Consider this: just two and a half years ago, in a landslide year in which Democrats won both chambers of Congress, a majority of governorships, and the lion's share of state legislatures, Republican Jim Gibbons was elected Governor of Nevada.  Up until a few weeks ago, Republican Senator John Ensign was on the rise, considered a potential contender for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.  And Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid looked to be one of the most vulnerable Senators up for reelection in 2010.  In Nevada, all was looking up for the Republican Party, even if things seemed to be crumbling everywhere else in the country.

But consider the point to which things have progressed in the Silver State:  the Nevada House delegation- long represented by 2 Republicans and a Democrat, switched up.  Now it's two Democrats and one Republican.  Governor Jim Gibbons- mired by personal scandals ranging from a sexual assault accusation to those of a more professional type with questionable land deals- is sporting just about the lowest approval rating in the country: 10% according to the latest poll from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, with just under 60% disapproving.  His reelection hopes are about as close to a political impossibility as one can get.  (The marquee Democrat likely to oppose Gibbons in 2010- Rory Reid, the Senate Majority Leader's son). 

Senator Ensign needs no introduction: the two-term official last week admitted to having carried on a sexual affair with a married campaign staffer, only to have the story get a little more seedy when he accused the woman's husband of blackmailing him.  Almost overnight, Ensign's approval rating plummetted from a robust 53% approving (and just 18% disapproving) to a dangerously low 39% approving (and a whopping 37 disapproving).  He could potentially pick up a Senate contest from longtime Nevada Democratic Representative Shelly Berkeley, who said she was at least considering a bid of her own.

Harry Reid, just a few months later, has completely been removed from the chopping block.  Rising approval ratings and strong fundraising numbers have taken him out of the National Republican Senatorial Committee's crosshairs.

In the meantime, Barack Obama won the state of Nevada in 2008 for the first time since the Clinton years.

The GOP is having a rough stint in Nevada, but that result is hardly surprising.  Rising popularity of Democrats in the western region (including other states like New Mexico and Arizona), has been compounded by scandal-plagued Nevada Republicans.  The result could be a long-term dominance in the Silver State that Democrats have never really known.  And for Republicans, it's one more state in which they can't afford to lose their foothold.  And yet, they seem to be slipping.

 

Senator Ensign is simply trying to adhere to Christian conservative morals: infidelity, anger, hatred. In the good tradition of Jerry Falwell and Jimmy Swaggart.

McCain got flat-out stomped in Reno in 2008 ... if Reno and Carson City go all the way blue, will a Republican EVER win Nevada again?

Who would have thought that the nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain would be the second most toxic substance in the state?