QUICK HITS: What Goes Around, Comes Around, Even For Chuck Muth!

And now for tonight’s “Foot In Mouth” award: 

So, on December 21^st Chuck Muth, upset that I would have the nerve to file a complaint against him, decided to do what he does best.  Attack!  Among other things he hammered me for an errant link I posted.  What did he have to say? 

“I also found it funny that in trying to link to his opponent, incumbent Commission Chuck Roberts, Bob instead linked to the Wikipedia page of the former CNN news anchor of the same name. Real attention to detail there, huh? Surprised he also didn’t claim Chuck was married to Cokie Roberts!” 

I was nice enough to thank Chuck for pointing out my error. 

Tonight Chuck Muth managed to brighten my evening.  Through one of his many websites/news letters “Silver State Confidential” Chuck issued the following statement” 

CAUCUS BOO-BOO

My bad.  I provided a bad link to pre-register for the Clark County GOP prez caucus on Saturday in tonight’s Silver State Confidential.  The correct link (I hope!) is…

http://www.ccrp2012caucus.org 

It’s good to know I’m not the only one capable of making a simple error.  I guess what goes around – comes around – even for Mr. Perfect! 

Thanks for the laugh Chuck!

The Community Known as Nevada

Of late I haven’t been posting here much.  I expect that will be the case for a while.  When you decide to run for office, even a local county position, it takes up a great amount of time.  But today I felt the need to write. 

When you come from the “big city” you will see your share of tragedy.   You will see your share of major events.  But it is funny.  People seem to move on very fast.  Whether it be a fire or an earthquake or even a major storm most move on quickly.  People may have their moment where they sit and watch the television but then life goes on.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not attacking those people.  It is just how it is when you live in a huge metropolis.  That’s part of why we moved to Nevada.

For those who are unaware Reno, Carson City and Tahoe form a triangle of cities.  Each about 30 miles from the other with lots of open land in between.  I live in Dayton about 8 miles east of Carson City.  Yesterday Reno, a city I travel through daily on my way to work, experienced yet another in a long list of tragedies.  Just after noon a wild wind storm, it is believed, took down a power line in the Washoe Valley between Reno and Carson City.  The downed line sparked a fire.  The windswept fire was rapidly pushed north by 80+ MPH winds.  Now we are 24 hours later.  A major highway is closed, the fire still burns, several dozen homes and businesses were destroyed and at least one death may be attributed to the fire.

This fire comes on the heels of the Caughlin fire just about a month ago.  That fire burned thousands of acres as well and destroyed many homes.  But this community has also dealt with the IHop massacre in Carson City and the Reno Air Race crash all within the last six months.  It seems like tragic event after tragic event has attacked this area in recent times.  But it is not the tragedies that amaze me.  Oh no!  It’s the resilience and the feeling of community that these events bring out.

I remember back in November when a popular local sports reporter, JK Metzger, was killed by a drunk driver after a UNR football game.  Every station reported on it and every team of reporters from every station shed at least some on air tears over the loss of their friend.  It wasn’t about my station versus your station.  It was about a friend and colleague dying far too early. 

I arrived home about three hours after the fire began yesterday.  Of course the fire was still raging and it was 0% contained.  Every news station had wall to wall coverage.  That is not unusual.  As we saw video of house after house burning it was a sad moment.  But along the bottom of the screen was a constant stream.  It listed major hotel after hotel offering rooms for almost free to those 10,000 evacuated people.  Then came the names of ranch after ranch offering a temporary home to horses and other large animals.  Friends taking in friends.  Neighbor helping neighbor.  I even came close to having a couple horses bedding down in my back yard because of my wife’s love of animals.  That would have been interesting.

No one asked what a person was worth.  There was no talk of Democrat or Republican.  It simply came down to you need help and we are there for you.  I realize that these types of efforts probably take place in San Francisco or New York or Chicago.  But in those places the efforts get buried more in people’s day to day lives.  So the greatest benefit, if that is the right word, that can come from an event like these, a sense of community is lost. 

In Nevada these events seem to bring us closer.  We do have the feeling that we are a community and that we support one another – NO MATTER WHAT.  What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine and we will make it through together.  I salute the people of Northern Nevada if for no other reason than because of who you are and what you do.

No I don’t like going through these events – even on the outside.  But I can tell you there is no better place to go through them than here.  God Bless Nevada!!!

QUICK HITS: Tarkanian vs. Amodei in NV02 and NV04 Endorsements

Earlier this week Danny Tarkanian spoke to Nevada News Bureau editor, Elizabeth Crum.  At the time he stated he was taking the Thanksgiving Holiday before making his final decision regarding a possible run in the newly formed NV04 Congressional District.  Since then a couple more State Republicans have thrown their endorsements behind Barbara Cegavske.  I contacted Danny to see if he was concerned regarding the Cegavske endorsements and would he consider moving his decision date up?

When I spoke with Tarkanian about the endorsements falling into Cegavske’s lap he stated he was not at all concerned.  He understood that the endorsements are coming to Cegavske, a good friend of the Tarkanian’s, before any other candidates had officially declared including him.  He also stated that he is enjoying his vacation with family and has no intention to speed up his decision.

Danny said over the long months of a campaign many strange and unexpected things can happen.  As an example he mentioned a conversation he had with the wife of Congressman Joe Heck.  While attending the Southern Hills Republican Women luncheon last week Danny spoke with Lisa Heck.  This was just a couple days before Congressman Heck threw his endorsement behind Cegavske.  According to Tarkanian, Lisa Heck suggested TWICE during the conversation that Tarkanian skip a run in NV04 and instead should run against Congressman Mark Amodei in NV02. 

