I never thought I'd say this... But it looks like The R-J coughed up a poll with Harry Reid leading. While the two-way race between Reid and either of the GOP front runners still looks lousy according to The R-J, we all know now that this will be at least a three-way race after all with the Tea Party forming its own splinter group with its own candidate. Right after they talked about how far down Reid is in their poll, they managed to spit this out...
But the polling done for the Las Vegas Review-Journal also shows this year's U.S. Senate race could undergo a major shake-up if a Tea Party candidate gets involved.
It would be a new ballgame, and Reid would be the big beneficiary.
A disaffected conservative running under the Tea Party banner would drain support from a Republican candidate, according to polling of a three-way contest.
In that case, Reid would draw 36 percent of voters, while the Republican nominee would get 32 percent and the Tea Party candidate 18 percent if the election were held today.
And according to CQ Politics, Reid even has a lead among independents with another 30% of them undecided in the three-way match-up. OK, so maybe the Tea Party won't really draw this much support in November... Or maybe they will? We don't know for sure, but whatever the case all the news from this month shows that our Senate race is still very fluid and Harry Reid really can't be counted out.
Oh, and here's another reason not to count Reid out. One of his good friends, who happens to be one of Nevada's biggest employers, is promising to be of help.
In an interview after President Barack Obama's first visit to CityCenter on Friday, Murren used strong words to make it clear he would not only remain loyal to Reid for his efforts to save MGM Mirage's $8.5 billion project but he would take on those trying to remove Reid from office.
"I think it's un-Nevadan, unpatriotic, to go against Senator Reid and I will call out those who try," the MGM Mirage chairman and CEO told Vegas Confidential after the world premiere of Cirque du Soleil's "Viva Elvis."
And for better or for worse, the casinos still hold a hell of a lot of sway in Nevada politics. If the Republicans can't lean on them for help, then they're screwed with this Senate race.
And you've been wondering why I keep saying it's unwise to bet against Harry Reid in this state?
Jim Murren is now in the hot seat over City Center. It's just starting to open up, and people are starting to wonder what will be next for MGM Mirage's big bet.
Will it fail?
Will it succeed?
What happens now to Las Vegas?
We'll all soon be finding out in the coming days, weeks, and months. In the mean time, a mini-scandal is emerging over what Murren said in the last video clip above. Steve Friess first caught this in the transcript of last night's "Face to Face", when Jon Ralston asked Jim Murren about what he had earlier told Friess for his LA Weekly write-up on City Center.
I’ve never been in Encore, when did it open up? I’ve never been into Palazzo. It’s not that I don’t care, I just don’t need to go. But I do know – I have nothing against either one of those guys, especially Steve Wynn, I like him a lot. But [CityCenter] is not going to be, for most people, the same as just another resort opening up. I know it won’t.
And in case you haven't yet started uploading that second video, here's how Murren made it worse.
"I live in Summerlin. I have a great community. I coach my kids. I have a lot of restaurants out there. If I didn't work in the resort community, I probably wouldn't come down here much. That was my point. That is my point as a counterpoint to CityCenter. I really believe it is not a casino-hotel. I really would not be upset at all if people never visit Aria that live here. ... ." [Emphasis mine.]
Donde los yikes??!! Does Jim Murren really want to kick sand in the locals' faces? And worse yet, does he really want to hand over all these potential customers to Boyd Gaming and Station Casinos on a silver platter? Many of my neighbors already complain all the time about how expensive everything on The Strip is, how much traffic always plagues The Strip, and how snooty all those fancy-schmancy hotels on The Strip are. By Jim Murren adding to "the snooty factor", how will he ever get my neighbors out of Green Valley Ranch, Sam's Town, or The M to venture to The Strip to see City Center?
I guess if he's really not all that upset if locals never visit Aria, Tony Marnell will really appreciate keeping more local business at The M.
But really, this is just one of the many concerns MGM Mirage should still have about City Center. I toured Crystals with my dad last weekend after I gave him an intimate "birthday celebration" at Aureole at Mandalay Bay. (By the way, I'm obviously NOT one of those Strip-hating locals!)
Now let me say that I just LOVE the design of this place! It's very "eco-chic", and I'm digging it. However, my dad wasn't...
That is, he wasn't finding Crystals all that attractive. For one, not all the stores are open yet. Furthermore, most of the ones that are open have already set foot in Southern California (where Dad still lives), in exclusive "shopping resorts" there like Orange County's South Coast Plaza and LA/Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive. So not only might Jim Murren have a problem with Vegas locals, but he may also have trouble finding Californians to jump up the 15 to see something that they think they've already seen in LA and OC.
So what's his plan to lure in travelers who aren't all that into postmodern architecture and/or high-end designer label shopping? Does he have one?
I hope he does... And he thinks of one fast. I really think City Center can be a huge success, but only if it actually entices people to come and spend money in it.
Whoa, whoa, WHOA! [City Center President Bobby] Baldwin said Aria's casino is the economic engine of the whole she-bang and Murren knows that. But Murren doesn't even care if his neighbors ever see it and, if he didn't have to because he gets millions to do so, he might never bother either! This is not a ringing endorsement of the most significant financial element of your new endeavor, is it?
So let's remove Aria from CityCenter. Without it, you're left with four buildings containing private residences, two of which are also hotels that contain no shows or casinos. And you have a 500,000-square-foot "retail and entertainment district" with some of the most expensive products anyone can sell anywhere in the world, not exactly a locals-friendly shopping experience. Plus a whole lot of terrific art and an oft-mentioned pocket park that Murren recommends as a neat place to sit even though there's no place (yet) to sit. [...]
Again, there are lots of elements of CityCenter I love. But it is worrisome when a massive gaming company is being piloted by someone who isn't personally aware of his competition and seems so personally uncomfortable with the heart of his business.
