poll asked 625 likely voters from around the state whether they recognized a politician's name, and if so, if they had a favorable, unfavorable or neutral opinion of that person. The survey carries a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Reid's favorable rating was 32 percent, compared with 51 percent unfavorable and 15 percent neutral. Gibbons was viewed favorably by 30 percent, Bush by 34 percent.
The Review-Journal last asked Nevadans their opinion of Reid in early May. At that time, he was seen favorably by 46 percent and unfavorably by 42 percent.
Even that was seen as alarming for Reid because his favorability did not top 50 percent and because the difference between the two numbers was only 4 percentage points. It continued a slide for Reid that coincides with his taking the Democratic leadership after his re-election in 2004, with 61 percent of the vote.
The new poll marks the first time the Review-Journal has measured Reid's unfavorable rating higher than his favorable number.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas political scientist David Damore said Reid's position as top Democrat -- the first Nevadan to lead his party in the Senate -- continues to hurt him, as it makes him a punching bag for Republicans nationally. Especially now that Reid leads the majority party that is at odds with the White House, he is visible as never before.
"That's what happens to these guys who become the party spokesperson and get all the national attention, particularly someone who's coming from a state that's not as liberal as his party," Damore said.
Voters' opinion of Reid was starkly partisan. Just 2 percent of Republicans viewed him favorably, 90 percent unfavorably. Among Democrats, the numbers were 62 percent and 16 percent; with independents, they were 31 percent and 44 percent.
A Reid spokesman said the Nevadan was taking the hit for a more general dissatisfaction.
"Nevadans, like all Americans, want to bring an end to the war in Iraq, and everyone in Congress is being held accountable for the president's inaction and Republican obstructionism," Jon Summers said.
"People were excited (after the 2006 election) about the Democrats taking the majority in Congress. I think they thought we would somehow have the ability to end the war as soon as we took the majority. That's unfortunately not how it works," he said.
Reid absolutely is running again in 2010 but was "not focusing on that right now," Summers said. "He's heavily focused on the war in Iraq."
Summers also suggested the poll did not accurately reflect views of Reid.
Reid's staff provided an internal poll conducted for Reid by Democratic pollster Mark Mellman in early August, which was not made public at the time because it was intended as an internal barometer. That poll of 600 voters statewide had 56 percent approving of Reid, 40 percent disapproving.
Unfortunately for Gibbons, his dismal rating is nothing new. The first-term governor was elected with less than 50 percent of the vote, has been plagued with scandals and has drawn criticism for multiple political miscues.
Various independent pollsters have put Gibbons' approval or favorability rating at 29 percent in March, 30 percent in April and 28 percent in May.
A poll commissioned by the Nevada Republican Party in June, just after the legislative session concluded, put him up to 49 percent. But that result now looks like a blip. In August, Gibbons was measured at 33 percent, and the new poll has him at 30 percent.
Twenty-nine percent of poll respondents viewed Gibbons unfavorably in the new poll, while 38 percent had a neutral opinion. Even among Republicans, only 42 percent viewed Gibbons positively; 45 percent were neutral, and 12 percent had a negative view.
"That's the status quo for him, and he doesn't seem to be able to do anything to change it," Damore said. Hovering around 30 percent is an abysmal place for a politician to be, especially early in his term, he said.
Gibbons spokeswoman Melissa Subbotin said she did not think Gibbons' numbers "adequately represent the entire state of Nevada."
"As we have always stated, we do not govern by polls," she said. "They don't determine how we are going to move forward with our administration. We traveled around every county these past couple of months, and the feedback was exceptionally positive. We had huge attendance at all of our functions."
Bush's 34 percent was on par with his national approval rating, which currently averages about 32.5 percent, according to Pollster.com. It was slightly down from the last Review-Journal measurement in May, which put the president at 36 percent among Nevadans.
Other public officials whose favorability was measured by the Review-Journal included the following:
• Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman: 42 percent favorable, 17 percent unfavorable, 28 percent neutral. Goodman, a Democrat, fared better among Republicans, just 9 percent of whom viewed him negatively. Perhaps distressingly for the publicity-seeking mayor, 13 percent of those polled did not know his name.
• Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.: 51 percent favorable, 19 percent unfavorable, 25 percent neutral. The recently re-elected Republican remains popular at home despite taking a partisan leadership position as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
• Former President Clinton: 51 percent favorable, 37 percent unfavorable, 12 percent neutral. That was the inverse of his wife's numbers: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was seen favorably by 38 percent and unfavorably by 51 percent.
"That's the ironic thing, isn't it?" Damore said. Somehow, the former president is associated in voters' minds with peace and prosperity, while the former first lady is seen as shrill and calculating.
