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Opinion: Call in the Barack; Nevada Democrat Harry Reid’s in trouble back home

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Well, now we for sure know why Nevada Sen. Harry ‘I Did Too Smile Once Back in High School’ Reid is calling in The Big Guy for a grandiose fundraiser next week.

A new statewide poll of 625 Nevadans by Mason-Dixon for the Las Vegas Review-Journal confirms previous research that the four-term Democrat is not well-liked. In fact, he’s downright disliked.

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Fully half the respondents think of him unfavorably. Only 38% think of him positively; 11% didn’t care.

About 45% said they’d vote to oust the 69-year-old Senate majority leader; 17% said they’d consider somebody else, and only about a third would vote for him. Going into such elections, incumbents prefer 2-to-1 favorable-unfavorable ratios.

Harry’s already got about $3.3 million in the bank to avoid being Daschled: being a Democratic majority leader unseated by Republicans as Tom Daschle was five years ago. Of course, Daschle went on to become a millionaire advisor to a rich guy, not pay a lot of taxes and not become secretary of Health and Human Services, so losing isn’t necessarily all bad.

As The Ticket previously reported, On Tuesday, Obama will fly out to Las Vegas on Air Force One for a celebrity-studded funder with Bette Midler and Sheryl Crow, despite his criticism last winter of bankers who go to Las Vegas for taxpayer-funded parties. And then the president will hop over to L.A. the next day.

Now, all that Nevada Republicans need to beat Reid is a viable Senate candidate, but there is none yet. Rep. Dean Heller is a possibility, though he’s only in his second House term and not widely known.

Republican John Ensign is well known statewide and enjoys a 53% favorable rating. Trouble is, he’s already the state’s other senator.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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