So I guess now we can sit back and wait for Thanksgiving to pass to see what Danny Tarkanian’s final decision will be.

Happy Holidays!

Chuck Muth: Talking from Both Sides of His Mouth, Again!

Many people don’t know the story of how I became a blogger.  Back in 2010 during the Nevada Senate Primary for the GOP I started my blog at the suggestion of political activist Chuck Muth.  I guess for that I should always be thankful.  But back then my blog wasn’t called “Battle Born Politics”.  Nay, Nay! It was actually called “Muth’s Untruths”. 

You see there was quite the battle between my choice, Danny Tarkanian and Chuck’s choice, Sue Lowden for the GOP nod.  Now Chuck was particularly tough on Danny up to and including the creation of a website called “Tark Tales”.  Personally, I have no issue if someone goes after a candidate with facts.  But that wasn’t exactly what Chuck did.  I’m not sure if it was intentional or a serious case of “shiny object syndrome” but Chuck ALWAYS seemed to leave a lot of facts out of the discussion.  I found it a bit frustrating.

So I responded.  Many times.  With actual facts.  This really seemed to get Chuck upset.  Don’t challenge Muth with the facts.  That screws everything up.  It upset Chuck so much that he started refusing to allow my comments to be posted (have you heard that before?).   Eventually, Chuck became so upset he rambled on in a post about ‘taking ones shoes off in another’s home and throwing them on the floor’.  He said if I wanted to share my opinion and push my candidate I should start my own blog.  So I did.  And Muth’s Untruths was born.  Since then it has morphed into Battle Born Politics.

I always wondered about Chuck’s “passionate support” of Lowden.  There were a lot of rumors that he was on Lowden’s payroll.  That was a charge that Muth denied at every turn.  That may have been true.  But reliable sources also told me that while Muth was not on the payroll his political consulting business was.  Ah, it’s all in how you phrase the answer.

Well Chuck appears to be back at it.  One mouth, two sides.  In a Tweet on Tuesday Chuck attacked Justin McAffee, Editor –in-chief of the Nevada View.  Now I’m not here to defend Mr. McAffee at all but Chuck’s issues centered on openness and disclosure.  To Mr. Muth I would like to say – “Pot, meet kettle”.  It seems for all the talk of Mr. McAffee failing to disclose items Mr. Muth himself has also been caught in that trap.

But instead of sharing the details myself, I now present a link to the blog site “First Principles” by Orrin Johnson and I will let Orrin fill you in.

Enjoy! (LINK: http://bit.ly/scVLgH )

Are We Seeing the Death of Local Media?

Quietly over this past weekend news trickled out that local (Reno) conservative talk show host, Bill Manders, was let go.  It’s been difficult to find any real information on the dismissal. Manders did say he was not surprised.  But the silence makes it seem as if his former station believes no one will notice.  Bill Manders has been a fixture in the afternoon slot at KKOH in Reno for several years.  They have, at least for now, put KKOH Program Director Dan Mason, in Manders old slot.  But no one is sure if that is the permanent solution or just a temporary place holder.  The first rumors that came out stated that the change was due to cost cutting measures by parent company, Cumulus Media.  It was also believed that Manders eventually would be replaced by yet another nationally syndicated talk show.

KKOH is the number one station in Northern Nevada.  According to the spring 2011 Arbitron ratings KKOH held a 9.8 share.  That is far superior to number two station, Wild 102.9, with a rating of 8.1.  Wild 102.9 is also a Cumulus station.  The closest News/Talk station in the Reno ratings is KKFT with paltry 3.3 rating.  For the number one station in Northern Nevada, Bill Manders was clearly its best known personality. But apparently money talks and Manders walks. 

The KKOH changes come on the heels of other changes by local media outlets.  Several weeks back the Nevada Appeal, Carson City’s only semi-major newspaper, had decided to charge for their online content.  The Nevada Appeal has a circulation of about 15,500 on a daily basis.  I’ll be the first to admit the Nevada Appeal is not what I would call a “stellar news organization” but they were the only newspaper which came from Nevada’s Capital.  Like the Manders release I suspect this is all about money.  Also, this type of change is not new.  Many newspapers have started this process.  Unfortunately for the Nevada Appeal I also suspect this will be the beginning of the end.  Unless significant improvements are made to the content and quality of information I’m guessing the new fees will make people like me run away. I give the newspaper 18 months. 

Whether it be the adding cost to online newspapers or local radio moving to more “nationally syndicated” programming the result is the same.  The loss of our ability to understand what is going on in our own backyard.  The powers that be are making it harder and harder to stay involved and informed at the local level.  It is bad enough if you live in Reno Nevada or Auburn California but it becomes far worse for those living in places like Hawthorne or my home town of Dayton, Nevada.  I understand these are business decisions being made.  In their shoes I would likely make the same choices.  But that only explains the problem.  It does not solve it. 

Of course that lack of information harms our community as a whole with the daily issues.  But the true effect is in the political arena.  How does one stay informed about the issues and people affecting their lives on a daily basis?  When a politician is up for election or re-election what do we base our decision on?  This creates a huge domino effect.  One has to understand that in a state like Nevada our National leaders, in large part, come from our state leaders.  The state leaders come from the local leaders and without good information locally – good leaders are hard to find.

To me this is just a continuation to the “dumbing down of America”.  We are now in a situation where the uninformed choose from a list of unknowns.  We live and die by the sound bite.  Learn about your future Congressmen in 60 words or less.  I’m not so sure that is what our forefathers envisioned. 

