It's no wonder the RJ hasn't been reporting on Sharron Angle's latest insanity this week. The paper was too busy trying to figure out how its darling candidate has fallen so far from grace so quickly.

As to the straight-up Harry Reid vs. Sharron Angle poll -- it does fall exactly in line with two publicly-released polls this week -- one by Republican-leaning Rasmussen and one by Democratic-leaning Patriot Majority.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/reid-takes-lead-on-angle-98587704.html

The story, by Laura Myers, seems to suggest the Reid campaign's assault on Angle are reason for the 20-point increase in Angle's unfavorability rating.

That's certainly a valid point. The Reid campaign has been a ruthless tactician, aided and abetted by hard-hitting allies.

But Angle's lost some of that ground because she is who she is. The "attacks" on Angle aren't really that, they're just showing people video of Angle talking about jobs, Social Security and Medicare.

That, in and of itself, is scary.

Perhaps that's why Angle ducked a schedule mainstream television program interview yesterday. She can't not be herself. And being herself is proving distasteful for voters.

Myers does give us all of the main demographic info from the poll -- used in her story to paint a picture of the Angle campaign hemorrhaging support in key constituencies -- men and Washoe County.

But in  the story Myers suggests the issue of Social Security doesn't play into Reid's hands.

And this is where the cart is leading the horse.

This is the actual wording of the RJ's poll.

http://media.lvrj.com/images/4648584-6-4.jpg

But, contrary to what Myers reports today, the RJ didn't ask voters about Angle's plan.

Angle doesn't propose allowing young workers out of the system. She has said she wants to phase out the entire program. New workers wouldn't have it. And if young workers opt out, there's no way benefits could remain untouched for current seniors receiving Social Security.

It's a classic case of leading voters to support Angle's position on Social Security by explaining her position as less severe.

So we don't believe for a moment that the state is split 41-to-41 for or against privatizing Social Security. But we sure understand how 18 percent couldn't answer the pollster.

While we're still on the Myers' story, we wish she would ID the political science professors she interviews by philosophy. Eric Herzik is Republican.

**

Steve Tetreault has an update today on the unseemly actions of John Ensign.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/ensign-pays-staff-legal-bills-in-ethics-probe-98587724.html

Problem is Tetreault doesn't disclose in the piece that his paper has sued Melanie Sloan's Citizens for Ethics in Washington.

We knew those Righthaven LLC lawsuits on behalf of the RJ would get the paper into trouble. It just seems the paper doesn't want to be honest with the public about who it sues.

We're glad Sloan got a chance to comment on Ensign paying the legal fees of his staffers. And we hope Sloan and the other 50-plus organizations, individuals and businesses who've been sued by the paper, fight the RJ like mad.

Now about disclosure -- it's necessary in the Ensign story. And since it's missing, the piece is skewed.

**

There's been a fairly consistent 5-to-1 letters to the editor lately. One pro-Reid to every five against.

But we will say that today's lead letter is well-written enough to get past the RJ's censors. But you can see how the editorial page editors dumb down the good argument by sticking on the incendiary headline that Jesus is a Democrat.

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/angle-can-t-be-a-christian---jesus-is-a-democrat-98587669.html

This is also a funny example of the RJ's edit page allowing a letter to be printed about a topic the paper hasn't covered -- Angle's crazy comments on the Christian Broadcasting Network -- comments which alternately suggest that God told Angle to run against Reid and that Angle is just like God.

The most read letter over at the Las Vegas Sun is a nice re-write of President Obama's "moving forward" speeches.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jul/15/dont-be-fooled-again-republicans/

The difference in tenor between the two pages is palpable.

Have a nice weekend.