Is This A Good Or Bad Thing ?

With the lack of leadership he has shown since becoming Majority Leader, I guess this shouldn't really come as any surprise. It seems that Senator Harry Reid's chances of being re-elected in 2010 are sinking like a rock.

According to a Mason-Dixon poll released last Sunday by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Senator Reid is trailing both of his possible Republican opponents. He is losing to Nevada GOP chairwoman Sue Lowden 49% to 39%. Businessman Danny Tarkanian is also leading Reid by 48% to 43%.

Reid's campaign manager Brandon Hall dismissed the poll results saying, "Senator Reid has never put much stock in polls...As the election draws closer and voters are presented with a choice between moving our economy forward and the status quo, we are confident that Senator Reid's vision of moving forward will prevail."

Maybe that's true, but it won't be as easy as he's trying to make it sound. Almost 100% of Nevada's voters know who the senator is, and 50% of them have a negative opinion of him. If he was able to pull out a victory, it would be by a razor-thin margin.

Frankly, I'm not at all sure whether a Reid loss would be a good or a bad thing. The loss would cost Democrats a vote in the Senate, but on the other hand, his leadership (if it can be called that) in the Senate has been nothing less than a disaster. Maybe it's worth losing one vote to be able to replace him as Majority Leader -- hopefully with a progressive with a backbone.

Just look at his failure with regard to health care reform. Sen. Reid gave up on a public insurance option before the process even got started. Democrats can do better.