Now I don’t have the answers.  The fact is that as long as technology improves and things like the internet grow this trend will likely continue.  There once was a time that news travelled by the Pony Express.  Even during World War II our news came by way of Moviefone Newsreels and we saw them when we went to our local movie house to catch the latest flick.  Now we can turn on FOX News or CNN and literally charge up the hill with the troops as they advance into Baghdad. 

Don’t get me wrong, technology is a wonderful thing.  I just wonder about the down side when I, living in Northern Nevada, know more about Marco Rubio then I do about my neighbor who lives across the street?  Is it more important that I can see LIVE STREAM of the extradition of the Occupy Portland group but it takes me weeks to know what happened at my local county Commissioner’s meeting?

As I said I don’t have the answers.  I guess we will each have to decide individually if it is our “mission” to stay connected locally.  But any way you slice it is just seems like more of America’s innocence that is being stripped away.  No more small town, it’s all about the big city.  There is an old saying “don’t lose the forest for the trees”.  But I fear that soon there will be no more trees, only forest.

Nicely Played Mr. Gardner But We Know What You Did

Courtest of Politico

bul·ly-NOUN: A person who is habitually cruel or overbearing, especially to smaller or weaker people. 

Nicely played Mr. Gardner but we know what you did.

Bill Gardner, Secretary of State for New Hampshire, played it well.  He managed to engage in a game of chicken and win.  Gardner seemed to know what he was doing.  For him the best part was he was playing with the houses money.  He wasn’t going to lose no matter what.  He had the law on his side, even if it were only New Hampshire law.  He also had (I’m tearing up) tradition on his side.  That tradition dated back to the 1920s.  Like Bobby Fischer he played the perfect chess match.  First he allowed the”other state” to set their date less than seven days after New Hampshire.  He then quoted New Hampshire law:

653:9 Presidential Primary Election. The presidential primary election shall be held on the second Tuesday in March or on a date selected by the secretary of state which is 7 days or more immediately preceding the date on which any “other state” shall hold a similar election, whichever is earlier, of each year when a president of the United States is to be elected or the year previous. Said primary shall be held in connection with the regular March town meeting or election or, if held on any other day, at a special election called by the secretary of state for that purpose.

Then Mr. Gardner, along with his friends, started leaning on the candidates.  Pressuring them to step away and boycott the “other states” function.  One by one the candidates did.  Eventually, seven of nine candidates walked away from the “other state”.  With virtually no one participating in the “other states” function Mr. Gardner coyly declared that the events were not the same.  He then took his original date and proceeded.  In the process he made that “other state” virtually inconsequential.  Nicely played Mr. Gardner.

I would like to say this was the events we all have heard about and discussed over the last week.  But it is not.  In fact, this event happened fifteen years ago in 1996.  The “other state” was NOT Nevada but Delaware.  That is right.  This is a familiar power play by Mr. Gardner.  The only difference was the contest that Delaware was to hold was also a primary.  Mr. Gardner was able to justify that a primary in New Hampshire and a primary in Delaware were not “similar elections”.  Yet in 2011 Mr. Gardner now claims that a New Hampshire Primary is the same as a Nevada Caucus. That is some serious tap dancing.  Nicely played Mr. Gardner.

I suspect that was his goal in Nevada all along.  Declare the contest to not be “similar elections”.  But that wasn’t good enough.  So he began making threats about December.  He was even bold enough to push the envelope.  He didn’t talk about an end of December primary.  He instead invoked December 13 or (gasp!) December 6.  But reality is, I believe, the date in his mind has always been January 10^th.  His only job was to destroy Nevada and get them out of his way in the process.  New Hampshire would take the main stage and NO ONE would get in their way.

You see, as soon as the battle started if you recall, candidates were being put in the middle and having to make a choice.  Side with Nevada and go against an “American Tradition” or side with New Hampshire.  One by one they fell. Huntsman, Santorum, Bachman….  Then came the capper.  Herman Cain suggested he too would boycott Nevada.  One of the top three was out.  Gardner knew the likelihood of Perry bailing was slim because of his relationship with Governor Sandoval.  But they did, according to accounts, begin to put heavy pressure on Mitt Romney.  If they could get to Romney they would remove two of the top three candidates and make Nevada irrelevant.  Then, like with Delaware, Mr. Gardner would say Nevada was not a “similar election” and move into that January 10^th date. Nicely played Mr. Gardner.

One would have to ask why?  I believe it is simply ego.  Mr. Gardner was appointed Secretary of State some 35 years ago.  Some see him as a god.  I believe he sees himself as quite powerful.  He has power and he knows how to prove it. Nicely played Mr. Gardner.

Some would say that Governor Sandoval and the Nevada Executive Board are folding.  They talked tough early but seemed to lose their steam.  I would suggest that is right for some.  I believe some decided to step aside because it was easier.  Others wanted to fight on because to them this was about right and wrong.  Those that decided to step aside lost their fire, if they ever really had it.  We can blame Governor Sandoval and the Executive Board, and they do deserve some blame, but personally I feel there is a bigger problem here.

I believe that the biggest issues are those that were brought on by the complete lack of control by the Republican National Committee.  You see they set the rules, they worked with the states and they came up with the plan.  The plan was that New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada would be the first four states.  They put in some rules about breaking the rules but when Florida decided to thumb their nose at the rest of the nation – the RNC was powerless to act.  This set the stage for a whirlwind of activity I’ll call “Caucusgate”. 

