For Reid, rough road at home in Nevada

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, has grown increasingly vulnerable to losing his seat to a Republican, political analysts say.

Reid's rapid decline in the polls comes as residents give poor marks to both his job performance and his signature issue, national healthcare reform. He faces more criticism than most of his Democratic Senate colleagues, who could suffer significant losses in November, The Wall Street Journal reports.

A Rasmussen Reports survey out Wednesday found Reid would get only 36 percent of votes against either of two possible GOP candidates -- down from 43 percent a month ago.

As Reid seeks his fifth term, unemployment in Nevada stands at 12.3 percent, tied for third-highest in the nation, and the state ranks second in mortgages in foreclosure. Reid has come under fire for a 2008 remark -- disclosed in a new book and widely reported this week -- that then-Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama could win the White House because he was "light-skinned" and did not speak with a "Negro dialect."

The word choice drew GOP calls for Reid to resign his leadership position. But Obama accepted Reid's apology, Democrats have backed him and calls for his resignation have subsided.

Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, said Reid's biggest problem with Nevada voters appears to be his support for the overhaul of the nation's healthcare system. Only 39 percent of Nevada voters said they support the plan, while 54 percent said they oppose it. Among those who oppose reform, at least 80 percent said they would support any Republican candidate facing Reid, the survey found.

Political analyst Stuart Rothenberg told The Wall Street Journal he believes a Republican could easily win Reid's Senate seat. Brandon Hall, Reid's campaign manager, said internal polls show Reid keeping the seat.

A spokesman said Reid declined to be interviewed but the senator said in a statement, "My focus is on bringing good-paying jobs to Nevada, strengthening the economy and providing affordable, accessible healthcare to millions of Americans -- not polls."

Sue Lowden, a likely GOP challenger who has served as a state senator and state GOP chairwoman and worked as a TV news anchor, told the Journal, "Nevada is at its core a center-right state, and he's had to carry the liberal Nancy Pelosi-Barack Obama agenda."