The Grift That Keeps On Taking

It's time for us to embark on another archeological dig. Today, let's jump back to July 2010. Back then, Sharron Angle was running her outrageously delusional campaign for US Senate. And back then, she was relying on help from some rather shady friends.

One of her shady friends from that remarkable 2010 campaign was Sal Russo. And he had his crew of shady friends help him prop up Angle and their other endorsed candidates for that cycle. In July 2010, we warned everyone about them.

Russo runs a PR firm in Sacramento, and utilizes his right hand men (and women) in Tea Party Express. There's "grassroots coordinator" Joe Wierzbicki, the same guy who works at Russo's high priced Sacramento PR firm, the same guy who tried to help George Bush drum up support for the Iraq War, tried to swiftboat Barack Obama the same way John Kerry was swiftboated, and is now organizing his luxury coach buses to go across the country and spread lies about Democrats like Harry Reid.

And then there's Howard Kaloogian. He aligned with the radical right and corporate powers that be in the California Legislature. And in 2003, he teamed up with Russo's PR firm, Enron pollster Frank Luntz, talk radio "shock jock" Melanie Morgan, and Newt Gingrich to engineer the recall campaign that ousted California's duly elected Governor and replaced him with Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

And in 2006, Kaloogian himself ran for Congress in a special election in San Diego County. Russo joined him yet again, hoping that he'd slip in. But oops, one of Howard's lies about his "time in Iraq" caught up with him. [...]

[...T]hey lied about Bush's war in Iraq, they lied about what they actually saw there, they lied their way into the California Recall that saddled that state with "Arnold", and now they're lying about what their little "tea party" is really up to.

Oh, and now they're trying to dupe us into believe Harry Reid is some sort of "Satan Incarnate" and Sharrontology is our only way to salvation. But when we look behind the curtain, we have to notice the corporate fat cats funding the "Tea Party, Inc." gravy train supporting Sharrontology.

Back when Howard Kaloogian ran for a San Diego, California, based Congressional seat in 2006, he defended his vigorous support for extending the Iraq War by showing all the progress he witnessed firsthand there. The problem with his "firsthand" account was that it was a complete lie. You see, Howard Kaloogian's photos of a "peaceful Iraq" were actually photos of an Istanbul, Turkey, suburb.

And that's not all. Later in that 2006 campaign, Howard Kaloogian was caught falsifying his list of endorsements. Several Republicans came forward to announce they never actually endorsed Kaloogian. So there was also that.

However, not even that was enough to keep Sal Russo. Nope, they teamed up to start a slew of PACs, including the now notorious Tea Party Express.



Tea Party Express has come under scrutiny in recent months over just how much of the money it collects from donors ends up in the pockets of Sal Russo and his top lieutenants. But now, there's evidence showing that the "TEA" tinged gravy train doesn't stop at Tea Party Express.

When Howard Kaloogian wasn't trying to buy a seat in Congress with a phony "Iraq" photo, he was joined at the hip with Sal Russo at Move America Forward. Move America Forward was originally designed to promote continuing American involvement in the Iraq War. But in 2008, it shifted gears and became yet another anti-Obama PAC...

Except that it didn't want to be known as just another anti-Obama PAC. It wanted to be known for "supporting the troops". So Move America Forward started its own "charity" to "support" active duty military serving abroad. But now, we have a better sense of who Move America Forward's "charity" is actually supporting.



Surprise, surprise! Sal Russo, Howard Kaloogian, and the rest of the Move America Forward grifter crew were only using their charity to further enrich themselves. Oh, and of course, it didn't hurt that they successfully conned a whole lot of "TEA" flavored media pundits into endorsing the grift. (We're being charitable here, as this story would be even more disgusting if we were to discover all these pundits were also in on the grift.)

There's so much irony to be found throughout this story. However, we must end on this note. Senator Harry Reid (D) had been working tirelessly to pass a VA bill to help veterans access the health care they need. He's also worked with Rep. Steven Horsford (D-North Las Vegas) to open a badly needed VA clinic in Pahrump. And Sal Russo dispatched his Tea Party Express tour buses to attack Senator Reid for "failing the troops"?

Ah, Sal Russo & his network of "TEA" tinted con artists. They're the grift that keeps on taking.

The Wrong Angle

Last month, she reemerged. And she didn't return empty-handed. No, Sharron Angle introduced a voter ID voter suppression initiative. And she definitely succeeded in stirring up a hornet's nest.

But will Angle's initiative actually succeed? That remains in doubt, especially in the wake of two law suits being filed against it.



Both law suits challenge what plaintiffs consider to be an unconstitutional usurpation of power, since it commands the Legislature to enact something that the Legislature itself is supposed to decide. And both suits declare Angle's initiative to be an unfunded mandate (as it has no funding mechanism for its voter ID program), which would also constitute a constitutional violation. The ACLU of Nevada and Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights have filed one suit, while a group of private citizens and activists filed the other suit.

We're left to wonder how much thought "Our Lady of Perpetual Campaigning" put into this initiative. We already knew that it targets a nonexistent problem. We also knew that this would instead create problems for thousands of Nevada voters who are simply trying to exercise their legal right to vote. But now, we're discovering another problem with Sharron Angle's "great idea": It may very well violate the very constitution she claims to hold so near & dear to her.

But then again, we are talking about someone who's still claiming nonsensical conspiracy theories as "evidence" that somehow the 2010 NV-Sen election was "stolen" from her. She still refuses to admit that she list that election all on her own. And now, she's demanding an initiative that's unnecessary and potentially unconstitutional as well.

Funny enough, Angle and her Nevada G-O-TEA disciples have been the ones crying about "integrity". Have they ever examined the integrity of their own voter suppression proposal?

How Democrats Win: On the Ground

Last Friday, Jon Ralston wrote a column that seemed so strangely and simultaneously prescient and deja vu.

The reason Harry Reid’s pollster, Mark Mellman, nailed the result in 2010 was that he correctly forecast what the demographics of the turnout would look like – how many Hispanics, how much Clark County would be of the total, the difference between GOP and Democratic turnout. And the better pollsters know how to change their models as the campaign evolves, to adjust for whatever atmospherics require some adjustment.

One of the more obvious factors is voter registration, especially in a high-turnout, presidential year, when 80 percent or so of voters will turn out, making likely voter samples not as important as in off-years, when turnout is about 50 percent here. The other important factor often not employed by pollsters in Nevada –especially those who have not been conducting surveys in the state for very long – is history.

Both of those indicators tell me that a series of recent polls do not take into account either the surge in Democratic registration or recent history – i.e. the last two cycles.

