Did Santa Come Early (for Nevada Democrats)?

In case you were wondering, our 10 of 11 series will continue after Christmas. Don't worry about that. But in the mean time, I just have to interrupt our reminiscing to show you the 8 News Now/R-J UNLV poll that's giving Nevada Republicans "the vapors". (Trust me, we'll tie it all together at the end of this diary!)

President Barack Obama would handily defeat any of the Republican presidential candidates in Nevada if the election were held now, according to an 8 News Now/Las Vegas Review-Journal poll conducted by UNLV's Cannon Survey Center.

With a sample size of 600 registered voters and a 4 percent margin of error, Democrat Obama would defeat his closest rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 45.7 percent to 39.8 percent.

In a presidential caucus, Republicans favor Romney but his closest foe, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, trails within the 6.5 percent margin of error in that particular contest. This result reflects registered voters, but not likely caucus-goers.

The telephone poll, conducted Dec. 12 through Dec. 20, had Obama topping Texas Congressman Ron Paul 45.4 percent to 35.7 percent, Gingrich 47.3 to 35.4, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum 49.3 to 30.9, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman 48.8 to 30.1, Texas Gov. Rick Perry 50.8 to 31.1 and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann 50.2 to 27.1.

Whoops. I guess Americans really are getting tired of "tea party" madness... And realizing that sanity really is a good thing. Hell, the G-O-TEA is now turning voters AWAY (especially if they're gay or not super-rich)!



But wait, it gets worse for Nevada Republicans. It also turns out that Dean Heller isn't all that popular, either.

Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley would defeat Republican Sen. Dean Heller in a nail-biter to represent Nevada in the U.S. Senate if the election were held now, according to an 8 News Now/Las Vegas Review-Journal poll conducted by UNLV's Cannon Survey Center.

The poll of 600 registered Nevada voters showed Berkley edging Heller 44.4 percent to 43.2 percent. But the contest, which will be decided in the November 2012 general election, is well within the poll's 4 percent margin of error. The telephone poll was conducted Dec. 12 through Dec. 20.

Now Heller isn't doing as poorly as Romney-Gingrich-Paul at the top of the ticket, but he's nonetheless in real danger. As we noted on Tuesday, he's fallen from a double digit lead to a tie... And now, perhaps falling behind Shelley Berkley in the US Senate race. Hmmm, I wonder why?



Apparently, Nevadans are smart enough to realize his unbalanced nonsense means less work and more suffering. And they're smart enough to know that the source of Washington's problems lies on Capitol Hill (not The White House). So maybe 2012 won't bring the G-O-TEA another "Red Tide" after all? And in the mean time, Nevada Democrats should probably enjoy these nice stocking stuffers from Santa Claus... Then work their behinds off in 2012 to really make it come true.