I believe that the RNC knew it was their failures and short-sidedness that brought this on.  They did not believe any state would go against them so quickly.  So they waited.  The RNC hoped that it would all go away quickly and quietly.  And they remained silent.  Then came along Mr. Gardner.  He refused to set a date assuming that everyone would do as he desired for he was “King Gardner ruler of the Primary”.  He demanded that Nevada set a date instead. And they did.  But to Mr. Gardner it was an unacceptable date.  But Mr. Gardner was too quick for the RNC.  By the time the RNC could even think to react New Hampshire had pulled many of the candidates to their side.  What could the RNC do?  They could not back Nevada and seem to ignore tradition.  But they could also not back New Hampshire while knowing full well that Nevada was in the right.  They also could not call out the candidates and appear they were telling them they were wrong for their boycotts.  So more RNC silence.

Until this week at the Western Republican Leadership Conference.  All the big players would be there.  All except Mr. Gardner.  This gave the RNC ample opportunity to schmooze, coheres and trample the Nevada GOP.  The RNC knew they had nothing on Gardner.  He would, like in 1996, never budge.  The only hope for the RNC was to force Nevada to step aside.  And the one thing the RNC did right in this whole mess was to never tilt their hand publicly as to who they backed.  If Nevada decided to stand too firm the RNC would be able to come out publicly and talk about how inflexible Nevada was.  Then any hope of significance in this race for Nevada would be gone.

So here we are.  It looks like there will be a date change for the Nevada caucus.  But be careful where you lay the blame.  Sometimes those that get the most blame are the ones who tried the hardest to do the right thing.  And sometimes those who win are not the ones who deserve to win, but instead the ones who play the game well and do so with the houses money because they have the least to lose.

Again I say, well played Mr. Gardner.

New Hampshire SOS Gardner Shovels the Manure

LETTER:

 To: New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner

Re: Caucus Dates and State Laws

Mr. Gardner –

Please see the attached link I have provided (http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/Index.cfm).  This link will take you to the website for the Nevada Revised Statutes.  This we believe will help you in the future as it is now a requirement that New Hampshire follows Nevada state law.  We appreciate the fact you brought this to our attention.  Until now we were unaware that one state could unilaterally impose their laws on another state.  We must have missed that in the Constitution.  We would like to caution you that in any area where current New Hampshire law and Nevada law conflict we must insist that Nevada laws prevail.

