Nevada voters aren’t buying Reid’s attacks on Angle

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has spent millions on TV ads attacking GOP opponent Sharron Angle as "extreme," but Nevada voters just don't seem to be buying it.

The latest Las Vegas Review-Journal/Mason Dixon poll on the Senate race finds Reid leading Angle by just 2 points, 46 percent to 44 percent, well within the poll's margin of error, and 6 percent remain undecided — numbers that have been virtually unchanged all summer.

The latest poll has plenty of bad news for Reid, who seems to be bearing the brunt of anger among voters over the state's dismal economy. Much as has been the trend in national polls, most voters in the state say they don't agree with Democrats' argument that a vote for a Republican this fall could mean a return to George W. Bush's policies.

In fact, Nevada voters are virtually split over whom to blame for the economic woes: 43 percent say it's President Obama's fault; 42 percent blame Bush. But that number is even more striking among self-described independent voters, who are likely to decide the November race. Among independents, 55 percent blame Obama for the economy, while just 21 percent say it's Bush's fault.

That disparity probably explains why Angle has gained a serious advantage among independents in recent weeks, leading Reid 42 percent to 33 percent. That edge is all the more striking since voters across all party lines generally dislike both of the candidates: Reid's unfavorable rating is at 52 percent, while Angle's has inched up to 46 percent — up 3 points in the last two weeks.

Another bad omen for Reid is that in spite of all of his ads attacking Angle's out-of-the-mainstream views, 19 percent of voters polled still have a "neutral" opinion of Angle, compared with just 7 percent for Reid. That means Reid's attempts to define Angle haven't worked, as the race seems mainly to be driven by bad feelings about the economy and incumbents in general.

(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)