Nevada Casino Puppet Harry Reid Behind in Re-Election Bid
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, noted for his sponsors in the state's land-based casino industry, is behind both potential Republican candidates for his Congressional seat. According to a poll by Mason Dixon Polling and Research, either Sue Lowden or Danny Tarkanian would have an early edge over the sitting Senator.The survey shows that Nevadans are no longer in Reid's corner. Fifty percent said their opinion of him was unfavorable, while only thirty-eight percent said they had a positive opinion of Reid.
Reid's latest point of controversy involves the attempt to pass health care reform. A fellow Democrat, Ron Wyden of Oregon, had addressed one of the key complaints about the health care bill, how to pay for it, by proposing that revenues from online gambling taxes could be earmarked for health subsidies.
But Reid protected the Las Vegas Strip casinos that funded his campaigns by pushing Wyden to quickly withdraw the suggestion, even though doing so risks the chance that Congress will not be able to pass health reform.
While Lowden, a former state Republican chairman, and Tarkanian, a star basketball player under his dad at UNLV, split the electorate as to who should oppose Reid, either presently has an advantage of almost double-digits.
Reid will need to convince voters he is not in the pockets of vested interests to recapture the numbers that put him into the Senate.