Yours truly,

The people of the great state of Nevada

~~~~~

Ridiculous, I know

First, I must point out.  Unlike Mr. Gardner who is at present trying to blame Nevada for everything and throw us under the bus I don’t hold he and New Hampshire completely responsible.  In fact a large part of the problems were caused by the selfish actions of Florida.

When the 2012 caucus rules were set by the RNC and agreed upon by the states there were a couple things that were made crystal clear:

1) Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina were the only states who could hold their primaries/caucuses before March 6.  This gave those four states priority status and more influence during primary season.  But they could not move into January without penalty. 

2) Anyone choosing to ignore the RNC agreed upon rules would be penalized by loss of half their delegates as well as other sanctions at the National Convention.

That is when Florida stepped in.  Florida, despite the noted sanctions chose to move their primary to January 31.  This of course caused a domino effect.  Florida already had secured the National Convention and this was just one more way to flaunt their power.  

This decision caused the other four states to react.  Almost immediately all four states declared they too would move their dates to protect their “first four” status.  But again this would then have them incur penalties.  The clearest statement came from Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn when he stated that the four states will “move together if necessary to ensure the integrity of order” as set by the RNC. 

So to this point it was clear the issues were created by Florida’s decision and the blame was squarely on their shoulders.  But then things got really interesting.  The four states now needing to change their dates had lots of work to do.  Simply, they needed to move to a date before Florida but all wanted to also avoid moving back too far.  

The first state to react was South Carolina which chose to set their caucus date on January 21 of 2012.  This is where the debate between New Hampshire and Nevada heated up.  Nevada had initially set a rule that their caucus would follow New Hampshire by four days.  So the stand-off began.  Nevada did not want to set their date in hopes they could follow New Hampshire and New Hampshire would not set their date as they were required by their state law to be at least 7 days prior to any similar contest.  What isn’t clear is why it took to this point for New Hampshire to make their law known.  It didn’t seem to be an issue prior to the Florida change.  

On October 3, New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner appeared on Face to Face with Jon Ralston.  Gardner made it VERY CLEAR that he would not set a date until Nevada had chosen (you can get to the Oct. 3 F2F video through this link http://bit.ly/nJ8hJj).  It was a political game of chicken.  Because Gardner refused to set a date there was nothing that Nevada could do other than move forward.  Chairman Tarkanian of the Nevada GOP called the Executive Board together on October 5^th to discuss the options.   At that time it was determined that Nevada would hold their caucus one week before South Carolina on January 14, 2012.  This would allow a few things to happen: 

1) Nevada’s caucus would be prior to South Carolina allowing us to remain in the third overall spot.

2) Nevada would not be required to share a date which had always been part of the RNC plan

3) Nevada’s caucus would remain on a Saturday.  With caucuses the time line can be up words of 2 hours.  A weekday caucus statistically does not draw as well.

4) This would allow New Hampshire plenty of time to set their primary date and fulfill their 7 day requirement. 

According to a letter issued by SOS Gardner that only leaves January 3^rd as a possible date for the primary and Iowa had already tentatively took that date.  Gardner’s claim therefore is he is left with no alternative but moving the primary to either December 6^th or 13^th of this year.  That is a month or more before Nevada.  Be my guest!!!  Mr. Gardener has decided this is an issue created and perpetuated by Nevada and has essentially called Nevada on the carpet.  But Mr. Gardner is failing to recognize that his law is not Nevada’s issue.  He also, in only calling out Nevada, has failed to recognize that the original issue was created by Florida and that Iowa chose the 3^rd of January.  That again was not Nevada’s choice. 

Now for some reason Mr. Gardner believes he can yell loud enough and bully Nevada into a change.  He has issued long winded press releases that drips of “patriotism”.  So much so you can almost hear the Star Spangled Banner play in the background.  He also sent a letter to the Nevada GOP demanding a date change.  Really?  Demand? His letter to the GOP never addressed Iowa or Florida, just Nevada.  Gardner’s constant “lip service” caused Politico to write an article titled “N.H’s Bill Gardner to Nevada: Drop Dead”.  Well I can assure you that if anyone is going to “drop dead” it won’t be Nevada. 

After the latest press release by Mr. Gardner on Wednesday the Nevada Executive Board along with the county chairs had a conference call to discuss the situation.  The result – Nevada stands by its January 14^th date.  Workers in caucus training were assured the date is and will remain January 14^th.  In addition, the decision was confirmed and backed by Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval.  

Mr. Gardner can stand on HIS state law but he must also remember that none of the other forty-nine states are bound by his law.  He must also accept that he had the opportunity to work with other states towards a resolution but continually made himself unavailable to those working towards a resolution.  Maybe Mr. Gardner sees this as his opportunity for his 15 minutes of fame.  But any way you slice it one thing is a fact: 

Nevada will hold its caucuses on January 14, 2012.  Deal with it!!!

TRUNC: Attacking the Nevada GOP One Vendetta at a Time

“Recognizing we are a two-party system, we must work within that structure. TRUNC intends to unite all like-minded conservatives who believe in small government, fiscal responsibility, lower taxes & who are “pro” constitution under the umbrella of the Republican Party in Nevada, agreeing to disagree on peripheral issues for the purpose of defeating liberal & socialist candidates and their agenda” 

That is the Mission Statement for the Nevada Conservative Group TRUNC (Tea Party and Republicans Uniting Nevada Conservatives).  It is such a wonderful sentiment – if only TRUNC believed and lived by their own words. 

The two phrases that jump out at me are “unite all like-minded conservatives” and “agreeing to disagree on peripheral issues”.   On Saturday September 24, 2011 these parts of their mission statement were ignored as they issued a Press Release attacking the Nevada GOP Executive Board, making unsubstantiated claims, giving incomplete information, making personal attacks against Chairman Tarkanian and even resorting to thinly veiled threats.  All of this controversy over the potential of “same day voter registration at the February 18^th caucuses”.  Now I agree this is an important issue but for the GOP I still consider this a “peripheral issue”.  You know the issues we agree to disagree on. 

