Category: Nevada

Will N.H. Flinch in Primary Standoff?

Posted on Comments

A glimmer of hope to avoid a December date for the New Hampshire primary:

New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner is imperiling the state’s place in the political world by threatening to hold a December primary, New Hampshire GOP Chairman Wayne MacDonald charged Thursday. . . .
MacDonald urged Gardner to hold the state’s election Jan. 10. . . .
Gardner, who has full control over the state’s primary date, released a statement Wednesday saying he was willing to drastically reshuffle the primary calendar to keep New Hampshire at least seven days ahead of the next nominating contest. He said the only way he’d consider Jan. 10 is if Nevada moves its caucus — currently scheduled for Jan. 14 — back three days. On Wednesday night, the Nevada GOP declined to make the move.
Reiterating his confidence in Gardner, MacDonald repeated his call, first reported by the New Hampshire Union Leader, to take a more lax interpretation of the state law that requires a seven day buffer before the next “similar election.”
“There is a difference between a primary and a caucus, so I don’t think Nevada should affect us,” MacDonald said. “The 10th, to me, seems to be the most sensible date.”

That might be just enough of a loophole to allow New Hampshire to save face. Let’s pray Secretary of State Gardner will listen to reason.

If he does do the primary on Jan. 10, who gets screwed? Nevada. Because I think most reporters will be like me: It doesn’t make sense to leave Manchester, N.H., on the morning of the 11th to fly to Nevada to cover their caucus on the 14th, and then get on a plane the 15th to fly to South Carolina (their primary is the 21st). Better to go directly from New Hampshire to South Carolina and let Nevada fend for itself.

So a Jan. 10 New Hampshire primary would probably deprive the Jan. 14 Nevada caucuses of a good bit of press coverage, and might just give me an excuse to come home for a few days after New Hampshire before hitting the road for South Carolina.

REPUBLICAN ARMAGEDDON LOOMS: New Hampshire Threatens December Primary Unless Nevada Moves Caucus

Posted on Comments

A big tip of the fedora to Bob Belevedere of Camp of the Saints for this alert: In a message sent by New Hampshire’s Secretary of State (see PDF here), he says that unless Nevada changes its caucus date from Jan. 14 to Jan. 17 or later, “I cannot rule out the possibility of a December primary.”

This frightening news — meaning we may be less than two months away from the New Hampshire primary — comes on the heels of my acquiring media credentials for Tuesday’s debate in Las Vegas.

Please, I beg you: Hit the freaking tip jar!

UPDATE: Molly Ball at The Atlantic:

CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire’s primary could be held as early as Dec. 6, 2011, Secretary of State William Gardner warned today.
In a statement issued Wednesday afternoon, Garnder, who sets the date, said that if Nevada sticks with its current plan to hold a caucus on Jan. 14, “I cannot rule out the possibility of a December primary.”
Gardner wants Nevada to accept a date of Jan. 17 or later in order to keep the 2012 primaries from spilling into 2011. But if it does not, he said, “The dates of Tuesday, December 13th, and Tuesday, December 6th are realistic options, and we have logistics in place to make either date happen if needed.”
The primary calendar has been in chaos since a Florida panel decided to hold that state’s primary on Jan. 31, scratching the parties’ plans to delay the beginning of the nominating process until February.
South Carolina has scheduled its primary for Jan. 21, prompting Nevada’s Republican Party to claim Jan. 14, a Saturday, for its caucus. Iowa Republicans have signaled they are looking at Jan. 3 for their caucus. . . .

Blame it all on those vicious RINO-hugging bastards in Florida: Catastrophic results, possibly leaving me with mere weeks to hustle up enough cash to be able to book travel for coverage of the 2012 campaign. A desperate crisis for the nation, and for my professional career.

Once more, I beg you: Hit the freaking tip jar!

UPDATE II: Memeorandum thread for the story by Cameron Joseph of The Hill., whose article omits the key phrase “vicious RINO-hugging bastards in Florida.” That’s why you need me. Hit the freaking tip jar!

UPDATE III: Just to remind you: Florida is to blame for all of this, as I have been warning since Sept. 28. The corrupt jackals who run the Florida GOP did this evil thing for their own selfish reasons, in contravention of RNC rules to which they had agreed. Their disastrous decision to move the Florida primary from March to Jan. 31 was undertaken with the approval of — and quite possibly under orders from — Florida GOP Chairman Lenny Curry, reputed to be a close ally of the Crist-like RINO Senate candidate George LeMieux.

