No Rebranding That "TEA"

This should come as no surprise to faithful readers of this site. "Republican rebranding" has been nothing but a majorly EPIC FAIL. Republican "leaders" can try as much soft lighting as they want, but that doesn't change the hard reality of the state of their party in 2014.

Here in Nevada and across the nation, the Republican Party has merely "rebranded" the same crazy "TEA" it's been hawking for the past 5 years. Don't believe us? Believe those primary results.

Still don't believe us? Then turn on your gawd damned TV! Really, grrl. Don't tell us you haven't seen this yet. And don't tell us you still haven't clocked this yet.

Oh, and let's not forget this. Even though Cresent Hardy loves him some "segregation laws" and Cliven Bundy, it's still not enough for Niger Innis and his deep pocketed BFFs. And that may actually be enough for Niger Innis to win the NV-04 G-O-TEA primary!

Get it now? They still like their "TEA" brewed extra strong over in G-O-TEA Land. And the 21st Century Know Nothings the call the shots.

Republican "leaders" can "rebrand" all they want, but they can't make us forget reality. There's ultimately no way to "rebrand" the "TEA" that's come to define the Republican Party of 2014. There's only the choice they're making as to how much more they want to drink.

It's the Field, Stupid

There's a strip mall on Eastern Avenue, near Sunset Park and a short drive away from the back end of Las Vegas' McCarran Airport. It doesn't look all that special at first glance. There's a grocery store. There are a few restaurants. And there are furniture stores.

But take a closer look. There's a new office that just opened there. And that office may very well make an impact on this fall's election results.

Those who have been reading this blog for a while have become quite familiar with the story of how Nevada Democrats win elections. And for those who haven't, here's a helpful hint: It's the field, stupid!









The Nevada State Democratic Party (NSDP) has become such a potent force in this state's politics because it's spent several election cycles building a reputation on field. And it has no plans to let it slide this cycle. So last Friday, over 300 grassroots Democrats came over to the new NSDP field office on Eastern... And caught a first glance of what lies ahead this year.

And they weren't the only ones taking in the scenery. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-North Las Vegas) took some time out of his busy weekend schedule to stop by the new field office and greet a bunch of soon-to-be campaign volunteers.



So did Assembly Member & Lt. Governor candidate Lucy Flores (D). She came by to fire up the crowd and remind them of what's at stake this fall.



Shortly after, it was NV-03 candidate Erin Bilbray's turn at the podium. She talked about her history HERstory with Eastern Avenue, then made a contrast between her Nevada values and what her opponent, incumbent Rep. Joe Heck (R-Henderson), seems to value.



Her father, Former Rep. James Bilbray (D-Las Vegas), joined her, along with her mother, her husband, her children, other family members... And over 300 local grassroots Democratic activists. It was one large family affair.









And this probably won't be the last large family affair in this office in the strip mall on Eastern Avenue. In fact, this is only just the beginning. With so much at stake up & down the ballot this fall, Nevada Democrats don't want to leave anything to mere luck. Luck alone doesn't win elections.

So what does? Look above. Look back. And keep an eye going forward. It's the field, stupid.

Why Republicans Probably Won't Pick @LV2016

Every so often, a certain local journalist and media pundit (cough- Jon Ralston- cough) has been begging national Republicans to bring the 2016 Republican National Convention to Las Vegas. He's certainly tried his best to promote our region to Republicans and make a convincing case why "The Entertainment Capital of the World" should host what may be the most entertaining political party event ever. Unfortunately for Ralston, most Republicans don't want to listen to his case.

But why is that? Ralston has made many good points. The Strip has plenty of quality lodging, dining, and entertainment options. Nevada will likely be a key Swing State that cycle. And Southern Nevada has become a diverse society that would serve as the perfect backdrop for the Republicans' big party.

Unfortunately for Ralston (and all other @LV2016 boosters), the G-O-TEA Culture Warriors strongly object to this. And why's that? Oh, our lodging, dining, and entertainment options threaten their "Judeo-Christian values". In fact, our "entertainment" is so wicked & sinful that it corrupted poor Rep. Vance McAllister (R-Louisiana) from thousands of miles away! (/snark)

And it's not just our lack of "moral values" that will likely prevent "Sin City" from hosting the 2016 Republican National Convention. There's also the matter of the entire Nevada Republican Party's lack of common decency and common sense. Last week, state & local G-O-TEA politicians rushed to sing the praises of Cliven Bundy violating federal law at Gold Butte. They also tacitly endorsed outside G-O-TEA groups meddling in #BundyRanch to the point of encouraging armed conflict with federal public servants who were just attempting to enforce the law.