In the first paragraph of the Press Release (which can be found online), referred to how the Executive Committee “kept secrets” regarding a vote on same day voter registration at the caucuses during their meeting back in July.  Now let’s look at this realistically.  The Executive Board has nearly a dozen members.  In addition the there are other members of the Nevada GOP that attend the meetings as required.  Not everyone on the Executive Board supports the same day initiative.  But we are now to believe that, despite the obvious disagreement regarding this issue, the Board determined they would vote behind closed doors and the results would be kept a secret.  Even the possible dissenters agreed to keep quiet.  This sounds like a scandal straight out of a Hollywood movie script.  I would like to remind the TRUNC folks that Amy Tarkanian’s maiden name was Hanson – NOT Gotti. 

Reality is, at the time the Executive Board felt they received additional information and they re-addressed the question in July.  Yes, at that time they determined that voter registration at the caucus only was warranted.  This is not unprecedented.  I suggested that you look at the rules for the states such as Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana and Rhode Island.  Throughout history one of the purposes for caucuses was to fundraise and register voters.  

Now some claim that this issue has been discussed at length and that allowing same day voter registration at the caucus violates the party plank. Maybe – maybe not.  If you review the party platform, by-laws and rules you will find that interpretation can allow the Executive Board to make the decision that they did without A) a violation of the party plank and B) without compromising the GOP.  Here are the facts: 

If you review the 2010 Party Platform under “Citizenship” it states: 

“We oppose same-day registration and voting. We demand proof of U.S. citizenship and residency at the time of registration and authentic government issued photo identification at the time of voting.”

It seems clear but the question becomes – is a caucus a vote?  The argument against is simple.  First, it is not a vote; it is a PPP “Presidential Preference Poll”.  Polls are clearly different from a vote.  We all remember when some counties wanted to take a vote regarding the GOP candidates for CD2.  We were clearly told to NOT have a binding vote but instead have a non-binding preference poll.  That is clearly different from a vote. 

Now I also have argued that a reason to not consider this a vote is because it is non-binding.  Some have argued this point with me.  There are two pieces of evidence I would like to share:

NRP – Presidential Preference Poll Rules for 2012:

Section 3 – Statement of Policy – Selection of County Delegates

It is the express intent and policy of the Nevada Republican Party that County Delegates not be bound by the results of the Presidential Preference Poll in their respective Precinct Meetings, but that binding shall occur during the election of National Delegates at the Nevada Republican Convention. This policy is promulgated for the following reasons: …..

and

NRP – Delegate Binding Rules for 2012:

Section 5 – Binding of National Delegates and Alternates

All National Delegates and Alternates, ex efficio, At Large and Congressional District, shall be required to vote for the Presidential Candidate to whom they are bound.  This requirement applies only to the first vote at the Republican National Convention.

Now I believe this clearly shows that delegates assigned at the precinct caucuses on February 18 will NOT BE BOUND.  Therefore is cannot be considered a vote.  Now you may interpret this differently than I but please at least acknowledge that there is a reasonable train of thought.  Also that using this train of thought the Executive Board did nothing outside of its purview.  They were not looking to harm the GOP.  They were simply trying to do the best with the information they were given.

But there are a couple of things that truly bother me about this controversy.  First in reading the TRUNC Press Release it is clear they attempt to single out Amy Tarkanian several times.  This is unfortunate since all decisions made were done by vote of the Executive Board which includes Heidi Smith, Dave Buell, Bob List, Carol DelCarlo, Sherry Dilley, Wes Rice, Dave Gibbs, John Chachas, Lynne Hartung and Amy Tarkanian.  In fact, since the Chris Comfort fiasco of a few years ago the Chairman’s position has been stripped of much of its power.  Nearly all decision must go through a full vote of the board.  A bit ridiculous for a state chairman but that is an argument for another day.  But it is clear to me that TRUNC has a personal issue with Tarkanian and are trying to use the Press Release as a way of attacking her.

Another reason I found this odd is that Amy Tarkanian has tried to help the TRUNC group.  Following the Sharron Angle defeat to Harry Reid, TRUNC was having a hard time gaining traction for their group because they were seen as nothing but “Sharron Angle Cronies”.  In fact one person close to the Angle campaign said to me “good luck finding a picture of the TRUNC ladies that doesn’t include Sharron”. After speaking with TRUNC in May, Amy Tarkanian approached me with a request for a personal favor.  She asked if I would interview the TRUNC ladies (Laurel Fee and Jeri Taylor-Swade) and print an article to allow them to gain some positive traction.  I reluctantly did so.  That article did extremely well both on my website and at the posting on www.redcounty.com.  Ironically I just looked back at this article and this caught my eye:

BBP: In Nevada, the Republicans seem to be very fractured.  With all of the factions (conservatives, moderates, Tea Party, Libertarians) do you see us ever pulling together and acting in unison?

TRUNC: Only if we all agree to disagree on peripheral issues and stop the back biting and backstabbing and betrayals like happened with Bill Raggio.  We really absolutely do see all of us working together and that’s our goal.  All of the groups you mention here.  We all have several key components in common.  We want smaller government, lower taxes, we believe in the Constitution.  If we focus on those things we have in common I think that we can pull together and do what is right. 

Wow it sucks when your own words come back to haunt you.

But despite all of the arguing here is where we stand.  Yes there was quite an uproar regarding the vote taken by the Executive Board in July.  When that surfaced the Executive Board, as a whole, unanimously voted to set aside their earlier decision and bring it to the whole body on October 22.  In addition there will be a panel to discuss the options – both pro and con.  I’m not sure how bringing more information to us all is an issue?

Now I don’t know why TRUNC decided to act as they did.  I don’t know why they chose attack rather than discuss.  I don’t understand why they would go public to the media (that we all trust so much) and I don’t know why they have made personal attacks and accusations regarding the GOP Chairman.  What I do know is they really need to re-read their Mission Statement.  They also need to work harder at getting the whole story before attacking.  Below is letter written by Clark County Republican Party Chairman and Executive Board Member, Dave Gibbs.  It outlines the facts.  I am printing it in its entirety with Mr. Gibbs permission.

I would also give one last piece of advice to TRUNC.  If in the future you write a Press Release and the first thing that happens is Jon Ralston quotes it, writes an article about it and uses it to try and create a divide in the Nevada GOP – you might want to consider that you may have really screwed up.

