MyDD :: Giving Harry Reid a Boost in the Polls

Giving Harry Reid a Boost in the Polls

by Sven at My Silver State, Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 11:42:58 AM EST

So I found this little gem in the Christmas Eve edition of the Las Vegas Review Journal:

Eric Herzik, a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, agreed, saying Dodd would be no more able than Reid to end the war.

Liberal disenchantment could even be a good thing for Reid in Nevada, where polls have shown his popularity and job approval ratings have dipped to around 30 percent, Herzik said.

"Harry Reid's numbers have dropped in part because he is perceived as more liberal and out of touch," Herzik said. "The way to fix that is to be attacked by the left."

Yeah, liberal means out of touch, that's the old Republican mantra, and Herzik is a Republican, which the LVRJ continuously fails to mention.

But that's really besides the point, as apparently, us bitching about Senator Reid will lift his overall approval numbers. 'Tis the season, so I suppose I can try and do old Harry a little favor. Here it goes:

Harry is all too willing to sell out to Bush/Cheney. The reason we even have this quote by Mr Herzik is because someone at the LVRJ seems to be reading the Huffington Post and stumbled upon an entry that called for Harry Reid to be replaced by Chris Dodd as Senate Majority Leader. Why's that? Because Chris Dodd managed to do the unbelievable: he actually stood up for his believes and was not willing to stand idly by when Harry brought a FISA bill to the floor that contained amnesty for the telecom companies.

So here's a message to Mr. Green (also quoted in the LVRJ saying the following: Michael Green, a history professor at the College of Southern Nevada who describes his personal politics as liberal, said the bloggers have unrealistic expectations. "A lot of the people who are most upset with Reid have no conception of how the Senate works or doesn't work," Green said. "They want Reid and (House Speaker Nancy) Pelosi to end the war just by snapping their fingers.")

Yeah, well, maybe Mr. Green should actually read the blogs and follow the news (watching C-Span might help) before giving this cute soundbite to the LVRJ: this was not about the war. It's a question of leadership. Is Harry willing to lead the Democrats in the Senate or not? And leading means holding the caucus together and getting all Dems to vote for important legislation. When the passing of the energy bill was one vote short it was because of a Democrat: Mary Landrieu.

But I digress, this was about boosting Harry's poll numbers. So, yeah he sucked on Iraq too. And he still does. Why is it so complicated to let the Senate vote each day on bringing the troops home? What's he afraid of? Why does the Senate pass one appropriations bill after another for the war when the American people want out?

So, basically, Harry Reid has done a few good things as Majority Leader (keeping the Senate in session to stop Bush from making more recess appointments comes to mind). But generally I'm just not satisfied. And Nevadans are not satisfied. And here's a novel concept on why that is: maybe it has nothing to do with him fighting for liberal (and mostly very mainstream legislation - see SCHIP), maybe it has something to do with continuously caving to Bush/Cheney. Maybe Mr. Herzik hasn't noticed yet but Nevadans want out of Iraq just as badly as people in the 49 other states. And in that respect (and so many other issues - like telecom amnesty) Senator Reid is not getting his job done. And that just may explain his low approval rating.

But hey, the left's attacking him, so he'll get a boost in the next Las Vegas Review Journal poll. You read it here first.

Cross posted from My Silver State.

Tags: Harry Reid (all tags)

Permalink :: 10 Comments :: Post a Comment

Re: Giving Harry Reid a Boost in the Polls (none / 0)

Harry Reid - really good at procedure, but not talking enough of a stand on Iraq. I would support Dodd for Majority Leader, but Reid would win me back if he stopped funding the Iraq War.

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by X Stryker on Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 11:55:36 AM EST

Re: Giving Harry Reid a Boost in the Polls (none / 0)

Or helped to get Cheney impeached.

Visit Election Inspection for analysis, polls, and predictions!

by X Stryker on Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 11:55:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Giving Harry Reid a Boost in the Polls (none / 0)

I'm going to go out on a limb and say defunding the Iraq war is going to make him minority leader.