Furthermore, the top Republicans in the Florida state legislature were all in on it. And cui bono?

After a rally Tuesday in the Villages, Romney seemed intent Wednesday on making significant strides with those who can help drive his campaign in Florida, huddling behind closed doors at the state Capitol with Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi and a roster of lobbyists who also are Republican fund-raisers. . . .
Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Melbourne, was among those stopping by Bondi’s office to meet the candidate, soon after Romney’s Florida finance chairman, Jacksonville businessman John Rood, exited.

This crooked scam was orchestrated by GOP insiders in Tallahassee for the benefit of their BFF, Mitt Romney.


PREVIOUSLY:

Vegas, Baby: Republican Armies March Toward Political Battle of the Century

Posted on Comments

From: NVDebate ([email protected])
To: [email protected];
Date: Wed, October 12, 2011 2:53:06 PM

Subject: RE: CREDENTIALS REQUEST – NEVADA DEBATE

Hi Robert,
You have been issued credentials. Please note:
The credential will grant journalists access to the press filing center and media spin room, which will be located in Hall G of the Sands Expo and Convention Center.
###
Jennifer A. Scoggins
CNN Washington

My flight is already booked, departing Monday from Dulles International via LAX to Vegas. After last night’s debate in New Hampshire, this CNN debate in Las Vegas is sure to be a pivotal event in the 2012 presidential campaign. Via Memeorandum, a few headlines:

After another bad debate, is Rick Perry finished?
— Byron York, Washington Examiner

Mitt Romney builds case for inevitability
— Jonathan Martin, Politico

Cain leads nationally
— Tom Jensen, Public Policy Polling

Ashton Kutcher’s Alleged Mistress
Reveals Details of One-Night Stand
— Tim Nudd, People magazine

Maybe that last headline isn’t quite so obviously relevant, from a strictly political perspective. But you see the basic point: The fate of a nation hangs in the balance as this critical Las Vegas debate looms ahead.

This is the crucial moment — indeed, possibly a turning point in American history — and we’ll be reporting live from the scene, war correspondents at the GOP’s Political Armageddon. Continue reading Vegas, Baby: Republican Armies March Toward Political Battle of the Century →

8,000,000: Fear and Loathing on Vegas Debate Media Credential Deadline Day

Posted on Comments

Later today we will record our 8 millionth visitor to the blog. We got our first 3.3 million at the old Blogspot site (March 2008-December 2009) and, since switching to the custom domain with WordPress software in January 2010, have added another 4.7 million visits.

We recently recorded our best month to date with 339,343 visits in July so — assuming we can keep this up, and the Blog Gods of the Cargo Cult do not become offended again — it’s possible to estimate that we could reach the cumulative total of 10 million visits sometime in April or May.

This evidence of reader loyalty comes at a most convenient time, considering that today is the deadline to submit media credential requests for next Tuesday’s CNN/Western Republican Leadership Conference presidential debate in Las Vegas.

Submitting such requests is a hassle, as I’ve always loathed filling out applications. However, I’m sure my request will be approved, as I had no problem getting credentials from CNN for the Sept. 12 Tampa debate. But whereas I was credentialed as a correspondent for The American Spectator, I’m a bit nervous about how the public-relations office at CNN will respond when Smitty and Wombat apply for credentials to cover the Vegas debate for TheOtherMcCain.com.

The request form asks for a “title” and the name of a “supervisor.” We haven’t exactly been formal in the matter of titles, and I do damned little that could be called “supervising.” Continue reading 8,000,000: Fear and Loathing on Vegas Debate Media Credential Deadline Day →

Comity Of Errors

Posted on Comments

by Smitty

Trying to restore Senate comity

Democrats have one overriding objective this Congress: to create jobs and get our economy back on track. But our Republican colleagues are so dead set on preventing Democrats from passing job-creating legislation that they have been willing to abuse the rules of the Senate to grind the chamber to a halt, making it virtually impossible to pass even bills that have broad, bipartisan support.

If that held true, Senator Reid, you’d just resign. You and your party are the choke point that precludes what the country really needs, an impeachment.