Long story short: The vast majority of public polling of Nevada is wrong. And it's wrong precisely because these pollsters use "likely voter models" which throw out too many likely Democratic voters, such as Latinos, youth, and people who work the night shift on The Strip and can't answer most pollsters' calls.

So how is this deja vu? Well, let's step into our time machine and rewind to October 2010. In the DC Beltway, the pundits were discussing the details of Harry Reid's political funeral and the coronation of new "Tea Party Queen" and "Soon to Be Senator" Sharron Angle. But in and around the Las Vegas Beltway, those "in the know" knew better. What was key was the ground game, mainly that Harry Reid and Nevada Democrats actually had one while Angle and her "tea party" BFFs were bumbling around with their fancy phones and three-people-to-one-clipboard (No, I'm not kidding or exaggerating!) antics.

In 2010, many pundits just assumed that "TEA" fueled "momentum" would thrust Sharron Angle over the top. What they failed to notice was the phenomenal ground game built by Nevada Democrats. So while Harry Reid was giving his victory speech at Aria, local Democrats were cheering while pundits back in DC were dropping their jaws in total shock.

Fast forward to now. Once again, Nevada Democrats have been incredibly busy in the field. They've been making gains in voter registration like no one had expected just six months ago. Oh, and that's not all.







Last weekend, a group of LA County Young Democrats drove here from Southern California to help the local Nevada Democratic field office in knocking more doors and making more calls. Even more volunteers have been coming in lately because early voting will begin this Saturday. So the field organizers wanted to kick into high gear and get ready for EGOTV ("early get out the vote").

On the doors, volunteers talked to some newly registered Democrats, infrequent voters, and persuadable Nonpartisans & Republicans. So far, the Democrats have been mostly backing President Obama, Shelley Berkley, and John Oceguera, along with some Nonpartisans, while most of the rest of the Nonpartisans (and even a few of the Republicans!) seem to be keeping an open mind.





There were many volunteers grabbing clipboards and walk packets on Saturday. Yesterday, the office filled up again as a mix of the California helpers and local volunteers were making phone calls. The calls were going out to the same set of voters, and similar results were obtained. As one can see above, the "super organizers" at the Henderson field office have mastered the art of volunteer recruitment and retention.

So why does this all matter? Basically, Nevada Democrats have been expanding the electorate and "banking in" votes that most public pollsters aren't even expecting to vote. This is why most of the national and international media reports on the current state of play in Nevada diverge so wildly from what "those in the know" are actually seeing on the ground.

And especially now, more so than ever before, this work on the ground is incredibly valuable. With "tea party" aligned Super PACs dumping so much money into TV ads and "Astroturf" games, a strong field operation is critical in countering this. And so far, Nevada Democrats know exactly when and how to release their "Ace in the hole". It's really all about winning on the ground now.

Nevada Republicans' Ongoing "Latino Problem"

This week, the Nevada G-O-TEA is in total panic mode. Recent polls have not been looking good at all for Mitt Romney. Nevada Democrats have expanded their voter registration advantage to a higher level than they had two years ago. And now, Romney's own fellow Republicans (!!!) are speaking openly of abandoning his campaign to focus on saving their seats in Congress.

So why is this all happening? Last night, Telemundo's Jose Diaz-Balart spoke to Rachel Maddow... And specifically mentioned "The Great Nevada Surprise of 2010". There was a big component behind that election that is manifesting itself again now.

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As we've discussed before, Nevada's changing demographics are causing major problems for Republicans. In particular, their extreme anti-immigrant stance is repelling Latin@ voters like never before. And with both Mitt Romney and Dean Heller embracing the extreme "tea party" agenda of xenophobia and "Reverse Robin Hood Economics", they're having as hard a time now as Sharron Angle did in 2010 in convincing Latin@ voters to vote for them and their Republican Party.

As Telemundo's Jose Diaz-Balart hinted at above, all Republicans can hope for now is depressed Latino turnout. This is why they were complaining about "all the Democrats!" in the most recent PPP poll, even though its sample was slightly LESS Democratic than the most recent registration numbers... And it undersampled Latinos. Republicans' only hope now lies in preventing Latinos from voting, and that's why they've been pursuing a two-pronged strategy of bashing President Obama in TV ads while pushing voter suppression tactics to keep Latin@ voters away even if they decide to vote. But since voter suppression has been turned back here in Nevada and Republicans here keep flailing in their "minority outreach", they're approaching serious peligro... Y ellos saben.

NV-04: Los Delirios de Grandeza de Baby Tark

Wow. I almost forgot saying this nearly 3 years ago.

Excuse me while I step aside to ROTFLMAO. I know, I know, we shouldn't take this for granted. [...]

But come on, this is just too good to resist a good giggle at. If a guy who just happens to be Jerry Tarkanian's son is the best the GOP can do, then they're (still) in deep sh*t.

I said that in August 2009, when Lil' Tark Shark was briefly the G-O-TEA favorite to go against Harry Reid in 2010. Remember how that went? I guess he doesn't.

After all, he's back for more. And today, Danny Tarkanian tripled down on his delusions of grandeur at Hispanics in Politics in Las Vegas. Apparently, he's now taking advice on "Latino outreach" from Dean Heller.

Oh, and Tark must also be copying from Mitt Romney's playbook. Laura Myers' report from the Hispanics in Politics event, and he documented Tarkanian trying to have it both ways on immigration reform while blaming President Obama for all that's wrong in the world and trying to make empty catch phrases sound like "good policy".

Sound familiar? Well, it should. Just like his mentors, Dean Heller & Mitt Romney, Danny Tarkanian is now trying to flip-flop his way to the mainstream and make us all forget his real record. Too bad for him that Google doesn't allow for that. Oh, and too bad for him that none other than "Mr. Tea Party Super-blogger" Erick Erickson said this when endorsing Baby Tark for US Senate in 2010.

Danny Tarkanian has received the endorsement of the Minuteman Project for clear positioning on immigration. Meanwhile, Sue Lowden is wavering on the issue of benefits to illegal immigrants. Check out Danny Tarkanian’s latest ad on immigration and you’ll get the picture. Danny has a clear policy prescription and Sue is muddying the water over whether or not she supports benefits to illegal aliens.

Oh yes, that's right. Erickson favored Tarkanian over the less extreme (??!!) Sue Lowden because he was endorsed by the anti-Latino, anti-immigrant, and pro-xenophobia Minuteman Project! And in May 2010, none other than The R-J's Laura Myers documented how Baby Tark was campaigning on anti-immigrant xenophobia to play up his "populism" and win over the "tea party". I find it funny how he ran so far to the right when he found it politically convenient, but all of a sudden we're now supposed to believe he's better on comprehensive immigration reform than President Obama. Give me a break!