This is not a popular scenario outside the liberal blogsphere, trust me, there are many, many supports of the Democrats ready to jump ship the second funding is cut. It all sounds well and good until six month later when the war still isn't over.

The American people; they were for the war before they were against it.

by nrafter530 on Sat Dec 29, 2007 at 05:57:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Giving Harry Reid a Boost in the Polls (none / 0)

Harry's been a poor leader overall. We'll need to really gain some seats in 2008 to cover his likely defeat.

A good leader has to get some Republicans to his side, and he was unable to do so.

by mikelow1885 on Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 12:22:50 PM EST

Re: Giving Harry Reid a Boost in the Polls (2.00 / 1)

He's still better than Tom Daschle was.

The sharpest criticism often goes hand in hand with the deepest idealism and love of country. ~RFK

by Vox Populi on Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 12:24:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]

So, let's see if I'm following you (none / 0)

You want him to get some Republicans on his side, and you want him to execute the progressive agenda.

So, how is he going to do that? The Republicans are executing the "delay" strategy. Tell me EXACTLY what he could do to get Republicans on his side. He needs something to trade. What is he going to trade? Which Republicans could he get? He can't even pry Susan Collins away from the threats of the Club of Growth.

I'm just amazed at comments like this. Pixie dust is required for your idea, and it is not working at this time.

by dataguy on Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 02:53:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Here's your choices (none / 0)

1) Harry Reid

2) Mitch McCallum

I'll take 1), thank you very much.

All of this "Harry is a poopie head" criticism, which is without substance, demonstrates no knowledge of the manner in which Congress works, is not observant of any reality, and is just formless whining has one effect and one effect only.

It makes the likelihood of a Republican 111th congress much more likely.

So, what's your actual strategy, other than the old useless and worthless impeachment, or my personal favorite, "stand tall to make a point." Exactly what would you have Reid do, and how exactly should he do it?

So many progressives. So much whining.

by dataguy on Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 02:50:21 PM EST

Re: Giving Harry Reid a Boost in the Polls (none / 0)

Dodd wouldn't be able to do any better with at best 51 democratic votes in the senate and really that's lower with Johnson having been out of action and Lieberman far from a reliable ally. Taking into account the Nelsons and other more conservative democrats and the senate democratic caucus contains a whole lot less votes then is needed to move legislation or even block it in the senate. Neither Dodd or anyone else would do any better. Dodd isn't so fantastic either. He's done some good stuff in the past, but now he's just a also run candidate latching onto issues that he thinks will get him some media time and netroots support (and money).

He's very close to the financial institutions he oversees as chairman of the banking committee and most of his money has come from them and other large donors. Don't be fooled by the freedom Dodd has to latch onto any hot button issue to gain attention because he knows he really has no chance of winning anyway.

by Quinton on Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 06:17:21 PM EST

Re: Giving Harry Reid a Boost in the Polls (none / 0)

Some of the comments argue that Reid has done the best he can in a parliamentary sense. This might be true, but it's not the whole picture. Reid has simply not been effective at getting the message out regarding Republican obstructionism, and it's that lack of a message that threatens to hold us back in 2008.

The Republican message machine continues to kick the stuffing out of ours every day of the week. How many Americans understand that the reason nothing gets done in Congress is because Senate Republicans have been filibustering virtually every bill? How many Americans know the Republicans have already broken the all-time filibuster record, and we're still only halfway through the term? I'd really love to see leadership in Congress who can creatively and effectively get these sorts of messages across.

"Another problem we have...is that in election years we behave somewhat as primitive peoples do at the time of the full moon." --Harry Truman

by Steve M on Wed Dec 26, 2007 at 06:25:22 PM EST

Re: Giving Harry Reid a Boost in the Polls (none / 0)

The complexity of the system is something people dont understand and just don't care to understand.

It's as simple as "he's the majority leader, the majority isn't getting this done, they suck, the end"

We always seem to have to do into in depth explanations, while the GOP gets to win on sound bites. We need a sound bite too.

The American people; they were for the war before they were against it.

by nrafter530 on Sat Dec 29, 2007 at 05:54:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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