The Lady Gaga Factor & Harry Reid?

Lady Gaga could strangely boost the political fortunes of embattled Senate Leader Harry Reid. Her Twitter campaign to urge Harry Reid to schedule a vote to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" could energize some young and Gay voters who made up part of the 2008 base for Obama's victory in Nevada to rescue Reid from likely political doom. Reid is currently tied in polls at 48% each with Republican and Tea Party voter favorite Sharron Angle, however with such a sharp anti-incumbent mood, Reid could likely lose.

Lady Gaga could also boost some donations to Reid among some wealthy social liberals who fear an increased presence of social conservatives in Washington creating a new chilling effect over free expression and other creative areas. Last minute donations could help Reid buy new political ads.

But, Reid probably has several difficult problems to deal with. At 71 years of age, many voters just might want a younger presence in Washington, where experience doesn't really count. Further, voter fatigue and anger at Washington is harmful to many establishment political figures this year. But Lady Gaga is a very popular cult figure. However, Nevada is actually a deceptively conservative Mormon state despite legal gambling and prostitution. Even Reid himself is a LDS church member ans something of a social moderate on issues such as abortion. So can an outrageous figure like Lady Gaga really help or not?

Nevada is legendary for close elections. It's a nearly evenly divided state much of the time. But this year, Lady Gaga has the opportunity to test the power of celebrity and possibly play king-maker here. The queen of outrageous has a real test of her celebrity power here.