Believe it or not, the $10,000 donation from John Ensign's PAC and the ongoing personal financial scandals are not the worst stories for Danny Tarkanian's campaign. Actually, the worst story for his campaign is the ongoing saga of this incredibly vapid candidate who will stoop to the lowest levels and cravenly flip-flop as many times as possible to gain some kind of political advantage. Really, can Baby Tark run for anything without touting his famous last name?

10 of 11: The Rise & Fall of the "New" Nevada GOP

Without a doubt, 2011 was a dramatic year for our friends and foes across the aisle. They started off on a high... Despite failing last year to "take out" their top target. In fact, it seemed like Brian Sandoval's early success in blocking needed revenue lifted them up to Cloud 9 where they could enjoy their AFP/"Tea Party, Inc." funded orgy. And even though the Nevada Supreme Court ultimately nipped that G-O-TEA fantasy in the bud in late May, they were still optimistic. And hey, why not when their biggest thorn in the side was finally magically erased?



But then, something funny happened on the way to Dean Heller's "coronation". Just as Brian Sandoval tried to essentially hand him our US Senate seat, they both got a loud reality check in April. Remember when we first talked about it?

Sandoval really thought this blatant snubbing of Nevadans would be glossed over as just another instance of "politics as usual". However, so far it looks like we the people want to take a closer look and ask why Dean Heller deserves a "head start" in next year's Senate election, and why we the people should be forced to pay for a special election to replace Heller exactly when Sandoval wants to slash public education to death, force elderly & disabled Nevadans onto the streets, and endanger Nevada's fragile economic recovery.

What, are Carson City political games more important than the lives of real Nevadans? Is this what Brian Sandoval meant by "shared sacrifice"? And is this just another instance of Dean Heller practicing something far different from what he preaches? Is it more important to cheat against Shelley Berkley than to actually focus on what their respective jobs are supposed to be?

When PPP and Mellman first showed a tightening Senate race, the pundits were shocked. But now that it's still tight (PPP's last poll showed a tie race), they expect another barnburner of a Senate race in the coming year. Whoops.

But wait, what about Mark Amodei? Yes, what about him. He went from facing a potentially scary upset (for him) to an easy win. And yes, both his political resiliency and Kate Marshall's shocking crashing & burning of her own campaign forced a nasty "gut check moment" for Democrats in Tonopah this past September.

As I wrote then...

Of course, last night's special election results weren't good for Obama or Congressional Democrats, but on the other hand many in DC are forgetting the local dynamics of both races. Here in Nevada, Kate Marshall positioned herself to essentially run against Obama, which demoralized the Democratic base and caused the entire election to be played on the Nevada GOP's turf. And in New York, Orthodox Jews and older white "Reagan Democrats" turned hard Republicans made that election into a referendum on Israel, social issues, and internal Brooklyn & Queens political drama. And while special elections tend to produce dramatic results as of late, they rarely provide a clear forecast of the political climate of the following election cycle.

What will be far more telling in the coming weeks and months, however, is what happens to the economy next, how politicians and political parties react to the state of the economy, and how voters respond to the politicians' reactions.

And that's when the tide turned yet again.



In August, the G-O-TEA seemed to be flying high again after "The Great Debt Ceiling Debacle of 2011". Democrats again seemed demoralized (see above note on Kate Marshall's campaign), the "tea party" looked to take control of the narrative, and we all just needed to shut up and embrace our "bright future" ahead with Mitt Romney. But then (again), something funny happened on the way to Romney's "coronation" and the Nevada GOP's "reascendancy". He told us to "drop dead", but it was really only the local G-O-TEA outlet that followed through. Ralston couldn't contain himself as he saw them turn to slow-motion implosion, but I wasn't too surprised, as I saw for myself the dreaded "Obama-Reid Machine" rise again while the G-O-TEA were arguing over how irrelevant their caucus was to be.

As we discussed back in late October when the Nevada GOP sealed the deal on the "Great RNC-New Hampshire Cave-in of 2011":

Too late, Mrs. Tark Shark. It's already been a huge debacle, an unnecessary distraction, and a way for New Hampshire politicians to use our state as their personal pinata. Maybe you avoided getting deposed as Nevada GOP Chair, but you've already lost as your party has just become the national laughingstock. [...]

While OFA and Nevada Democrats are busy being... Well, productive, in registering voters and calling to recruit more volunteers, Nevada Republicans were too busy chickening out to New Hampshire teabaggers and sacrificing our state's dignity to pay for Florida's original sin [in moving their primary to January 31, triggering the chaos that led to the RNC forcing the Nevada GOP to push back their caucus to February 4 so New Hampshire can do their primary exactly when they want it]. So there you have it. This may very well be the moment that clinches Nevada, and perhaps the overall 2012 election, for President Obama next year.

What? You think I'm crazy? I think everyone needs to review what happened in last year's Senate election. Welcome to deja vu. The spirit of Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrron lives on in the Nevada Republican Party. [...]

Funny enough, the usual "Sharrontology Fan Club" TEA-nut conspiracy theorists were trying to claim, "Big Bad Harry Reid HIJACKED!!!!!" their pointless central committee meeting, but that's just crazy talk. Neither he nor Obama needed to. Nevada Republicans are doing a great job losing the upcoming election all by themselves!

And here's where it all comes full circle. Just as they blew it last year in picking the ultimate extremist to lose to Harry Reid and muck up their own message in the process, the Nevada GOP are set to lose more elections all on their own all over again. They threw a hissy fit over the nonpartisan judicial redistricting results that they supposedly wanted. They focused on stupid "CUL'CHUR WARZZZ!!!" crap when people were asking for jobs. Dean Heller and Joe Heck were too busy catering to "Tea Party, Inc." and nutty extremists to notice their constituents protesting outside their local offices.



And as all of this was happening all around them, Nevada GOP "leaders" couldn't realize the turmoil at their own doorstep because they were too busy believing Barbara Cegavske's delusions of grandeur! Hey, how else can we explain what they did this year? They rose so high, only to fall so fast.

Sorry, Nevada GOP. Apparently Democrats won't be so easy to beat after all.

Two new major national polls show President Obama’s approval ratings making solid improvement, and putting him close to the 50% threshold that is seen as key for an incumbent seeking reelection. In addition, the polls suggest that Obama could be doing better than the Congressional Republicans in their ongoing political fights. [...]

The CNN poll had only a simple version of [a question on the economy and how Obama can handle it], with a very good result for Obama: “Do you have more confidence in President Obama or in the Republicans in Congress to deal with the major issues facing the country today?”

The numbers: Obama 50%, Republicans 31%.