But wait, there's more. Republicans just concluded their convention... The 2014 Nevada Republican Party Convention, that is. And while most delegates decided to cast a few votes in favor of the 21st century, they nonetheless decided to spurn the Governor they just endorsed for reelection by rejecting nearly all his preferred candidates in other races up & down the ballot. And even after they endorsed a new platform, they're still fighting each other over it!

But hey, at least they agreed to endorse Sue Lowden for Lt. Governor.



Apparently, all of this finally weighed on Jon Ralston as he prepared to say farewell to his fantasy of the 2016 Republican National Convention playing out in his back yard...

"Thanks to #BundyRanch and @NVGOP folks for providing great advertisement today why @LV2016 should happen. Thanks, geniuses."

Except that he forgot to mention Nevada Republicans' other great shining moment from last week.



Hillary Clinton may have had a shoe thrown at her, but Republicans are ultimately throwing away whatever chance they have left of defeating her in 2016 by embracing so much crazy. And this visual must be terrifying those in charge of the Republican National Committee.

This is why Republicans probably won't pick Las Vegas to host their 2016 national convention. While Southern Nevada is home to a diverse electorate who likely resembles the future of America, "Republican rebranding" has accomplished nothing but the repeat of the same old lame excuses of why the G-O-TEA base rejects 21st century America. And even though Nevada is a key state that Republicans need to win more often in order to remain a nationally relevant party, the Nevada Republican Party long ago lost interest in winning elections as it's pursued ideological "purity" to the point of endorsing "Chickens for Checkups" and armed anarchy. Southern Nevada can all too easily remind everyone of why the Republican Party has become radically out of touch with the mainstream electorate, and this is why the Republican National Committee will likely "rebrand" itself into a convention somewhere else.

(Sorry, Jon Ralston.)

Basic Instinct

Hey, someone has to do it. So who will it be? Kevin Drum can't figure it out yet. And frankly, we're having trouble with it as well.

So who will Republicans nominate in 2016? All we can say at this point is that whoever wins that nomination will have turned up the crazy to whole new levels. And whoever wins that nomination probably will have done so by pandering to the basest of base elements.

But why? Why is this likely bound to happen? Don't Republicans want to win? Oh, yes they do... But they're counting on voter suppression "purging" to do the trick.

And perhaps that has helped them win some races here & there. However, not even that can guarantee nationwide viability going into the future. They can't simply purge every non-Republican voter off the rolls.

Ultimately, Republicans need to offer voters more than just hollow "rebranding" in order to expand their ranks. But instead of that, they're just offering failure to govern, warmed over "Culture War" hysteria, and unnecessary hardship. And they're wondering why their 2016 polls look so damned ugly?

They need to pay closer attention to the state of their own party in 2014. They need to pay closer attention to why the Nevada Republican Party has become nothing more than a glorified political fight club. They need to pay closer attention to why their empty slogans don't translate into functioning policies.

We know basic is hardly ever something to aspire to, but we also know that far too many Republican Party "leaders" fail to recognize the basic reality that their party will ultimately be screwed if it fails to adapt to the reality of 21st century America. It's so basic, yet it's so out of their grasp. And if it remains out of their grasp in 2014, they'll eventually regret it come 2016.

Drop the Kool-Aid

They can't say we didn't warn them. We did. In fact, we did multiple times. We distinctly remember this somber warning from May 2012.

[... W]inning elections doesn't happen by just demanding "purity" and throwing a temper tantrum when that doesn't happen. Believe it or not, temper tantrums don't win elections. This is something we often have to grapple with on the left, but now we're seeing this unfold on the right at a level that I've never seen before. [...]

Ron Paul's supporters care deeply for their libertarian beliefs, and they're set to accept nothing less than full fealty to those beliefs. But in pursuing complete ideological purity, they're also set to lose a whole lot of elections because they simply don't care about that stuff. This is why Nevada Republicans are in such dire straits. And it should serve as an important lesson to all the rest of us trying to balance ideological wishes with political reality.

