Opinion: Woes of Reid, other Nevada Democrats, continue to mount

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The woes – both political and romantic – of Nevada Republicans have been well documented in The Ticket. But in recent weeks, the state’s Democrats apparently can’t do enough to help the struggling GOP.

Perhaps the holidays put them in a giving spirit? How else to explain the recent blunders of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Nevada Atty. Gen. Catherine Cortez Masto?

Let’s start with Reid, whose polling remains atrocious, despite an early ad campaign touching on his hardscrabble youth and D.C. clout. A Rasmussen poll has Reid losing to GOP front runners Danny Tarkanian and Sue Lowden, and to less well-known conservative darling Sharron Angle in next year’s Senate race. Reid – whom Republicans hope to make the next Tom Daschle – likely didn’t help himself this week.

First, Reid compared lawmakers against healthcare reform to those who ‘dug in their heels’ when the country “belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery.” Then, after having fellow senators work on healthcare legislation last weekend, he suggested a break – on the same weekend he needed to attend a $1,000-per-plate fundraiser in New Orleans, according to ABC News. Amid criticism, Reid canceled the event.

As “Saturday Night Live” might put it: Really? REALLY?!?

Meanwhile in Nevada, Cortez Masto had been pursuing criminal charges against Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, a Republican, on allegations that he misused state money while he was treasurer. Not only did Cortez Masto, a rising Democratic star, have to deal with the fallout from her husband planning a fundraiser for Krolicki’s opponent but, this week, a judge tossed the charges against Krolicki and his former top aide. Cortez Masto declined to appeal the dismissal.

The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza reported that, his legal woes behind him, Krolicki is now mulling a run for a higher office. His would-be opponent? Harry Reid.

-- Ashley Powers

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Photo: Catherine Cortez Masto. Credit: Associated Press