10 of 11: Gabby... & Jared

Even though this clip is from 2010, it's a lurid foreshadow of how 2011 was to begin:



And yes, sadly, there's a Nevada Angle to this story.



While she may not have been the main cause of the Tucson massacre that killed six people and wounded nineteen others, including US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona), Sharron Angle's and the tea party's increasingly violent rhetoric certainly helped to create the environment that encouraged fringe radicals like Jared Lee Loughner to use "Second Amendment Remedies". Back in January, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik pointed it out.

“When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. And, unfortunately, Arizona I think has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry.” [...]

“We need to do some soul searching … It’s the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business. People tend to pooh-pooh this business about the vitriol that inflames American public opinion by the people who make a living off of that. That may be free speech but it’s not without consequences.”

And the Southern Poverty Law Center researched the origins of the conspiracy theories Loughner embraced, and found some startling clues for what motivated him to turn violent.

At one point, Loughner refers disparagingly to “currency that’s not backed by gold or silver.” The idea that silver and gold are the only “constitutional” money is widespread in the antigovernment “Patriot” movement that produced so much violence in the 1990s. It’s linked to the core Patriot theory that the Federal Reserve is actually a private corporation run for the benefit of unnamed international bankers. So-called Patriots say paper money — what they refer to with a sneer as “Federal Reserve notes” — is not lawful.

At another, Loughner makes extraordinarily obscure comments about language and grammar, suggesting that the government engages in “mind control on the people by controlling grammar.” That’s not the kind of idea that’s very common out there, even on the Internet. In fact, I think it’s pretty clear that Loughner is taking ideas from Patriot conspiracy theorist David Wynn Miller of Milwaukee. Miller claims that the government uses grammar to “enslave” Americans and offers up his truly weird “Truth-language” as an antidote. For example, he says that if you add colons and hyphens to your name in a certain way, you are no longer taxable. Miller may be mad as a hatter, but he has a real following on the right.

Loughner talks about how you “can’t trust the government” and someone burns a U.S. flag in one of his videos. Although certain right-wing websites are already using that (and his listing of The Communist Manifesto as one of his favorite books) to claim that Loughner was a “left-winger,” that does not strike me as true. The main enemy of the Patriot movement is certainly the federal government. And so-called Patriots have certainly engaged in acts like burning the flag.

And if you think this is all just "crazy talk", tell that to Iowa. According to PPP, Ron Paul has now taken the lead there as the Iowa Caucus is fast approaching. Remember, Ron Paul has repeatedly winked and nodded at these conspiracy theories as he's trying to turn the fringe into mainstream. And it's not just Paul. The whole radical right likes to play footsie with this kind of crazy... Until something like this occurs, when they then try to rewrite history.

As I wrote back in January...

OK, so Loughner may have been dabbling in some looney tunes nonsense, possibly even including a known white supremacist hate group. What does this have to do with Glenn Beck... Or Sarah Palin and Sharron Angle for that matter? Well, it comes back to the ["tea party"]. The "tea party" is a sort of umbrella classification of a number of far right organizations and politicians, but there is definitely strong evidence to show that leading "tea party" figures are trying to legitimize the same extreme ideology of the extreme right that influenced past terrorists, like Timothy McVeigh.

And worse, as Glenn Beck warns of supposed "conspiracies of the left" to bring about "imminent violent revolution", and as Sarah Palin tells her followers, "never retreat, instead RELOAD!", and as Sharron Angle suggests "Second Amendment Remedies" to take care of "enemies in our own system... in the walls of Congress"...

Far too many media pundits and politicians in DC have been far too willing to simply dismiss this as "politics as usual". This is NOT "politics as usual". This is an ever escalating culture of political violence that must stop!

Again, I had feared something like this would eventually happen. Last year, I feared Harry Reid would be the victim. I had seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears the teabaggers' unplugged, unfiltered, and unfettered irrational hatred of Harry Reid... As well as President Barack Obama, for that matter. While "Tea Party, Inc." consultants in California were just focusing on building enough opposition to win an election, the opposition among many teabaggers ran far deeper.

And that January, we found out the hard way how deep that was.

Yet while we saw the far right turn increasingly radical, we also saw glimmers of hope as folks in The Southwest turned away from it. Pay attention again to Gabby's own words.



Strangely enough, Giffords talked with an long time Republican friend about starting a campaign to tone down the increasingly extreme rhetoric in today's politics right before her "Congress on Your Corner" town hall that turned so bloody. Yet while Giffords herself ultimately couldn't lead on this, others soon filled that void. Extreme anti-immigrant Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now facing his own legal troubles for politicizing law enforcement there. Russell Pearce, the state senator who briefly turned Arizona's legislature into a breeding ground for "tea party" extremism, was recalled by his own constituents just last month. Jan Brewer, the Arizona Governor that signed the SB 1070 "papers, please" law and campaigned for reelection on it, is now seeing her popularity fade fast in light of a failed redistricting power grab. And in another twist of fate, Daniel Hernandez, the intern who helped to save Gabby Giffords' life, won election to a seat on the local Tuscon school board.

So maybe there is hope, after all. Gabby Giffords herself continues to recover. She's showing remarkable progress for someone who suffered that kind of brain injury, and is showing interest in running for reelection to Congress.

I'll leave you with this from Time.

There was much to hate about politics this year, especially the amount of hate that seemed to poison it. But if there was an antidote, it came from one of the victims: Gabrielle Giffords, vibrant and valiant member of Congress from Arizona, gunned down when a deranged shooter outside a supermarket put a bullet through her brain. That she survived at all was a miracle; that she recovers — slowly, stubbornly, each day a search for another word, another milestone — is a model. "You have to have hope and faith," she says at the end of Gabby, the book she wrote with her husband and fellow warrior against all odds and expectations, astronaut Mark Kelly. "I will get stronger. I will return."

NV-Sen: Haven't We Seen This Before?

The poll for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was taken June 11-14 by Mark Mellman, who is also Shelley Berkley's pollster. Before the partisans discount it (42-37):

1. Mellman knows Nevada. His surveys for Harry Reid in 2010 were unerring.

2. The results are not that surprising and virtually mirror what he found in March.

3. Appointed Sen. Dean Heller's negatives are up a bit, thanks to the Democratic pounding. But he has lost only a statistically insignificant one point and still a lot of undecideds this far out.

Ralston caught wind of this, and now everyone is talking. What does this mean? Do internal polls matter?

Remember this. When Harry Reid's campaign looked for polling to base targeting and messaging decisions upon, it didn't want to pay for fluff. That's why it went with the best, and Mellman is among the best here.