People – calm down.  The party is making headway.  We are moving forward and we are getting stronger.  Don’t let petty accusations and partial truth destroy what we are building.

DAVE GIBBS LETTER: 

Greetings CCRCC Members: 

A lot of concern and misinformation about the Nevada Republican Party pushing through same day registration for the Feb. 18^th Presidential Caucus has made its way around by email over the last few days.  Much of it is inaccurate.  The diatribe from TRUNC is full of inaccuracies and insults, and I have responded to the authors telling them so.  I hope the next time they put out a press release they will take the time to write one that is logical, accurate, and, most of all, respectful to the people with whom they are disagreeing.  We should be able to disagree without becoming insulting.  I mean, after all, we are not Democrats. 

Here is the straight story.  On July 20^th the State Executive committee met for its monthly telecom.  There was a discussion of providing same day registration at the caucus and how successful the Democrats had been in registering new voters in 2008.  There was nothing written in the rules either way about registration.   The Committee discussed it and voted to allow it as part of the caucus.  After so many voiced their concerns, the Committee agreed to reconsider the motion and voted unanimously to withdraw the July 20^th motion and put this item on the agenda at the Oct 22^nd NRCC meeting, so that you could all hear  the same information the committee received. 

Until then, let me clear up some of the misinformation that has been sent out in emails: 

1.  This was done in secret and is being rammed down the State’s throat by outside operatives.                   

Not true.  This was done in an open discussion at an open committee meeting.  There were no “outside operatives” in attendance. 

2.  The state is taking over the caucus, disregarding the precinct meetings and also using it as a fundraiser for the NRP. 

Not true. There is a draft of a proposed caucus plan.  Each Board member was asked to submit comments.  I submitted 28 general and specific comments about the draft plan, pointing out conflicts with the NRP bylaws and the rules agreed to by the NRCC.  Others submitted their comments along the same line as well.  To put you at ease, all three of the county chairmen who sit on the committee are on the same page when it comes to the caucus, so there will be major changes to that draft.   

3.  The rules have already been sent to the RNC and can’t be changed.  Therefore, same day registration is a done deal. 

Not true.  The rules that were submitted to the RNC were the ones approved in Carson City in April.  Voting to include same day registration would actually have to be done after the deadline and taken into consideration separately by the RNC.  It is not a done deal.  

For some reason, there are folks who prefer to react to rumor and partial stories without taking the time to gather all the facts, then present a logic-based, factual, unemotional opinion that backs their position.  There are others who see sinister motives and plots behind every effort.  It’s easy to throw mud balls, but it doesn’t solve problems.  It eventually causes more and diminishes trust in those who are working for the right cause for the right reasons.  No one wins.  Your Executive committee is engaged in making sure Nevada has a successful caucus.     

From here forward, I ask that you stop the accusations, finger pointing, and rush to judgment and tale the time to get all the facts on the issue.  Please continue the great work you all are doing.  The CCRP did a great job with the CD2 election.  The leadership is working on the political plan for 2012.  CCRP members have been to three very successful outreach events, registering new voters, recruiting candidates, and meeting contacts to work with.  We have great candidates who are already being trained.   I am very actively involved in all that is going on at the state level, and I have Clark County’s interests Number One on my priority list.  I thank all of you who provide inputs to me on this issue.  Your voices were heard. 

I encourage all who are NRCC members to attend the meeting on October 22^nd at the Venetian.  Those who are not members are welcome to attend as guests. 

Let’s keep up the great work! 

Dave

Getting Conservative: Ya Can’t Hit A Six Run Homerun

I have shared many times that I am a HUGE baseball fan.  I have spent 40 years of my life playing, coaching and watching the sport.  I’ve seen an awful lot in that time.  I have seen grand slams and unassisted triple plays.  I saw home plate stolen by a 12 year old to win a county tournament.  I remember when that ball rolled through the bowed legs of Bill Buckner.  I was there when Will Clark singled up the middle off of Mitch Williams and again when Dave Dravecky returned after a year of fighting bone cancer in his pitching arm.  I was in the upper deck as Candlestick rocked in 1989.  Last year I finally saw my beloved Giants win a World Series.  It won’t be repeated this year.  But for all the things I have seen in baseball one thing I have never seen is a six run homerun. 

As I said I have coached many teams over the years.  I have been on the losing side of some big loses.  But when we were down by a lot of runs I would caution my players – “you can’t tie it up with one swing”.  I don’t care if you are the best player on a team.  When you are down by several runs you must be patient.  You must build momentum.  Too often the guy who tries to do something spectacular strikes out and ends up hurting his team.  You must take the approach of the tortoise in the Tortoise and the Hare.  Slow and steady wins the race.

It’s the same in politics.  We as Republicans and we as conservatives want to hit the six run home run.  But we can’t.  We tend to think that a mere single is not good enough.  But a single builds momentum.  String a few singles together and you score a run.  Throw in a few more singles and a double or two and the game is tied.  Get your opponent on their heels and soon you will win the game.  Sure your opponent may lead in the second inning but the only thing that matters is who leads when the last out is recorded.

As I said we too often in politics are impatient.  We want Obama gone and Reid and Pelosi.  While we’re at it take out every “not conservative enough” Republican we can.  Sure they are more conservative than the Democrat but surely they are not conservative enough for me.  We see that attitude here in Nevada.  The most glaring case is that of Congressman Joe Heck.  After six years of district three being held by Jon Porter, Porter was defeated Dina Titus y’all.  Titus held the seat for two years until Heck came along.  Heck fought a tough fight.  Heck was clearly more conservative than Titus.  Of 267,874 votes cast, Heck won the district by a mere 1748 votes.  That comes to .65% of votes cast.

Now, one year later, we have the uproar of those who are unhappy with Heck.  He is not as conservative as they would like.  Some of his votes defy the Republican Party stance.  I agree.  Joe Heck hasn’t always voted the way I want him to.  At times his votes have infuriated me.  But here is a little secret – ssshhhhh! Dina Titus y’all was FAR worse.  Where Heck occasionally upsets me, Titus constantly upset me. 

Ask yourself this one question:

 In today’s climate could a person more conservative (at least in their voting record) than Heck have won district 3? 