Hey, we tried. It just sucks for them that they refused to listen to us. Instead, the Nevada Republican Party keeps doubling down on crazy.

We've said it before, but we must say it again today. Sharron Angle likely has more control over the Nevada Republican Party than anyone who's actually supposed to be a "leader" in Carson City or DC. As much as Brian Sandoval would like to deny it and John Boehner would like to hide it, that's the awful and crazy truth that we saw unfold over the course of this year. 

Never mind that Sharron Angle currently holds no elected office and has no official position with the Nevada Republican Party. She and her "TEA Party, Inc." BFFs have provided the ideology that's now the heart and soul of today's Republican Party. And as a result, many Republicans are still defending their crazy actions.

This is why we weren't surprised by the debut of the new Nevada Republican Party pre-primary endorsement questionnaire. This is also why we weren't surprised by the decision of Neena Laxalt and Sue Wagner to leave the Nevada Republican Party. And this is why we're not surprised by the newest episode of "Republicans Eating Their Own".

As the state and national Republican Party continue to fracture into "a million little pieces", Republican "leaders" keep trying to find hot new ways to put all those pieces back together. They've tried new technology. They've tried new "principles". They've tried "rebranding". They've tried "reinvention". And it probably won't be long before they try an "intervention from Jesus".

Have they ever thought about trying to quit their addiction to Sharron Angle's Kool-Aid? No matter how hard they try, no amount of meaningless cosmetic changes can cure the illness that's been caused by the poison they've been drinking for far too long. If they want to survive, let alone heal, they need to drop the Kool-Aid.

Your G-O-TEA Caucus Primer for Today

Here's all you need to know about the train wreck excitement culminating here today:

- Mitt Romney will spin just about anything that happens tonight as a "hard won victory". Despite swamping our state with his ads (Have you seen Facebook lately? Channel 8? I-15?), outspending everyone else, and starting here with a natural built-in advantage from 2008, Mittens will want all of us to know he had to "work so hard" to win the caucus.

- Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich will be trying to spin any kind of 2nd place finish as a "stunning, come-from-behind victory". Guess who reemerged on MSNBC yesterday to spin this?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

She's back! Hi, Suzy. So how are the chickens doing?

No wonder why Newton is doomed here.

- Guess who's also reemerged from political obscurity? She's also back!



Oh yes, but not even Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrron can save "Frothy" Ricky Santorum's faltering campaign. No wonder why he fled to Missouri last night.

- Oh, and then there's Ron Paul. Like Mittens, he will also be spinning anything as a "hard won victory".



Of course, all he cares about is the delegate count. As long as he keeps piling up delegates, Ron Paul can throw a temper tantrum before the convention and try to extract concessions from Republican leadership.

- And then we have the Nevada G-O-TEA itself. Can it manage to attract 100,000 people to caucus today? 50,000? Considering Mittens' already looking like the winner of today, and considering the good economic numbers President Obama can now bank on, will Nevadans be eager to caucus today? Oh yes, and since only registered Republicans can participate today, that also limits turnout.

Gotcha, Mittens.

In case you were too busy enjoying your Saturday night, here's the soundbite that has the Beltway pundit crowd a-Twitter...



Mitt Romney, meet Sue Lowden.



She learned the hard way about the side effects of "foot-in-mouth disease".

But wait, why are we even talking about this? Why does this matter? How does this elevate the tone of the campaign?

Let me explain.

Just how long have we had to hear Mitt Romney claim he has "real economic experience"? And how long have we had to endure endless media blathering about Romney being so "electable" because he supposedly has "the right message on the economy"? As much as I'd personally like for him to be exposed simply due to the (lack of) merits of his economic policies alone, today's media orchestrated circus just doesn't work like that... And that's what Romney was counting upon.

But just as "Tea Party, Inc.", took advantage of Sue Lowden exposing her own politically fatal flaws last year, Romney is undoing his own political house of cards and allowing his opponents a great opportunity to use this moment to highlight the building narrative of "out-of-touch poor lil' rich guy Mittens". And just as Lowden exposed herself as clueless on any of the real issues impacting working class families, Romney is now doing the same.

