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Good news! The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has endorsed and will campaign for Democratic Congresswoman Shelley Berkley in her tight race against incumbent Senator Dean Heller (R):
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Hoping to line up a few more Senate allies before those looming negotiations over a "grand bargain" on deficit reduction, which could include cuts to Social Security, one progressive group has decided to back Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley in the Nevada Senate race. - Huffington Post, 10/31/12
This is great news for a number of reasons. Berkley will have extra grassroots cash and action to help her get out the vote, especially in areas like Clark County which has had a huge Democratic voter registration this year. With Sheldon Adelson pouring in tons of his own money to help Heller secure his victory and because of his personal vendetta against Berkley, his former employee, over their opposing views towards unions:
Their path from confidants to mortal foes began in the mid-1990s when, as Adelson’s corporate lawyer, she vocally opposed his efforts to open the Venetian hotel-casino as a non-union shop. She also says he tried to force her to run for Congress as a Republican. He wrote in the local newspaper that she betrayed his attorney-client privileges and said he’d have to engage in corruption to get his project approved. - Politico, 10/21/12
It's also a great sign that PCCC has come to Berkley's aide because Berkley has vowed to oppose any cuts to Social Security and Medicare:
We will have a Grand Bargain to deal with after the election and we need as many Senators as we can to oppose cuts to Social Security and Medicare. With Berkley in the Senate, we can rest assure that those cuts won't happen. If Heller remains in the Senate, he will vote for draconian cuts to the safety net. In case you forget, Heller did vote for the Paul Ryan Budget which turns Medicare into a voucher program:
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Berkley, D-Nev., is running against U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., who has twice voted for Ryan's GOP budget plan, which would transform Medicare for future retirees under the age of 55 into a private insurance reimbursement system. - Las Vegas Journal-Review, 8/14/12
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The latest Survey USA poll shows Heller ahead by 6 but unless your names are John Ralston or Mark Mellman, I wouldn't put too much stock in that poll or a lot of the polling that shows Heller with a big lead:
http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/...
Private polling isn't always superior to public and media polling, as the Washington Post's Jon Cohen writes in a smart piece slated for Sunday's Outlook section. But there are reasons why the polls conducted for campaigns may once again be superior in a state like Nevada, where the demographic makeup of the electorate is evolving quickly.
Hispanics make up an increasing percentage of the Nevada electorate. In 2004, they made up 10 percent of the electorate, according to exit polls, and that rose to 15 percent in 2008. In 2010, Hispanics ticked up a percentage point as a share of the Nevada electorate, to 16 percent, despite a nationwide decline of a percentage point, back to 2006 levels. In 2006, Hispanics made up 12 percent of Nevada electorate.
Furthermore, as a new report on Friday underscores, Nevadans are increasingly more difficult to reach in phone polls. Nearly 35 percent of Nevada adults in 2011 lived in households that only have a cell phone, whereas most public polls in this year's presidential and Senate races call exclusively or mostly landlines. And the rapid rate of landline abandonment -- fewer than 28 percent of Nevadans were cell-only in 2010 -- suggests that polls that ignore or undersample cell phones this year could suffer from increasing bias.
And, as Ralston writes, the Democratic registration advantage in populous Clark County is expected to be even larger this year than in 2008. That makes overcoming Obama's 12-point margin of victory in 2008 -- or Reid's 6-point win in 2010 -- a daunting proposition for Republicans. - National Journal, 10/13/12
With Berkley, we can achieve two goals. 1. Maintain and increase our numbers in the Senate. 2. We will have another vote on our side to prevent any cuts to Social Security and Medicare as part of the Grand Bargain. Ralston Reports shows Berkley has the edge in early voting, all she needs is everyone else to vote for her on election day. A vote for Berkley is vote to preserve and strengthen the safety net. Let's help her win on Election night:
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