CNN, Razzy, and the others, OTOH, just wanted something to show the on-lookers from elsewhere, and they didn't bother paying attention to the rules to getting good Nevada results. That's why they all showed Angle slightly ahead last October, and that's why they all ended up with egg in their faces last November.

Just remember that as all the pundits now try to spin this poll's results.

Lessons from Gabby... And From My Fellow Nevadans

This keeps haunting me. Even as we've already been discussing the danger of extremist rhetoric turning violent, Gabrielle Giffords and her message of breaking through partisan barriers seems more poignant and relevant than ever before.



Strangely enough, while Giffords was talking of bridging divides, this was playing in the background.



This takes me back to the night of Tuesday, November 2, 2010, and Harry Reid's hard earned Senate win here in Nevada.



As I talked about early this morning, last year's Senate campaign often brought out the worst in us. We saw brawls break out at "candidate forums", people's lives threatened, and an overall climate of unfettered rage and unprecedented fear plague our state. It was frightening...

But even amidst all of that, there were glimmers of hope. I saw the best of us shine through as I talked with my friends, my family, and my neighbors, even as the campaign blabber on TV often devolved to outright insanity.

One of my all time favorite videos of last year, if not my #1 favorite, was City of Reno Sustainability Administrator and Nevada System of Higher Education Regent Jason Geddes discussing what he does and how he viewed Senator Reid and his legislative agenda.



He just told it like it was, without resorting to histrionics or inflammatory language. And as I've said before, good policy always puts a big smile on my face.

And he wasn't the only one. I beamed with pride last month as I recounted my experience on the campaign trail over the last year.

[L]et's face it, it's much easier to believe the stereotypes of Nevadans than to take the time to really get to know us. It's easy to look at the numbers, but it's harder to look at the stories behind the numbers.

I actually did that. I met the kids who confronted Sharron Angle at Rancho High School over her race-baiting ads. I met my typically Republican neighbors in Henderson who voted early for Harry Reid. I met people who drove many miles to Dina Titus' campaign office because they believed she was "the real deal". I met folks pissed off at everyone and everyone, because they felt "overwhelmed" by all the negative campaign ads. I met volunteers who tuned out the political insanity as they were collecting food for the hungry, keeping community centers open, making parks and trails accessible to all the neighbors to use, and keeping the local libraries running with new and interesting knowledge just around the corner. [...]

Over the years, many authors have come to "investigate" Nevada and uncover all our "deep, dark secrets". We've been called everything from "The New American Dream" to the most evil, corrupt hellhole on the planet. However, you showed me that reality is quite different from any fairy tale or horror story shared by outsiders. You showed me that Nevada can be rough, but the people can be awfully tough.

There were many people, Democrats, Republicans, Nonpartisans, and others, here in Nevada who reaffirmed my faith in our country and our democracy. I will never forget that. Despite the efforts of some to rip our communities apart, there were so many Nevadans I met who just did what they knew to be best for our state and our country. And even when we disagreed, I was able to discuss issues with my friends, family, and neighbors respectfully.

I was thinking about this as Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough, CA), someone who survived the horror of Jonestown in 1978, went on CNN to remind us what politics and public service are all about.



Someone else who survived another tragic incident in 1978, Cleve Jones of Courage Campaign, had something to say about all this.



Maybe we need to listen to them. Maybe we need to listen to what Gabby tried to tell us. Right before Saturday's "Congress on Your Corner", Giffords did this.

The night before she and 19 others were shot at an event in Tucson, Arizona, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) wrote a warm email to Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, where she told the Republican "we need to figure out how to tone our rhetoric and partisanship down."

Giffords remains in the hospital in critical condition after being shot in the head Saturday.

According to cn|2 Politics, which obtained the email, Giffords sent the message to congratulate Grayson for his recent appointment as director of Harvard University's Institute of Politics.

"After you get settled, I would love to talk about what we can do to promote centrism and moderation," Giffords wrote. "I am one of only 12 Dems left in a GOP district (the only woman) and think that we need to figure out how to tone our rhetoric and partisanship down."

Giffords and Grayson met in 2005, when they were part of the inaugural class of the Aspen Institute's Rodel Fellowship. In her email, Giffords promised to visit Grayson, and told him she thought his new job was "truly an incredible opportunity that will lead to wonderful things." Grayson told cn|2 Politics that he and Giffords spoke often about divisiveness in politics.

"That is something she and I have been quite passionate about -- to run for office in the right way and for the right reasons," Grayson said. "I think Gabby was really sincere in that email ... And I am going to to redouble my efforts."

I don't need to repeat what I've already said about this whole matter. When we've become so desensitized to violence and averse to honest policy discussion, there's a problem. We can't operate representative democracy like warfare. It only leads to bloodshed like we saw in Arizona on Saturday.

We all need to put aside our hostilities and have a serious conversation on how to move forward as a country without violence, with mutual respect, with a renewed focus on discussing policy rationally, and without fearing what happens when we seek common ground.

10 of '10: The #1 Story of 2010- YOU!

Yes, that's right. I'm finishing off this series with you. YOU were the biggest story of 2010.

You decided this election. You spent even more time volunteering than I! You helped your fellow Nevadans in need. You spoke out when necessary. And you will be essential in shaping Nevada's future in 2011 and beyond.

We've heard so many stories of what we supposedly are. Apparently we're stupid, uncaring, lazy, and violent... If we're to believe some of the media coverage of us over the course of this year.

And let's face it, it's much easier to believe the stereotypes of Nevadans than to take the time to really get to know us. It's easy to look at the numbers, but it's harder to look at the stories behind the numbers.

I actually did that. I met the kids who confronted Sharron Angle at Rancho High School over her race-baiting ads. I met my typically Republican neighbors in Henderson who voted early for Harry Reid. I met people who drove many miles to Dina Titus' campaign office because they believed she was "the real deal". I met folks pissed off at everyone and everyone, because they felt "overwhelmed" by all the negative campaign ads. I met volunteers who tuned out the political insanity as they were collecting food for the hungry, keeping community centers open, making parks and trails accessible to all the neighbors to use, and keeping the local libraries running with new and interesting knowledge just around the corner. Oh yes, and I even met a few teabaggers who are still in shock over the final election results.

All of us here in Nevada were able to catch what most of the public polls couldn't. We were able to listen to what Nevadans were actually saying, as opposed to what Nate Silver and Chris Matthews thought they were hearing.

I heard from parents frightened about their kids' future. I heard outrage over the all the cuts to public education. I heard from unemployed workers wondering where (and when) they will find work again. I heard frustration over all the broken promises of a better and more stable economy. And I heard from people still clinging onto hope that somehow, someday, our state will survive this and be a better place.