If not Heck the alternative would be another few years of Titus.  The problem is we allow ourselves to get caught up in the wrong battles.  Why are we focused on Heck?  Shouldn’t we be focused on those who are far to Heck’s left?  And while we sit here and go after the Joe Heck’s of the world – the Democrats laugh.  They know what many of us haven’t figured out yet.  They know that every dollar spent to “defeat” Joe Heck is one dollar not spent on defeating a Democrat.  They know that every minute a Republican focuses on defeating a Joe Heck is one minute they are not focused on defeating a Democrat.  Oh and did I mention, they laugh.

In Nevada we have a whole lot of people who need to be defeated long before Joe Heck.  How about Catherine Cortez-Masto, Shelley Berkley and I am sure at some point a woman named Dina Titus y’all.  What about Kate Marshall.  We now see John Oceguera and Steven Horsford vying for higher office.  The list of those we SHOULD focus on is long and liberal.

Now don’t get me wrong.  By no means am I saying we should give up on our conservative values.  By no means am I saying “be happy with what you got”.  I understand there are some “R”s that are not “R” enough for us.  But they are often times better than the alternative.  If we are so intent on making the big play, the big splash we can often times make the big mistake.  It’s time we slow down.  It’s time to look at the big picture.  Don’t look to move the party right in one fell swoop.  Look to move the party one step at a time.

Remember the moral of the tortoise and the hare – “slow and steady wins the race”.

The World According to Kate: Amodei, Angle are BFFs

I’m no genius but sometimes things are so obvious even I get them right.

We all remember back about 13 months ago.  Sharron Angle had been hoisted upon the Nevada GOP to represent us against Harry Reid in the US Senate race (thanks a lot Tea Party Express).  At the time I said that Harry Reid knew how unpopular he was in Nevada.  He knew his popularity would not grow.  So his best bet was to make Sharron Angle as unpalatable as he.  Now “Dirty Harry” can’t take all of the credit.  He had a TON of help from Angle herself.  But in the end the plan worked.  Angle, was in fact, less popular than Reid.

The next part of this article is what we call irony.  Kate Marshall is now facing Mark Amodei in the Special Election for Congressional District 2.  Marshall, like Reid, knows the cards are stacked against her.  She needs to find a plan that could catapult her past Amodei and all the way to Washington D.C.  So taking a page from the Reid files she need to make Amodei very unappealing to the voter.  But this time there is a twist.  Kate Marshall will not try to make Amodei less appealing than herself.  She will instead try to make Mark Amodei as unpopular as …. (repeat after me) …. Sharron Angle.  If this race were not so important I would find that hilarious.

How will she do this? It is very simple.  She is apparently going to try and make voters believe that Amodei and Angle are BFFs.  For you non-texters that would be “Best Friends Forever”.  Marshall has put out a video with a very subtle scene of Mark shaking Angle’s hand and holding a very brief conversation. They can even be seen smiling (gasp!).  This of course implies a friendship and therefore one can assume that one wacky friend deserves another.  By no means am I trying to say that there is bitter hatred between the two.  But I think to say that they are more than “professional acquaintances” who act cordially toward one another might be a stretch.  But don’t take my word for it.  Look at the facts.

First, Angle wanted this race bad.  She waited about twenty-four hours after the announcement that Heller was moving to the Senate to announce she was after Heller’s seat.  The seat Heller beat her out of.  She wanted this seat so bad she sued for it when she lost to Heller.  She saw this as her opportunity.  It was her opportunity to get back into politics.  It was her opportunity to move into the federal limelight.  It was her opportunity to wipe a little of that egg off her face after the Reid fiasco.  That is unless someone who was popular and well known came along to screw things up.  Enter Mark Amodei.

But that wasn’t enough.  As the battle between the Democrats and Republicans waged over Secretary of State Ross Miller’s intention to have a “battle royale” free for all election, Angle did the unthinkable.  She opposed her “own party” and said in fact an open election is what she thought was right.  Angle was quoted as saying that the “Special Election is making a mockery of the process”.  Now this may not seem to mean much until you remember that when these statements were made, Mark Amodei was still the Chairman of the Nevada GOP.  She wasn’t just going after the GOP, she was going after Amodei in her claims of un-Constitutional behavior.  Mark in essence was the leader for the GOP lawsuits.  What is odd is that Angle herself was one of those who put the law in place, regarding Special Elections that caused the uproar.

But as we know when Sharron decides to shoot herself in the foot she doesn’t like to expend a single bullet.  Instead she looks to empty the magazine.  She continued her attack on her GOP “friends” by stating “The Nevada Republican Party wants its attorneys to make sure that a small handful of the key lackeys can choose who the Republican nominee will be, not the voters”.  Since Amodei was considered the leader of the CD2 race at the time I will assume when Angle said “They (the GOP) don’t want you to have a real grassroots Republican representing you in Congress – they want their hand-picked establishment drone” she was speaking of Amodei.  Mr. Drone, I mean Mr. Amodei had no comment.  I kid you not her attacks on the GOP and Amodei (though never named) are endless.  Amodei cost Angle any chance at the CD2 seat and she was not happy.

But one could argue that this is all part of the battle.  It was a little political sparring.  To quote Sandra Bullock in Mrs. Congeniality, Sharron “got her wittle feelings hurt”.  But that does not explain her previous behavior.  The incident I have reported here before.

In 2009 my wife and I attended the Lincoln Day Dinner in Douglas County.  We had met Sharron many times before as we were working for the Tarkanian campaign.  We had the nerve to ask Sharron a little question about the whereabouts of Mark Amodei.  He was still in the Senate race at the time.  Little did we know that was a nerve-striker for Angle.  Sharron turned on Mark faster that you can believe.  “He’s no politician” she blasted.  “He is nothing but an entertainer”.  “Mark Amodei is lazy” she blurted.  Now in all fairness she followed this all up by attacking Danny Tarkanian and Sue Lowden.  But her claim was it was all “politicking”.  

(NOTE: I have a little advice for Mark Amodei.  With a BFF like that ……..)

Facts are Mark and Sharron travel in the same circuit.  Or at least they did.  If I had to guess I would say they are friendly.  But that doesn’t necessarily make them friends.  Even if they are friends at some level I suspect that Amodei is not sitting in a dark room for hours on end with Sharron determining his next policy statement.

Marshall’s actions are a desperate move on the part of a desperate candidate.  Someone who knows their chances of winning fall between slim and not a chance.  Kate Marshall may try to take a play from Harry Reid’s playbook.  She may even have Harry on her sidelines.  But in trying to make this work Kate Marshall forgets two very important points. 1) She is not Harry Reid and 2) Mark Amodei is not Sharron Angle.

And the rest is history.