May God have mercy on your soul, Harry. As for your political career, no one can top Dennis Miller’s judgement pronounced 4+ years ago:
Senator Reid, there may be some finely-parsed way in which you are not a liar. But the truth is that no one believes you. You have no credibility. Let us try to find mercy in our hearts for the Nevada voters who afflicted you upon us for another 6 years of whiskey-tango-foxtrottery.

Update: Don Surber goes for green titles!

Looking Up From Here, It’s Barely Possible to See the Bottom of ‘Down’

Posted on Comments

BREAKING: South Carolina
to hold primary on January 21

A friend sent me that on Twitter and then, via Memeorandum, I saw this:

Nevada Republicans decided Saturday to move up the GOP presidential caucuses to January to preserve the state’s early voting spot, although it will cost the Silver State half its delegates at the national convention.
The GOP executive board voted to go ahead with plans to hold its caucuses on the Saturday following New Hampshire, once that state decides a new date. It will be after the traditional first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses.

This just confirms what I wrote Friday at The American Spectator:

A Jan. 31 date for Florida’s primary would result in four other events on the presidential campaign calendar — the Iowa caucuses, the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, and the Nevada caucuses — also leap-frogging to January dates.

But nobody bothered to read what I wrote on Friday, and nothing I write about it now could possibly make any difference.

Because I don’t know nothing about no Florida primary.

PREVIOUSLY:

NV-2 New Ad: ‘We Were Promised Recovery, We’ve Been Given Misery’

Posted on Comments

The special election in Nevada’s 2nd District is Tuesday, and in his final TV ad, Republican Mark Amodei targets the SCOAMF’s economic bungling:

Amodei, a former state senator and Nevada GOP chairman, has sought to link Marshall to President Barack Obama.
“We were promised recovery. We’ve been given misery,” Amodei says in his ad, as pictures of Obama, Vice President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid fill the screen. “Let’s get Washington’s attention.”

NV-2 — which covers basically the entire state, minus the Las Vegas area — is a reliably Republican district and this special election is to fill the seat vacated by GOP Rep. Dean Heller, who was appointed to replace John Ensign in the Senate. Early voting has been under way for two weeks, and Republicans are encouraged. But unions are dumping money into Democrat state treasurer Kate Marshall’s campaign:

Heading into the final stretch of the race, Marshall, the current state treasurer, has out-raised Amodei and also had more cash left in her war chest as of Aug. 24, the last date covered by the pre-election campaign finance reports filed on Thursday.
But outside groups have also dumped more than $800,000 into the race, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics. The National Republican Congressional Committee alone has spent about $600,000 and the conservative super PAC American Crossroads has spent about $195,000.
Polls indicate the race is tight. One recent poll from Daily Kos/Public Policy Polling, Amodei, a former state senator, earned 43 percent of the vote to Marshall’s 42 percent.

One of the outside groups helping offset the Democrat’s money advantage in NV-2 is the Conservative Action Fund, which is also supporting Bob Turner in Tuesday’s NY-9 special election. This is a time when your contributions — $25, $50, $100 — can make a big difference.

MARK AMODEI for U.S. CONGRESS
Make Sure Harry Reid’s Congressman Is a Republican

Herman Cain: Viva Las Vegas!

Posted on Comments

Mike Chamberlain at Cranky Hermit has a report of Herman Cain’s appearance at Chuck Muth’s “First Friday” event in Vegas:

The day after an impressive performance in a Republican Presidential debate, Herman Cain left little doubt about his future intentions. He told the assembled local bloggers and print journalists at a briefing in Las Vegas, “Hold the date of May 21st . . . in Atlanta, Atlanta’s Centennial Park. Hold the date. Now do you think I’m going to be holding the date and having a rally at Centennial Park on May 21st to tell you that I am not running? You make the call. Last night exceeded our expectations.” . . .
Cain, who described himself as “proud to be an American, black conservative,” dismissed race as an issue. “Color is off the table whether I run or not,” he said, adding, “Did Barack Obama open the door for me because I’m black? No. The door was already open. He just happened to get through it first.” . . .
Later that evening one of the largest crowds ever attended the First Friday event, primarily to see featured speaker Cain. Many came to see him despite not knowing who he was a mere 24 hours earlier. After delivering his speech he was deluged with requests for photographs and autographs by an adoring crowd.

Read the whole thing. Among other things, Cain pointed out that Nevada is the first western state to hold a 2012 primary — and he loves Las Vegas.

Isn’t it time you joined the online grassroots army at Citizens for Cain?