2010 was a very challenging year. The casinos couldn't make all our problems go away. The recession wasn't so much a "temporary blip" as it was a long overdue reality check that's forcing us to rethink everything.

Over the years, many authors have come to "investigate" Nevada and uncover all our "deep, dark secrets". We've been called everything from "The New American Dream" to the most evil, corrupt hellhole on the planet. However, you showed me that reality is quite different from any fairy tale or horror story shared by outsiders. You showed me that Nevada can be rough, but the people can be awfully tough.

You made me realize that my own preconceptions of life in The Silver State were wrong. You mean I can live near all these slot machines and life will go on? You mean not everyone here is a sex-addicted, gambling-addicted alcoholic doing raves and poker tourneys every night?

It's easy for outsiders to stereotype you, and it's easy for them to ignore what you're trying to say... Except when your statement shatters what was "expected", then they suddenly don't know what to say next. Were the polls wrong? Were they swayed at the last minute? Where did the "momentum" go? What are these people thinking?

You made me listen to you in 2010... And I'm looking forward to what you have to say in 2011.

10 of '10: Roots 2 Roots

Because I'm sick and ornery right now, and because these really helped me in recovering from the post-election doldrums and looking ahead to the challenges and opportunities of the future, I'm reposting my post Netroots California diary, followed my post RootsCamp Nevada diary.

OK, so I've had more time to process what happened. And I had a chance to talk with my old Cali friends at Netroots California last Saturday. And I came out surprisingly hopeful about our future.







While we did have some rough losses in Nevada, overall the picture here was much brighter than the rest of the country. Come on, all the incumbent statewide elected Democrats are reelected while Harry Reid won by over 5.6%! Reid outperformed almost all the public polls. What happened? How come "The Great Red Tide" that destroyed many Dems in many states east of The Rockies was barely a ripple here?

Basically, it comes down to what Harry Reid and Nevada Democrats did right. They invested in getting out the vote. They made our progressive message clear and concise AND accessible to regular voters. And they reached out to minority communities and actually IMPROVED Latin@ turnout over 2006 AND 2008!

It really comes down to this. Even in "wave elections", "the wave" doesn't have to be a monstrous tsunami. Good campaigns still matter. Good field still matters. And good messaging still matters. Harry Reid made all this happen and more.





Ralston explained this on Sunday.

The Reid organization’s Terminator-like single-mindedness, relentlessness and discipline turned preparation into the most satisfying victory of Reid’s career, a resurrection unthinkable most of the year by the Beltway cognoscenti. Combined with an Angle campaign that was thoroughly unprepared for the post-primary onslaught — think of a Little League batter facing Roy Halladay — that by the time the GOP nominee brought in some D.C. pros, the damage was insurmountable.

Interestingly, a similar dynamic appeared in California last Tuesday. More Latin@ voters turned out than ever before. And while Jerry Brown's campaign (for CA Governor) didn't exactly "strike while the iron was hot" on delivering his message or attacking Meg Whitman's record, California unions did. And they delivered, big time!

And Barbara Boxer followed a very similar strategy to Reid's in defining Carly Fiorina early as quite the unacceptable choice, delivering a progressive message in a practical way to attract voters (Hint: Make it real. Make it tangible. Make it about one's pocketbook/wallet/purse.), and turning out Dem voters like crazy.

Again, it comes down to whether Democrats can field good candidates, deliver a good message, and turn out as many allied voters as possible. It worked in California and Nevada... But because the national Democratic groups failed in these categories and many other state parties were in turmoil, that's why the results were so bad elsewhere.

Why didn't other Senate candidates try to turn health care reform and good climate policy into winning arguments? Why didn't other state parties invest more in good GOTV infrastructure? Why didn't the DCCC and DSCC take a closer look at the winning arguments being made by Reid and Boxer?

That's the challenge moving forward. President Obama needs to rethink his messaging. Democrats need to work harder on showing how good progressive policy means more and better jobs. And Democrats nationally need to look at places like Nevada and California to learn how to rebuild good, strong GOTV infrastructure. And if Obama can turn his numbers around and offer a strong and appealing progressive message that reveals the crap the GOP is truly offering and explains how to truly get our nation back on track, he can win handily again and Democrats can soon retake the House and keep the Senate.

It really comes down to that. Oh, and I had a great time in SF...

atdleft http://twitgoo.com/1qmik0

atdleft http://twitgoo.com/1qmihk

Then I had the joy of doing Roots Camp here in Las Vegas with many of the great progressive friends I've met along the campaign trail over the last six months.

And in these last few days, I've been able to think some more about what to do moving forward. In the next few days I'll be writing more about federal legislation, but tonight I want to talk about the state of our state.

atdleft http://twitgoo.com/1qmicx

So how is the state of our state?

Do you really need me to tell you?

That's what I thought.

Now I won't candy coat things. We're facing as much as a $3 billion deficit, and many corporate "powers that be" in this state are already telling lawmakers that the solution lies in more cuts. Yes, you heard me correctly. Even more devastating budget cuts are on the table.

Have you faced extraordinarily long lines at the DMV? Have your classes at UNLV and/or CSN been cut? Are your neighborhood parks in complete disrepair... Or even worse, closed? And are your neighborhood's roads in shambles?

This is our community here. This is our state. This is our life. This is our future.

Right now, Nevada is at a crossroads. For far too long, our Legislature has postponed so many critical decisions regarding the badly needed infrastructure our state needs and how to fund the basic services we all rely upon.

And yes, we all rely upon such essentials as schools, roads, and parks. And I'm sure you have your own horror stories of what's happened to them thanks to all the state and local budget cuts... Or perhaps these stories have happy endings, thanks to the much needed funds from the Recovery Act coming to our rescue.

So do I. And so do many of the people I talked to on Saturday. And in the coming days, I'll be talking more about the stories we all need to share. Since the corporate right will be speaking up plenty in the next few months about how such profit making clients like Wal-Mart and Kroger simply can't afford to simply pay their fair share of taxes like all the rest of us do, we need to respond by raising our voices.

We need to speak up if we want to save our state.

atdleft http://twitgoo.com/1qlx92

atdleft http://twitgoo.com/1qlwtg

10 of '10: Wild About Harry

Come on, you really thought we couldn't mention him (again) in our Top 10 countdown? This was the race that consumed so much of our attention. This is the contest the entire country was obsessing over. And of course, this was the election that the Beltway pundits thought they already knew the results of many months in advance... Only to emerge shellshocked by the actual final results.

Again, they didn't see what I saw.

[T]hat's what I've been finding on the ground here in Southern Nevada. Sure, teabaggers pop up here and there occasionally with their protests of everything "government" (except when they want it, go figure). But with the exception of all those thousands of people who drove in or bussed in from out of state for that "Showdown in Searchlight", I still haven't seen any massive "grassroots" outpouring of "tea party" support.