DNC officials, starting with press secretary Melanie Roussell, began tweeting a #What10kbuys hashtag to amplify their message, with items like a year of daycare for the average family. Within less than a half hour of the debate’s end, it was one of the top trending topics not just in Iowa, or in the United States, but around the world, according to Twitter.

“I’ll bet you ten thousand beers Mitt lives to regret that $10K bet line,” Democratic strategist Paul Begala tweeted.

The episode recalled Romney’s “corporations are people” moment at an Iowa event, which Democrats pounced on in similar fashion. Romney responded to that episode, which many observers interpreted as a gaffe at the time, by doubling down on the line and using it again on the trail and in his official economic plan.

I'll bet you 10,000 blog diaries that Mitt Romney can no longer hide his disdain for policies that help working class families or his allegiance to failed "trickle down economics" nonsense behind a slick ad campaign.

Mitt Romney: The New Sue Lowden?

Was that the turning point for Mitt Romney? Why does this feel so much like deja vu?



Suzy Lowdown can certainly attest to what happens when "foot-in-mouth disease" combines with loathing from "the base" to make a special brew of ballot box poison.

[Texas Governor] Rick Perry has taken the lead nationally, but GOP voters are really starting to catch on with his campaign in key primary states as well. Recently, Perry's stormed to the front in South Carolina and Iowa in multiple surveys, and a Republican poll out Friday shows him at the top in another early state in the GOP nomination process: Nevada.

A Magellan Strategies poll out Friday showed that Perry is the first choice of 29 percent of [Nevada] GOP caucus-goers, followed by former [Massachusetts Governor] Mitt Romney at 24 percent. The survey shows pretty much a two way race: the rest of the field is in single digits, and former contender Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is down to fourth with 6 percent, behind businessman Herman Cain's 7. [...]

Romney had held a solid lead in a Public Policy Polling (D) survey of Nevada during early August, when Perry was just about to officially enter the race. But in the following weeks Perry has clearly built up support at the expense of other candidates, like Bachmann. "Looking at responses by voter subgroup, we find male voters and seniors (voters aged 65 or older) leaning heavily towards Rick Perry," reads the Magellan memo on the Nevada poll. "Among self-identified tea party 'members,' which make up 49% of all respondents, Rick Perry has a 20 point lead over Mitt Romney."

Ruh roh.

Romney was depending on a big Nevada Caucus win as part of his "firewall strategy". Iowa is already turning out to be a real hell in a hand basket situation for him, and South Carolina is increasingly looking as good as gone for poor lil' rich guy Mittens. Romney's whole campaign has been built on him being "inevitable", but his "inevitability" is falling like a house of cards. And all of a sudden, he has nothing else to stand on... Except for his mountains of money, that is.

Again, Sweet Sue can attest to being stood up by "Tea Party, Inc." when the "inevitable", "electable" one gets sidelined by "The Real Deal"... As in real batsh*t crazy. It's becoming increasingly obvious that the teabaggers control today's GOP, and they're not really interested in milquetoast.



Ricky, meet Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrron.



Mittens may have the GOP establishment on his side, but so did Suzy... And look what happened to her. Teabaggers demand purity, and Rick Perry is doing his darndest to give them exactly that... Just like Sharron Angle did.

Of course, voters in the general election will probably respond quite differently, especially since that electorate has been changing dramatically in the last 20 years.

[...T]here is a real danger that Republican leaders and strategists will interpret a strong showing in the midterm election as vindication for a strategy based largely on energizing the Party’s conservative white base. That base is indeed energized. But it is also shrinking due to the steady growth in the size of the nonwhite electorate. By 2020 nonwhites will probably make up over a third of the American electorate.

Unless Republicans can expand their support among nonwhite voters, they will have to win a much larger share of the white vote than they have in any recent presidential election in order to remain competitive. However, increasing the Republican share of the nonwhite vote would require the GOP to move closer to the ideological center on issues such as government services, health care and immigration—a shift that would be certain to arouse intense opposition from conservative pundits and activists. Regardless of what happens in this year’s midterm elections, Republican leaders will soon face a difficult choice between reaching out to nonwhite voters or continuing to cater to their Party’s shrinking base.

