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Poll: Amid Health Care Struggle, Reid Suffering Among Independents
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A new Research 2000 poll, commissioned by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee contains yet more bad news for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The question: "Do you think Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid is a strong or weak leader?"
Overall, 55 percent of respondents nationwide said weak. 36 said strong. Nine percent said "not sure." Reid does alright among Democrats--only 37 percent say he's weak, with 58 percent saying he's doing a good job. But he's getting creamed among independents by almost the opposite numbers. Only 34 percent of independents say Reid is a strong leader, while 58 percent say "weak."
Things are, if anything, worse for him in Nevada, where a majority of Democrats describe him as ineffective.
The news comes just as Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and, by various accounts, the White House, has forced Reid's hand on the public option and Medicare buy-in--two health care measures that are overwhelmingly popular in his caucus and with the Democratic base.
At a recent caucus meeting, President Barack Obama told Senate Democrats that Harry Reid has the toughest job in Washington. This is part of what he meant.
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Progressive Party
December 15, 2009 9:20 AM
another 123 die today
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wbgonne
December 15, 2009 9:20 AM
Watch the chickens come home to roost. The Democrats are committing suicide.
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Walter Mitty
December 15, 2009 9:27 AM
I'll dance in the street the day Harry Reid is voted out of office. Addition by subtraction.
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kgb999
December 15, 2009 10:08 AM in reply to Walter Mitty
You don't talk about getting rid on Nelson, Baucus, or Lincoln; nope ... you want to get rid of Reid ... because Nelson, Baucus, Lincoln, etc. have decided to play obstructionists (with Rham's support directly from the White House). Smashingly brilliant!
Obama is doing the same thing for the democrats as Clinton - triangulating them right out of a majority. Of course, the chances of Reid losing in Nevada are all but nill.
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tosh
December 15, 2009 1:00 PM in reply to kgb999
My thought is that he would be happy if all four are gone.
Lincoln is gone. She knows that, and we know that. She's just using her last year in the Senate to max out her Golden Parachute.
Ben Nelson isn't up for re-election until 2012. Baucus isn't up for re-election until 2014. They really aren't on the map at the moment.
Harry is. And he's a perfectly fine example for Progressives to use, either by Primarying him, or simply not supporting him. It's bad for the "party" if he loses, but frankly the party isn't doing anything for us.
John
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Docb
December 15, 2009 12:05 PM in reply to Walter Mitty
The whole congress needs to be cleaned out and replaced by independents..Sending the same old corporate shills back from either party has gotten us into a fiscal needy mess! No one trusts them and rightly so!
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Dorn76
December 15, 2009 9:34 AM
Cue histrionics:
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wbgonne
December 15, 2009 9:44 AM in reply to Dorn76
Obama Pom-Pom Squad to the rescue!
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gharlane
December 16, 2009 12:52 AM in reply to Dorn76
Propaganda Rule # 47: When you've got no rational arguments, pathologize the opposition. Well done, Dorn (golf clap).
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janinsanfran
December 15, 2009 9:45 AM
He's got a thankless, probably impossible job, herding cats. But he'd make a better impression on voters if it looked like he was trying to do it.
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Scarce
December 15, 2009 9:46 AM
Harry Reid is going to soak up a lot of resources to defend that seat, which may have otherwise gone to the more deserving.
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Walter Mitty
December 15, 2009 9:49 AM
Republicans will probably clear the deck or at least withold money to help Reid out. He's the gift that keeps on giving to them afterall. Plays nice with them when Bush was in the White House, and grins and bears it when the GOP doesn't "return that favor". He's an embarrassment as majority leader.
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kgb999
December 15, 2009 10:29 AM in reply to Walter Mitty
Who the hell does the GOP have in Nevada that *could* mount a challenge? Seriously. Who is sitting on the sidelines to help Reid? What name are you thinking of here?
Ooooh ... there *isn't* one? So just how much should we expect the GOP to pour into an unlikely win (in a state where the GOP Gov. and other GOP senator have both had MAJOR sex scandals in the past year)? Yeah ... I'm *sure* the Nevada GOP tore itself to shambles in a back-room deal just to help Harry Reid!!!!
The democratic party itself is an utter embarrassment. Harry Reid is by far the least of your problems. If you want to focus on the democratic leader who seems most unable to remove their tongue from republican sphincter ... look no farther than your president.
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FlyingSquirrel
December 15, 2009 10:15 AM
I don't understand all the animus against Reid. He isn't the problem - the problem is Lieberman and any other Conservadems that are willing to filibuster. It's clear he would prefer a more progressive bill, but it seems to me that his hands are tied here, especially with the uncertainty over whether this could be done through reconciliation. He can't just make votes appear out of thin air.
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Darrius
December 15, 2009 11:54 AM in reply to FlyingSquirrel
Harry Reid was and is in an impossible position. People don't understand the Senate at all. They overestimate what it means to be the Senate Majority Leader. They overestimate the powers that the President has over a random Senator. They don't understand what a filibuster is. They have no clue what a cloture vote is, and the fact that a bill needs 60 votes to pass the Senate is completely unfathomable to the average or even slightly above average person.
People expect things from Harry Reid that are truly impossible. The Senate Majority Leader can not force a vote on a bill, let alone twist arms until it passes. Neither can the President for that matter. Both Reid and Obama are taking heat because the public expects them to excercise powers that are not inherent to their office.
That said Reid is toast. The surest way for to guarantee that a politician loses and election is to be seen as weak.
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Ron Thompson
December 15, 2009 12:03 PM
This shows that 57% of self-identified Democrats are not paying attention to what goes on in the Senate. There are some things that can be said to explain why it is impossible for Reid to be a strong leader, but to say that he is one is just patently false. It's a knee-jerk reaction to defend a Democrat.
I have nothing personal against Reid, but I think it will be far better for the Democratic Party and the progressive cause if he is no longer the Leader, and the only way that will happen is if he loses his reelection bid in 2010. We'll be in better shape with 55 senators led by Durbin or Schumer than we are today with 60 led by Reid.
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USgreentech
December 15, 2009 7:59 PM
The energy of the Democratic institutions is unbelievable. They're flirting with unanimity in 2010. The powerful force behind the liberal movement is: democrats.org.
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