We have some new eye-popping poll numbers on the U.S. Senate race in Nevada. CNN and "Time" magazine are teaming up to bring you new snapshots on the big races across the nation. Every Wednesday, we will releasing these numbers.
Look at this one we're unveiling right now that which the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, neck and neck with his republican opponent Sharron Angle who has the support of the Tea Party movement. Forty-two percent of likely voters in Nevada back Angle, 41 percent of likely voters support Reid in this new CNN/"Time" Opinion research Corporation poll. We'll have more on that coming up later. We have other poll numbers coming in from Washington state and Ohio as well. But let's discuss with our senior political analyst David Gergen, who's trying to digest like all of us this stunning upset yesterday in Delaware.
David, How does this change the national environment?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Wolf, we certainly know that the rebellion is for real when a state, a liberal state like Delaware a woman comes out of -- basically, out of nowhere in the polls and is able to pull off this kind of upset. The level of anger, frustration, disgust with the status quo I think is evident now all over the country. The Tea Party is clearly for real.
Now, what this means in the near term -- and I think by the way, we aunt to be very respectful of voters who are speaking, because one thing has been very clear, is the elites don't understand the grass roots very well in this country right now. So those of us who are not down in the trenches in the way some of these voters are, I think, have to say, wait a minute, we need to respect them and listen to what they have to say.
That on the table -- I just want to say, in terms of the Republicans, there's no question the chances of taking the Senate have been diminished by the upset in Delaware.
BLITZER: I was going to say, maybe we shouldn't have been so surprised if you take a look at the way the republican establishment candidates -- I was just making a list in front of me -- Alaska, Nevada, Kentucky, Florida, South Carolina, Utah and now Delaware, maybe we shouldn't have been all that surprised.
But what is really interesting is that not just Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnell now, but women are really becoming a force in this Tea Party movement.
GERGEN: They certainly are. And as we saw with Christine O'Donnell in Delaware last night, and we're going to wind up now, the Republicans have five women who are running for the Senate, Senate nominees. This is unusually high number for them. Had they won in Alaska where the woman lost, Lisa Murkowski, had they won in Colorado, they would actually have seven.
But I think, for the Republican Party, this is healthy. It's partly the Sarah Palin affect. She has been galvanizing, she's been a model and there are people who think that Christine O'Donnell in Delaware is sort of Sarah Palin's clone.
So this is a -- we're in new times. Just as the economy, there's a new normal in the economy that's emerging, it looks like there's a new normal emerging in politics. We don't know what it's all going to mean.
I think if you look at the totality of the season, you'd have to say that the Republicans come out of the whole election season in strong shape, good shape to take the House, less good shape last night to take the Senate, overall been good. But right at the end here, we have got a new storyline that's developing about are the extremists taking over the Republican Party, that could suppress the vote and some of the enthusiasm for even being in the House. We'll have to wait and see how that plays out, Wolf, in the generic of poll numbers in the next few days.
BLITZER: I wouldn't sell that enthusiasm level short, though, by any means.
CAFFERTY: I agree.
BLITZER: All right, thanks very much.
Transcript form The Situation Room aired September 15. 2010