#NVCaucus Liveblog #2

OK, let's pick up where we left off!

3:20 PM-

With about 1% in, Mittens has officially taken the big lead with 54%.

Now ABC News' entrance poll is confirming what NYT found earlier, which is that LDS turnout is slightly up to 26% of total Republican caucus-goers. Sorry, Newton. Mittens is getting a big win tonight... Even if the entire G-O-TEA will later live to regret it.

But of course, to be fair, Mittens is also dominating in almost every demographic group. Only poorer GOP voters (Whoa! You mean there are some left?) and young (under 30) GOP voters opted for Ron Paul over Mitt Romney according to CNN's entrance poll.

Well, if it makes the Paul-bots feel any better, Steve Sebelius just declared him the winner (in a weird way).

Oh, and some crazy fringe former R-J editor wrote a rambling love letter to Newt Gingrich.

3:40 PM-

Oh, yay! The train wreck continues. Even while Amy Tarkanian goes on MSNBC now to put a happy face on what's been happening today, another right-wing blogger is complaining about the caucus process.

Meanwhile out there in Beltway-ville, there's an interesting diary in Washington Monthly's blog on what to possibly expect in the general election. While there have been plenty of comparisons to more recent election cycles (1976, 1980, 1984, 1992, and 1996), are Republicans about to repeat their mistakes made in 1940? Again, this is why I suspect Mitt Romney's likely "impressive victory" is really more of a pyrrhic victory. As we talked about on Wednesday, as Mittens moves further and further toward the radical right, he's turning off voters in the middle and looking even more out-of-touch as "Mr. 1%". Maybe teabaggers are digging it, but all the rest of us aren't.

3:55 PM-

Ruh-roh. Apparently, Newt Gingrich had a sit-down earlier today with his top money men... Including Sugar Daddy #1, Sheldon Adelson. That may not be good for Newton... Or for anyone hoping he sticks around for longer.

Meanwhile in the real world, local AP reporter Cristina Silva actually received word from the Washoe County Republican Party that turnout was down from 2008 "partly because people wanted to ski". Wait... HUH??!! So are they admitting that a day on the snowy slopes is more exciting than spending a day at the local G-O-TEA caucus? Are they admitting that their caucuses are so pointless that Northern Nevadans decided their time was better spent skiing?

Again, Nevada Republicans are doing a fantastic job losing this next election all on their own! :-D

4:15 PM-

Oh, looky here. Don't be surprised if the material in this Ron Paul aligned attack ad resurfaces in the general election.



Again, this may prove to be another pyrrhic victory for Mittens.

Meanwhile, "Frothy" Ricky Santorum is avoiding us entirely as he now does events in Colorado. Wait... Colorado? Seriously? When voting hasn't even ended yet here in Nevada? I guess "The Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrron Effect" really did nothing to boost him.

Oh, and here's another confirmation from Karen Griffin at KRNV (NBC 4 Reno) that Republican turnout today was horrible. Expectations were made for 15-16,000 caucus-goers in Washoe County, but apparently they couldn't even muster turnout of 7,000. Yikes! So much for all that "tea party enthusiasm"!

4:40 PM-

In case there weren't enough theatrics to provide some amusement tonight, here's another twist. Apparently Nevada REPUBLICAN caucus-goers have had enough of the crazy caucus process, and they're now saying they want a primary instead. But wait, I thought the "tea party" was against "big guv'mint"... So now they want a GOVERNMENT run election? Heh. As I tweeted earlier, I expect them to pony up the tax dollars next legislative session if they really want a primary next time.

4:55 PM-

Is this for real? Did the Nevada Republican Party really just send an email reminding people to caucus? Ummm... Nearly all the caucuses are OVER! The only one left tonight is the special "religious objections" caucus that Sheldon Adelson muscled onto the schedule is only open to those with an absent note who couldn't attend the other caucuses for religious reasons. Again, that final caucus is closed to the vast majority of Nevadans... So why did they send that email?

Wow. Is it really amateur hour over there in NVGOP-ville? This was their real tweet from a few minutes ago:

T minus 15 minutes. Everything has been smooth sailing so far today. Great work by the whole team! #nvcaucus

LOL indeed. ;-)