Instead, what I see and hear is concern about when more Nevadans will get back to work, concern about access to good education, concern about the family member(s) dangerously close to foreclosure... Basically, what I'm hearing from real Nevadans is real concern about how to get our state back on track. [...]

[W]ithout a doubt, most of the people I've spoken with here agree that our only chance of moving forward is with Harry Reid as our Senate Majority Leader. And I know I'm not alone. That's what the Beltway pundits are missing. This isn't a game to us. We're dealing with our very lives here, and we can't afford the insane and dangerous extremism of Sharron Angle.

I want to be able to finish school at UNLV and get a good job. My unemployed friends depended on unemployment insurance, and need good jobs soon. My friend who came close to foreclosure needed someone to help him negotiate with the bank to keep his home. My parents depend on Social Security to survive. And guess who's been helping us?

Again, this isn't a game to us. And I think this is what's closing "the enthusiasm gap". And at the end of the day, I think a whole lot of folks will be surprised by the final election results.

And again, they were! Hell, I was even surprised when I saw that Harry Reid won MY precinct!

And while I was certainly frustrated with him at times, at the end of the day I knew his heart and his head were in the right place. There was really no other choice.

Nope, we don't need this kind of crazy. We need someone who can deliver good results. Harry Reid can. Sharron Angle can't.

Now I know he isn't perfect. Trust me, I know.

But right now, we don't have "perfection" on the ballot. (And frankly, I wonder if "perfection" can win in a volatile climate like this.)

We have Harry Reid. And he's not just our best choice... He's really our only choice to get this state and this country back on track.

He may not be the most glamorous politician around...

But he's done plenty to help Nevada in our time of need.

We can't afford to lose the Majority Leader. We can't afford to lose someone who's listening to us. We can't afford to lose the kind of expertise that Reid has on all things Nevada.

We need Harry Reid... It's really as simple as that.

This has been quite the brutal election, but thanks to Reid's brilliant campaign, Nevada emerged much more intact than most of the rest of the country. And Nevada will still have the most powerful advocate in Washington that we've ever seen.



And Harry Reid's journey is far from over.

10 of '10: Dina Titus, Comeback Queen?

She's strong. She's principled. She's brassy. She's determined.



And she's never afraid to ruffle feathers. Dina Titus has endured plenty in her political career here in Nevada, including an excruciatingly narrow NV-03 reelection loss...

But is it the end of the road for Dina? Actually, NO! She will soon be on the esteemed US Civil Rights Commission... And she may one day be back in Congress. Nevada is now guaranteed to get a 4th Congressional District, and Dina hasn't done a good job hiding her intention to come back. Again.



And why should she? Just 1,923 votes separated her from another term. And in her one term in Congress, she helped Nevadans save their homes, fought to end childhood hunger, worked to make health care reform work for Nevada, spoke loudly for LGBTQ equality, and was overall a superb Representative in Congress.



I won't forget when she came to our Stonewall BBQ, right across Pittman Wash from my humble Henderson abode. I just couldn't sit on the sidelines when so much was at stake. And although Dina didn't quite make it, I'm still proud of her campaign and what she did for us in NV-03.



This is our loss... For now. But hopefully, we'll see her again soon. ;-)

10 of '10: Bock, Bock, Barter-gate!

It seemed like the whole US Senate campaign turned on its head when Sue Lowden spoke those words that would soon doom her campaign for good. While she had turned up the crazy far before before April 6, this just took the cake... Well, more like the chicken.





Simply put, Sue Lowden long ago forgot what we "plebes" have to endure just to access the health care we need. Because she was pandering to teabaggers (who would then ditch her for "the real deal") in bashing health care reform, she felt compelled to offer an "alternative"... An "alternative" that simply doesn't work in 21st Century America!

So instead of either acknowledging the many great new features of health care reform or offering any sort of meaningful alternative to it, Sue Lowden just offered this garbage. And she actually expected us to just accept it as "rational"! And then instead of clarifying what she said or offering any sort of apology for being so crude and callous, Lowden then doubled down, tripled down, and quadrupled down on this nonsense.

It actually turned out to be a sign of what was to come from Nevada Republicans this year. Remember this doozy from Sharron Angle?



Sadly for Nevada Republicans, Sue Lowden pretty much secured the carte blanche that Sharron Angle would then use to continue spewing out nonsensical "policy" during an election when Nevadans were desperately looking for real solutions. And it looks like neither is going away any time soon. In fact, look who will now be on the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners!

Former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sue Lowden has been named to the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners.

Gov. Jim Gibbons announced Lowden's appointment Tuesday. She replaces Van Hefner, who resigned. Her term will expire in June 2014.

A wealthy casino executive, former state senator and television news anchor, Lowden was a perceived front-runner among 12 GOP candidates who sought to challenge Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

But her campaign sputtered when she suggested bartering with doctors - like bringing a chicken to the doctor as they did in the olden days - was a valid health care option.

Lowden lost the GOP primary to tea party-backed Sharron Angle, and Reid was re-elected to a fifth term in November.

Pure insanity. And the beat goes on...

10 of '10: Gibbons Be Gone?

While much of the attention (especially among the out of state "politicos") was focused on the topsy turvy US Senate race (and we'll get to that later), probably one of the big stories of 2010 that many just seemed to shrug off was the slow motion collapse of Jim Gibbons' political career.

Back in February, I looked at his last ditch effort to save his political career. Remember what he did? He took his "no new taxes" mantra to such ridiculous lows it would have been laughable...

Oh, joy. He's back to cause more damage and destroy this state. Why is it that it seems like no one is doing anything to stop him?

We all know that "Luv-Guv Gibbons" doesn't give a sh*t about our state. This is all just a grand political game for him. It's his last chance to win the GOP nomination for reelection.

He cares nothing about slashing the social safety net to shreds, denying people badly needed health care, destroying what's left of our education system once and for all, and all around reducing our state to the equivalent of a small, underdeveloped third-world country.

And for what? For a failed far right ideology? For a failed Republican campaign slogan?

If it hadn't worked.

Of course, his "no new taxes" promise was just another lie. He had no problems raising fees on the poor and middle class, so long as it meant sparing the super-rich from paying anything close to their fair share. But even though everyone in Carson City wanted to distance oneself from Gibbons the failed politician, hardly anyone seemed to muster the courage to call out Gibbon's ridiculous policies for the failures they are.

