Angle Grabs Lead in Nevada — Reid's Senate Days Numbered?

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could find himself out of a job in the next Congress based on a new Fox News poll showing him slipping behind GOP challenger Sharron Angle, 49 percent to 46 percent, with just 28 days to go before the Nov. 2 election.

It is the largest lead either candidate has enjoyed since Fox began polling the race in Nevada.

"As voters make up their minds with four weeks to go until Election Day, Angle seems to have the edge," FoxNews.com reports.

The poll results come during the most eventful week so far in a critical Senate battle that has major national implications for both parties.

Syd James, the chairman of the Tea Party of Nevada, resigned Tuesday in the aftermath of the revelation that a third-party candidate in the race, Scott Ashjian, who is running on the Tea Party of Nevada ticket, secretly tape-recorded Angle as she tried to persuade him to drop out of the race.

James announced Tuesday that he now backs Angle.

Sources tell Newsmax that James resigned because he was shocked that Ashjian violated the pre-arranged ground rules for his meeting with Angle, and recorded the conversation.

"I gave the Angle campaign my word that this was to be a private meeting and not tape recorded," James said in a statement. "I feel my personal integrity and honor was violated when Scott [Ashjian] taped what was to be a private conversation and then made it public.

"I can understand why the Angle campaign feels that they were double-crossed," James added. "The Angle campaign trusted me, and that trust was violated."

In the recording, Angle tells Ashjian: "I'm not sure you can win and I'm not sure I can win if you're hurting my chance, and that's the part that scares me."

Angle also conveys antipathy toward GOP leaders, saying they have "lost their standards, they've lost their principles."

Some pundits have speculated that those anti-GOP remarks actually would strengthen Angle politically, by reassuring frustrated Nevada voters that Angle is sincere and harbors no delusions about Washington's ability to bend maverick candidates to its will.

Grass-roots conservative leaders statewide have denounced Ashjian  and disavowed his candidacy. Angle's supporters are concerned that Ashjian's presence on the ballot in a tight election could be enough to throw the race to Reid, sending him back to Washington.

Reid jumped on Angle over her meeting with Ashjian, stating: "Sharron Angle engaged in an act of supreme hypocrisy (even for her) during their secret meeting — attempting to cut a deal with Ashjian to get him off the ballot, and openly trashing the very same national Republicans that are supporting her candidacy."

A spokesman for Angle defended her remarks, telling Jon Ralston, the ace political reporter for the Las Vegas Sun: "Sharron expressed what many working families in Nevada and across the country are feeling. They are angry with Harry Reid, they are angry with Washington, D.C., and they want blunt plainspoken leaders who are willing to shake things up.

"Sharron represents the interests of Nevada, not the interests of Washington, D.C., like Harry Reid does, and that's why she is going to win."

The Fox News poll, in which Pulse Opinion Research surveyed 1,000 likely Nevada voters, was conducted on Oct. 2, before the details of the conversation between Angle and Ashjian leaked out.

The poll suggests that several positive trends are now working in Angle's favor. Among them:

• The percentage of voters selecting "none of the above" has dropped from 5 percent on Sept. 11 to just 1 percent. It is critical for Angle that this number be as low as possible, because the Nevada ballot actually gives voters the option of selecting "none of the above," rather than selecting one of the candidates. Reid's strategists have been aiming to drive Angle's negatives up so high that voters will opt for neither Reid nor Angle, thereby improving the majority leader's chances of returning to office.
• Fifty-three percent of voters said Angle's views are "too extreme." But 56 percent of them said Reid had been in office too long.
• Fox reports Angle's supporters are no longer wavering. Two weeks ago, 10 percent of her supporters said they could still change their minds — a number that has dropped to 4 percent.
• Because the poll has a plus/minus 3 percent margin of error, the race is considered deadlocked. But this is the first Fox News poll in which either candidate had a lead of more than 1 point.
• Support for the tea party movement, which backs Angle, appears to be growing in Nevada. The grass-roots conservative movement has gone from 25 percent to 30 percent approval among likely voters in just three weeks, a trend that should favor Angle.

On Sunday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal endorsed Angle, stating: "Seriously crippled by this much baggage, Sen. Reid has calculated that his survival depends on portraying Ms. Angle as an 'extremist' who would endanger women, children and the elderly.

"In fact, Ms. Angle is well within the mainstream on most issues and embraces a political philosophy popular with millions of Americans who are making themselves heard this election cycle."

A vote for Reid, the editorial stated, "is a vote for the status quo in Washington."