One month ago Nevada Rep. Shelley Berkley said she'd run for Senate if her top consultant showed her a path to victory.
Voila.
Mark Mellman has laid the pavement with numbers that show Berkley in a dead heat for the seat being vacated by Sen. John Ensign.
His internal poll of 600 likely voters between March 13-15 places Berkley ahead of Republican Rep. Dean Heller by 4 points, 42 percent to 38 percent -- a lead that falls within the poll's 4 percent margin of error. The survey was first reported by Nevada political commentator Jon Ralston.
A poll by the Democratic automated polling firm Public Policy Polling in January found considerably bleaker terrain for Berkley. In that survey, Heller bested the Democratic congresswoman, 51 percent to 38 percent.
But Mellman has considerable bragging rights for correctly tracking Sen. Harry Reid's 2010 victory when all the public polling got it wrong.
Sources close to Berkley say she still has not made up her mind to get in the race, though her statements in recent days seem to lean in that direction.
At a Democratic event in rural Nevada last week, she told the audience she was "fully prepared" to work on statewide issues "as a representative of the entire state."
http://www.politico.com/blogs/davidcatanese/0311/Mellman_poll_shows_pathway_for_Berkley.html?showall