And then, all of a sudden, Gibbons' poll numbers rose. Might the "walking dead man" be in for a resurrection? Perhaps GOP primary voters were responding positively to his "no new taxes" BS, his law suit against federal health care reform, his naked pandering to crazed, xenophobic teabaggers, and all the rest of his political street theater?

Nope, they ultimately didn't...

Or did they?

It seems the Nevada GOoP wanted the appearance of "cleaning house" by removing Gibbons in the primary, but in reality the "moderate" Sandoval has had to flip-flop so far to the right that he's made himself into essentially a carbon copy of Jimbo the Gube (sans scandaliciousness). We'll have to see in the coming weeks and months whether Nevadans want to give Gibbons a second chance... Vicariously, through Sandoval.

I had to stare down this new reality in August, when I read between the lines of all the flowery rhetoric Brian Sandoval was spewing.

Behind Brian Sandoval's flowery rhetoric was something truly frightening. Naomi Klein wrote an amazing book three years ago, called "The Shock Doctrine", that explains how the radical right has used disasters and times of upheaval to sneak through their corporate right agenda of deregulation and privatization. And reading between the lines of Sandoval's statements last night, it became crystal clear he and his economic team are looking to "shock doctrine" Nevada by using our recession and budget crisis to slash public education, starve our entire public infrastructure, and let the corporate welfare agenda roll. [...]

We all know we can't cut our way out of this problem. As we've talked about before, there's hardly anything left to cut! And more and more state legislators are now saying the obvious that we have no choice but to look at new revenue. We know the mining industry can afford to pay its fair share, and we know corporate giants like Wal-Mart and Target have avoided paying their fair share for decades. It's time to finally address this and institute fair and progressive tax reform to save our state.

Pink Floyd summed it up best: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

And what made this even more depressing is that Rory Reid could hardly put up a fight. By the time this ad hit the airwaves...



His fate was sealed.

So now, we're stuck with Brian Sandoval, who is already doing his darndest to become "Gibbons 2.0".

So what does Brian Sandoval want to do? Placate his new teabagger friends by starving the state to death? Or listen to actual knowledgeable people who are urging us to finally make that down payment on diversifying our economy and creating a better Nevada?

Meet the new Gube, same as the old Gube...

But can this story get a different ending? Jon Ralston hinted on Sunday that the demand for a new direction is real...

One of the state’s most successful businessmen was on the phone and he was beside himself — as he said others are — about the upcoming legislative session. But, specifically, about Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval.

“There are a lot of very smart people, and we are all just shaking our heads,” said the business leader, to whom I granted anonymity so he would talk freely. “There were a lot of people who thought he (Sandoval) would get elected and soften his rhetoric.”

Trust me, dear readers, this man is no tax-happy lunatic. He is a thoughtful guy whose business has taken a gigantic hit during the Great Recession. But he — and he says several others who have been meeting to discuss the state’s future — are concerned that the governor-elect’s inflexibility on new revenue could be an impediment to the state’s economic future, especially if cuts in education are implemented.

“The business community is speaking as much as ever with one voice,” he told me. “It’s happening.”

I have heard about this convergence for months, with gaming and mining and chamber types realizing that the lack of a long-term plan while enacting devastating cuts could … obviate the need for a long-term plan.

“If those cuts happen, we’ve gone so far back,” he lamented before his frustration resurfaced. He fretted “people will not stay engaged” and that it “will take 20 years to get back” to a low level of service.

I have picked up on this frustration from other engaged business types, who are sick of the partisan maneuvering and the binary “to tax or not to tax” discussion. And they were counting on Sandoval to be the leader who could move the state beyond it.

But it's increasingly looking like Sandoval won't be the one to provide it. So who will? Look around you. We will have to.

Roots 2 Roots: What Went Right, What Went Wrong, & How to Move Forward

OK, so I've had more time to process what happened. And I had a chance to talk with my old Cali friends at Netroots California last Saturday. And I came out surprisingly hopeful about our future.







While we did have some rough losses in Nevada, overall the picture here was much brighter than the rest of the country. Come on, all the incumbent statewide elected Democrats are reelected while Harry Reid won by over 5.6%! Reid outperformed almost all the public polls. What happened? How come "The Great Red Tide" that destroyed many Dems in many states east of The Rockies was barely a ripple here?

Basically, it comes down to what Harry Reid and Nevada Democrats did right. They invested in getting out the vote. They made our progressive message clear and concise AND accessible to regular voters. And they reached out to minority communities and actually IMPROVED Latin@ turnout over 2006 AND 2008!

It really comes down to this. Even in "wave elections", "the wave" doesn't have to be a monstrous tsunami. Good campaigns still matter. Good field still matters. And good messaging still matters. Harry Reid made all this happen and more.





Ralston explained this on Sunday.

The Reid organization’s Terminator-like single-mindedness, relentlessness and discipline turned preparation into the most satisfying victory of Reid’s career, a resurrection unthinkable most of the year by the Beltway cognoscenti. Combined with an Angle campaign that was thoroughly unprepared for the post-primary onslaught — think of a Little League batter facing Roy Halladay — that by the time the GOP nominee brought in some D.C. pros, the damage was insurmountable.

Interestingly, a similar dynamic appeared in California last Tuesday. More Latin@ voters turned out than ever before. And while Jerry Brown's campaign (for CA Governor) didn't exactly "strike while the iron was hot" on delivering his message or attacking Meg Whitman's record, California unions did. And they delivered, big time!

And Barbara Boxer followed a very similar strategy to Reid's in defining Carly Fiorina early as quite the unacceptable choice, delivering a progressive message in a practical way to attract voters (Hint: Make it real. Make it tangible. Make it about one's pocketbook/wallet/purse.), and turning out Dem voters like crazy.

Again, it comes down to whether Democrats can field good candidates, deliver a good message, and turn out as many allied voters as possible. It worked in California and Nevada... But because the national Democratic groups failed in these categories and many other state parties were in turmoil, that's why the results were so bad elsewhere.

Why didn't other Senate candidates try to turn health care reform and good climate policy into winning arguments? Why didn't other state parties invest more in good GOTV infrastructure? Why didn't the DCCC and DSCC take a closer look at the winning arguments being made by Reid and Boxer?

That's the challenge moving forward. President Obama needs to rethink his messaging. Democrats need to work harder on showing how good progressive policy means more and better jobs. And Democrats nationally need to look at places like Nevada and California to learn how to rebuild good, strong GOTV infrastructure. And if Obama can turn his numbers around and offer a strong and appealing progressive message that reveals the crap the GOP is truly offering and explains how to truly get our nation back on track, he can win handily again and Democrats can soon retake the House and keep the Senate.

It really comes down to that. Oh, and I had a great time in SF... ;-)

But I'm hoping we have an even better time back in Vegas this weekend!