The New York Times is sniffing around Harry Reid’s political corpse, even though they really don’t have anything substantive to report. Naturally, both Dick Durbin and Chuck Schumer have been doling out cash and campaigning for senators in an effort to shore up support, should Reid lose his seat. And, indeed, things are looking bleak for the Majority Leader:
Positioned to pull off the biggest upset in the nation, GOP challenger Sharron Angle heads into Election Day leading Democratic incumbent Sen. Harry Reid by 4 percentage points, says a new poll for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and 8NewsNow.
The Mason-Dixon Polling & Research survey has Angle with 49 percent support compared with 45 percent for Reid in its first survey since the Tea Party favorite and the Senate majority leader held their only debate Oct. 14. The findings match two other post-debate polls in the race and show momentum for Angle, who two weeks ago edged out Reid, 47 percent to 45 percent, in the last Mason-Dixon survey.
I think it’s difficult to poll this race, considering the unpopularity of both candidates and the fact that Nevada allows people to vote for ‘None of the Above.’ It’s very difficult for me to imagine Sharron Angle in the U.S. Senate, but I guess I just have to stimulate my imagination. It looks like it could very well happen.
I’ve been really conflicted about who I’d rather see replace him as leader, between Durbin and Schumer. I like Durbin a lot more than Schumer. I consider Durbin a solid progressive, while Schumer is much more of a creature of Wall Street. But Schumer is probably the more aggressive of the two, and he’s very, very smart. I hope we don’t have to make a decision between the two of them because that would mean that Sharron Angle will be in the Senate for the next six years. But I would be excited to see new leadership. I just don’t know what new leadership would be better for the Democratic Party.
My heart is with Durbin. My head is conflicted.