Las Vegas Review-Journal continues to deal from the bottom of the deck in Reid coverage

The Las Vegas Review-Journal's campaign to elect someone -- anyone -- other than Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is not working. The LVRJ's own poll shows that Reid is now virtually even with his Republican opponents after previously trailing Republican Sue Lowden by 10 points.

Such hard data demands some serious spinning from the LVRJ. Watch how they bury the lead in Friday's article on the poll results:

Republican Sue Lowden has the best chance of defeating U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, according to a new poll for the Review-Journal that also suggests the Democratic incumbent could beat Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle in the fall, although he remains as unpopular as ever.

For the first time, a Mason-Dixon Polling & Research poll indicates that Reid could win re-election, even over Lowden, the one-time GOP front-runner whom the Democrat most fears and has most attacked. She is seen as moderate and a stronger general election foe than Angle, a staunch conservative now tied for the GOP primary lead.

Considering the LVRJ's war against Reid and its support of his opponents, the poll's findings that “for the first time,” Reid “could win re-election” is the real news here.

An April poll showed that Reid trailed Lowden by 10 points, 47-37. By contrast, the May poll shows that Reid now only trails Lowden by 3 points, 42-39. (He also leads Sharron Angle 42-39 and trails Danny Tarkanian 42-41).

Such news is not sitting well with the editor of the LVRJ, who -- like his publisher -- is determined to defeat Reid. Thomas Mitchell titled a Friday blog, “Ideology v. pragmatism: It comes down to who can beat Harry.” Hey, at least he's honest.

Mitchell says “Republican primary voters” (who Mitchell seems to equate with “Tea Party voters”) must decide whether “stand on principles” (vote for Angle) or “compromise for the sake of victory” (vote for Lowden). But the message is clear -- Harry Reid must be defeated.