You say Ne-vah-dah …

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's poll numbers are in the tank, which imperils not only his political career, but the ultra-progressive agenda the Democratic Party is trying to ram down Americans' throats.

Sensing that Sen. Reid could use a helping hand, the National Education Association has been airing one-minute radio ads locally, urging voters to support their senior senator and his party's budget-busting, government-growing health care reforms.

Such intervention is to be expected -- Sen. Reid needs the support of the government class to keep his job when he seeks re-election next year.

"Nevadans have a leader in Washington standing up for our working families," the radio spot begins. "Senator Harry Reid is rising above the partisan political noise in Washington, working with Democrats and Republicans toward a bipartisan solution to America's health care crisis."

Which is completely accurate -- if the NEA considers name-calling, intimidation and attempts to limit transparency and debate "rising above the partisan political noise" and "working with Democrats and Republicans."

Setting aside the fact that the NEA's entire self-serving premise has more spin than an industrial clothes washer, what really makes the spots stand out is the way the narrator -- a genuine Nevada teacher, we're assured -- says "Nevada." Or, more accurately, Ne-vah-dah.

Yes, the entire spot butchers -- over and over -- the pronunciation of the name "Nevada." One call to a Nevada teacher union affiliate before the release of the ads could have avoided the embarrassment. Instead, the national office bought airtime for spots that made Nuh-vaa-dans -- even fairly recent transplants -- roll their eyes.

Just the kind of help needed by Sen. Reid as he struggles to insist he hasn't "gone Washington," that he's still a son of the West.

Upon being informed of its mistake earlier this week, the union immediately sent out a revised spot correcting the pronunciation.

Maybe now the NEA can concentrate on getting its facts straight, too.