L.A. Times scribe comes to Reno to figure out how Obama is doing well in Nevada despite economy

The L.A. Times' Mark Z. Barabak, who may know as much about this state as any national reporter, sojourned in Reno recently and came away with some thoughts about the paradox of the depressed economy and the depressed Mitt Romney vote:

---"The economy and its lackluster performance is the overriding issue this election: Countless polls and other voter surveys have made that abundantly clear. But for many there is no straight line from disappointment on that front to a vote for Romney or, conversely, any assurance that those feeling better off are ready to support Obama."

----"Party loyalty was a big factor, a thumb on the scale for Obama as aggressive organizing efforts and a feeble GOP have given Democrats a voter-registration advantage of more than 60,000 statewide. (For perspective, there were about 1 million votes cast in the presidential race in Nevada in 2008.)"

----"For those less partisan — the independent and persuadable voters who will probably decide the election — there was less inclination to blame the president for the slow recovery and little faith that any politician, Democrat or Republican, could make a huge difference right away. So other issues came up."

Great stuff, as always, from Z. Read the full story here.

I have some thoughts on this topic, too, and will be writing on it very soon.