"He's the best politician of his generation, Mr. Ambassador Feel-Good-at-Large; she's seen as doing everything only for her own political convenience." Fortunately, he noted, Hillary Clinton has Bill Clinton to campaign for her.
• Right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh: 34 percent favorable, 50 percent unfavorable, 15 percent neutral. Limbaugh, who recently has sparred with Reid in a battle played out on both the airwaves and the Senate floor, had strikingly similar numbers to the Democratic senator's.
"That's how polarizing Harry Reid has become," Coker said. "But Rush is trying to be polarizing. Reid just does it anyway."
Yup. Completely agree. Before Reid became the face man for the loony left in the Senate, we thought of Reid as being a Democrat, but a Nevada Democrat.
Now he’s defending positions carved out by the coastal Democrats. And that ain’t gonna be forgotten in Nevada.
I agree that he’ll probably retire, or try to find some way to introduce one of his offspring into the position, the way that Rory is on the Clark Co. commissioners.
And, South Carolina, do the same to that worthless jackass Lindsey Graham.
The Surge has Worked and Dirtbag Reid is in a Trap
Pray for W and Our Troops
DUH??? YA THINK!
Reid’s Rush attack is now part of his “legacy”
We just need to a senator with a spine to read the Rush reaction and money it raised into the congressional record.
CURRENT PRICE: $45,000
CURRENT VIEWS: 170870
at $45,000 that is $1097.56 per prostituted signature
nickname given to siganators: “Phony 41” in honor of the fakeness of the scandal. (yes Hillary R. Clinton and Barack H. Obama signed this)
Somebody needs to post the picture of the guy with his head up his rectum.
Reid actually had a fairly moderate voting record (around 40% on conservative indexes) before he became his senate's party leader.
After Daschle was handed his pink slip, and Reid replaced him, Dingy Harry could have pulled the Democrats toward the center. Either he or his owners decided instead to do exactly the opposite. The Republicans need to take him out by running and supporting a viable candidate. Everytime they have done so, Reid has been lucky to slip back in with a less than 1,000 vote margin. If the Republicans do not roll over, I have a sneaking suspicion he will not be so lucky in 2010.
While there is something to be said for the campaign value of having a moonbat as the party's most visible leader in the Senate, Reid's own experience has shown that anyone to the right of Karl Marx who gets elevated to this position can be turned into a moonbat. Thus, he really needs to be taken out.
The correct title for the article is:
Poll: Reid's popularity is lower than President Bush!
Anyone from Nevada know if Reid will get re-elected? When is he up for re-election?
When Rush gets finished with him his numbers will be still worse.
The senate has six-year terms. Reid was re-elected in 2004, so he’s up again in 2010.
It is too early to tell what Reid will do. In Nevada, the common path for washed-up Congressional types has been to run for state office (governor, in particular). Dick Bryan did it, Jim Gibbons has done it. Somehow, I don’t see Reid doing it. Reid has been feathering his own nest with his senate position for years, and I don’t think he could do that well (if at all) from the governor’s mansion in Carson City.
Reid’s favorable rating at 32.
Bush’s favorable rating at 34.
Will this article make national news? Last year, we kept hearing about Bush at his lowest approval ratings. We don’t hear aobut them because the Dem leaders have poor approval ratings too.
He need Vincente Fox to say a few good words about him. That will really lift his numbers.
He blamed it on Bush, of course.
No surprise. His Congress has the lowest approval ratings of all time, it’s no wonder Nevadans are starting to like him less. I’ve said it before—I am starting to doubt Reid will get re-elected in 2010. He’s got another few years to continue embarrassing himself, and I expect his popularity in his state will fall even lower.
However, Nevada has had a recent shift in political majority with the influx of immigrants and ex-Californians, and is now turning blue. So, unfortunately, Dingy could wind up back in Congress again. We’ll have to see...
But for the time being, I’m gonna laugh my butt off at him for having lower approval ratings in his home state than Bush.
2010
It never ceases to amaze me how leftists like Reid and Frank Church ever managed to get elected in western states.
Yes, little tommy....
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
You do it by lying. You claim that you are “moderate” and that your first allegiance is to the fine people of the state of Nevada, not to your party. Reid’s campaign motto during the last election was, “Harry Reid, independent - like Nevada”. And the truth is, he was not counted among the lunatic Left until he took over leadership in the Democrat party. He was even pro-life for years. But he definitely sold his soul to the Devil to get into a greater position of power.
Another factor in his last reelection is that the state Republican leadership (including our former RINO governor) did not actively & financially support the conservative Republican who ran against Reid. The Republican who ran was the one who successfully headed up the fight against gay marriage in the state. That was a little too conservative for some of the Republicans at the state level. They feared being labeled as “homophobic”. Anyway, this lack of support combined with Reid’s campaign chest with millions of dollars, meant that the Republican didn’t stand a chance.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.