The same people who are running the ad asking "Is Harry Reid strong enough" have now asked that question in a poll.
It turns out Nevadans think the answer is no.
The purpose of the poll is to make Reid reject his customary tendency to pander to the right while taking the left for granted and convince him to do all he can to get a strong public option in the Senate health care reform bill.
Not only would that be good policy -- evidently it would be good politics: Nevadans favor "offering everyone a government administered health insurance plan," 54 to 39.
Independents -- that cherished and much-courted group of voters who politicians and their consultants seem to love above all else -- favor the public option by roughly the same margin as the state as a whole -- 55 to 39. Among Democrats, i.e., Reid's base (presumably), support for a public option is overwhelming, 84 to 12.
The poll, conducted by Research 2000 for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, also contains the usual familiar findings -- more people disapprove of Reid then approve of him, and if the election were held today he'd get beat by a dust mop, a potted plant, Sueny Talklowdian, etc.
But it's when the poll asks questions that other pollsters have not that the results get truly brutal for Reid.
Among all Nevadans, 52 percent described him as a weak leader, and only 24 percent said strong. Even among Democrats, 47 percent said weak and 39 percent said strong. Ouch. That's going to leave a mark.
More than half -- 54 percent -- of all those surveyed also said Reid is "ineffective" in the Senate, while 23 percent said he was "effective." Even among Democrats, a soul-crushing 51 percent said ineffective, and only 39 percent said effective.
Asked if Reid should be the Democratic nominee for Senate in 2010 or if it is time for someone new to represent the party, a minority of Democrats -- 38 percent -- agreed that the majority leader of the Untied States Senate should be their party's nominee. Only 13 percent said it is time for someone new, but 49 percent weren't sure.
Among Nevadans with an unfavorable view of Reid, 47 percent think Reid is "too far to the left" while 41 percent think he's "not progressive enough." Among Democrats who view him unfavorably, a whopping 92 percent think he's not progressive enough, and only 6 percent said he is too far to the left.
"The numbers say it all," said PCCC's Adam Green. "If Harry Reid starts acting like a strong leader and passes the public
option, he solidifies his standing with Democrats and Independents and
has a chance to survive 2010. If he continues to be weak -- refusing to
unify the Democratic Caucus behind an up-or-down vote and allowing the
public option to be watered down to nothing -- Democratic senators will
likely be looking for a new Majority Leader in 2011."
The pollster, Research 2000, is the same outfit that polls for the Reno paper and Daily Kos.
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