Yes, Republicans, keep running further and further to the radical right. This is definitely your ticket to victory (for Democrats).

By the way, Justin explains this even better.

The results of a Magellan Strategies poll has Rick Perry leading Mitt Romney by 5% in the Nevada 2012 Republican Presidential Caucus. With Mitt Romney winning Nevada in 2008 (neighbor to Utah and home to many Mormons), these results are a little surprising. What do these results tell us about Nevada Republicans and their chances of winning in 2012?

In 2010, Nevada Republicans chose Sharron Angle, by popular vote, to run against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Nevada GOP has already shown us that they prefer the extreme to the electable. This poll, a little over a year later, indicates little has changed. No lesson learned.

Harry Reid’s approval ratings in Nevada were much lower than Obama’s ever have been. Yet he was able to defeat Sharron Angle. So if Rick Perry (who probably even scares Sharron Angle a little bit) wins in a Nevada Republican Presidential Caucus, President Obama’s 2012 reelection bid is looking pretty good.

No wonder why President Obama isn't panicking too much over today's toxic political environment.

NV-Sen: If I Hear Any More About Byron Georgiou...

If I hear any more about Byron Georgiou being some "po' lil' rich dude" being "besieged" and "relentlessly attacked" by "Big Bad HARRY REID!!!", I will scream. And I will scream so loudly, drunken tourists on The Strip will tremble.

Are the media that foolish? Or are they that desperate for headlines that they need to overlook the real story just to celebrate conflict? Remember this?

Robert Uithoven, campaign manager for [Sue] Lowden, said Democrats’ claims of neutrality in the Republican primary are “completely inconsistent with (Reid’s) actions and those of his political allies.”

Reid is trying to backpedal because Lowden has used his attacks to boost her campaign, he said.

“They haven’t been neutral all along,” Uithoven said. “They realized a little accidental honesty has been hurting them, by making the case Sue Lowden was the candidate he feared. So now he has a new set of talking points they’re rushing out there.”

And remember why this was happening?

But wait, whatever happened to that "conservative value" that is personal responsibility? Did Suzy Lowdown and Bobby Uithoven miss that day's lesson in "GOoP Talking Points 101"? How is Ms. Suzy pulling herself up by her own bootstraps when she wants Harry Reid to tie them for her?

See how ridiculous they really sound? Again, Suzy Lowdown refuses to acknowledge that her crazy words wrecked her own campaign. And instead of realizing that the teabaggers are abandoning her in droves to go for "real deal" Obtuse Angle, she'd rather just try one more "Hail Mary Pass" to save her rapidly collapsing campaign by blaming it all on Harry Reid.

Who would have guessed that a year later, a "Democrat" would be parroting the same desperate lines from REPUBLICAN Sue Lowden, all in a ridiculous ploy to distract the media from his own self-created problems?

“I told them a month ago that I was quitting the board effective at the July 12 board meeting because I don’t have time to serve on a public company board while I’m running for the Senate,” he said in an interview for To the Point.

Georgiou was defiant throughout the interview, accusing Reid of playing “petty politics” to get him out of the Senate race.

“So now he is playing petty politics and has selective memory lapses and is manufacturing the facts in order to assist the person he now supports, who he didn’t previously support, for the U.S .Senate race,” Georgiou said.

There's nothing the media love more than a juicy, sordid, salacious tale of melodramatic conflict. And right now, Byron Georgiou is ramping it up and vamping it up. Why? Simple. He now has multiple scandals on his hands, his campaign is spinning out of control, and he'd much rather focus the media on "Big Bad HARRY REID!!!" "bullying" him than address his own role in outsourcing jobs from the country or not being able to handle his own finances.

Byron Georgiou, meet Sue Lowden.



Neither of them can simply admit to their own respective mistakes, deciding instead to try to bait the media into blaming everything on Harry Reid. This is nothing but a petty, silly attempt to spin away one's own faults by claiming someone else is responsible for them. And since Georgiou doesn't seem to want to either honestly address his own problems or debate Shelley Berkley on the real issues of the day (you know, like JOBS! And housing, energy, climate, civil rights, etc.), I guess all we can expect from him for however long he intends to continue his "Byron Georgiou for Keeping Byron Georgiou in the News AND Doing Dean Heller's Dirty Work for Him!" campaign is more of this same, old failed crap.

