Pay Attention to "No One" in Nevada

Worth Clicking: Blasts from the past wound Romney

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August 27, 2010

Pay Attention to "No One" in Nevada

For more than three decades, Nevada voters have had the choice of choosing "None of These Candidates" when they enter the voting booth. With a new Mason-Dixon poll showing Nevadans very unhappy with their choices in the U.S. Senate race, the ballot line might actually help determine the victor.

Nate Silver thinks Sen. Harry Reid (D) may "be hoping to get an assist from the ballot option this year, which is unique among the 50 states. Indeed, there are those who think his entire campaign may be predicated upon it. Mr. Reid's job approval numbers, hovering around 40 percent in most polls, would ordinarily prevent a candidate from being re-elected. But his opponent Sharron Angle, whom Mr. Reid's campaign has tagged for her 'extreme and dangerous' views, might not be elected under ordinary circumstances either."

Major caveat: "None of These Candidates" cannot actually win the election. If it were to win a plurality, the election would default to the second-place candidate.

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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August 27, 2010