LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: Sen. Harry Reid is holding a reservations-only forum at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas today to talk about health care, a divisive subject that has contributed to his new status as ''most vulnerable incumbent'' in 2010, according to a top political tracker.Reid's unpopularity with his home state crowd is nothing new; his poll numbers have been plunging ever since he became Senate majority leader and began leading the Democratic Party's efforts to reform the nation's health care system as promised by President Barack Obama.
What's new is that Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., announced Wednesday that he wouldn't run for re-election, which means Reid now replaces Dodd as the Democrat most likely to lose in what the Cook Political Report shows as ''toss-up'' Senate races. "Reid is now the most vulnerable incumbent based mostly on poll numbers,'' Cook's Jennifer Duffy said. She noted that he's trailing in early opinion surveys against two Republicans: Sue Lowden, ex-chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party and a former state senator, and businessman Danny Tarkanian, a former UNLV basketball star. More than a half-dozen other lesser-known Republicans also are challenging Reid. . . .
Reid spokesman Jon Summers dismissed outside surveys, saying, "Our internal polling shows us beating all of our potential opponents'' without offering details. "Senator Reid is focused on creating jobs in Nevada and getting the state's economy back on track,'' he added.
In early December, a poll commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal showed 50 percent of Nevadans disapproved of Reid's efforts to get a health care bill through the Senate. Some 39 percent approved and 11 percent weren't sure. Mason-Dixon conducted the survey of 625 registered voters. . . . [Full Story]
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