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: "It's TEA Time"

Of all the factors that went into making the 2010 Election so wild and crazy, none quite shaped it and turned it in such a batshit crazy direction as "the tea party".

I was at the "Showdown in Searchlight" in March, and I saw for myself what actually happened.

So how did the "tea party" in Searchlight go? Well, they certainly brought in a big crowd... But it wasn't the 10,000 organizers had originally hoped for, and nowhere near the 20,000 they were claiming yesterday (more like 7-8,000). The big draw for their event was really Sarah Palin, as she got most of the attention and the biggest crowds. Multiple reports so far confirm that after Palin left the stage (and before most of the Nevada GOP candidates were set to speak), the crowds started emptying the valley they were occupying. When I was with the pro-Reid rally in town, about 90% of the cars heading to the "tea party" rally were from out of state (with, again, the bulk of those being California and Arizona righties). And when our shuttle was leaving town on the way back up to Vegas, about 80% of the cars parked along and near Highway 95 for the "tea party" rally were from out of state.

Basically, a few big money corporate lobby groups bankrolled it and led "caravans" of out of state teabaggers into Searchlight.

And really, it set the tone for the entire rest of the year. Just as it looked like the Nevada GOP establishment had settled on Sue Lowden to win the US Senate nomination, Tea Party Express and Club for Growth then rushed in to lavish millions of dollars of ads to buy the GOP nomination for Sharron Angle.

In July, we ripped open the thin veneer of "grassroots enthusiasm" to uncover who was really behind Sharron Angle's meteoric rise to political superstardom. Behind the "blue collar" looking "tea party activists" with their misspelled signs and ragtag "rallies", a slick group of California Republican operatives were pulling the strings for (and OF, for that matter!) Sharron Angle the whole damned time.

So they lied about Bush's war in Iraq, they lied about what they actually saw there, they lied their way into the California Recall [special election in 2003] 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 believ[ing] 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.

They may claim to be "helping the grassroots defeat Harry Reid", but what Sal Russo and his band of corporate funded California Republican PR operatives, along with their high profile national cheerleaders like Sarah Palin, are really up to is a national campaign to replace Democrats like Harry Reid who can think for themselves and help working families in their states with corporate tools like Sharron Angle who will do as they say, NOT as we Nevadans would like.

So was it really that much of a surprise that, in the wake of "Barter-gate", Sue Lowden's campaign imploded when forced to go against "Tea Party, Inc."?

And was that really that much of a surprise that our lovely "newspaper" would cover the entire Senate race like this?

Bullshit, crap, more crap, blow job for Ronald Reagan, miss old Ronnie, hate Harry, bullshit, more bullshit, pure unadulterated crap, derivative crap, insightful conservative hate speech, more crap, small turds, bigger turds, little rat publisher flatulence, bla, bla bla, love the governor, all lies about the governor, the governor didn't do any of that, apologist, flatulence, still hate Reid, both of them, Shelley Berkley, lucky she's in that gerrymandered district, more flatulence, Dina Taxes is in trouble, she won but she's in trouble, hate democrats, love the tea baggers, love the conservatives, lovin Ronnie Reagan, George who?, bullshit, crap, more crap, the only thing I like about the beltway is the name, damn people speeding, crap, bla, crap, bla, shit, bla ffffffffffftttttttt(a tribute to Mad Magazine!)

So after the primary, Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrron then tried an "extreme makeover"... But hardly anyone was buying it, not even many of her fellow Republicans! One key turning point was the sudden swelling of "Republicans for Reid" over the course of the year, a trend that seemed to accelerate once Sharron Angle won the GOP nomination.









And from there, Sharron Angle's campaign just spun out of control. She flip-flopped on her "juice". She insulted autistic kids. She insulted cancer survivors. She insulted basically the entire Las Vegas Strip...

And the teabaggers were cheering her on the whole entire way. No matter what she said or what she did, she was their "angel" and Harry Reid was some variation of "devil". It didn't matter what facts got in the way...

And that's how "Tea Party, Inc." liked it.

But thankfully, most Nevadans weren't buying it. However, we didn't totally escape unscathed. Harry Reid may have prevailed, but there was some carnage further down the ballot. And moving forward, we need to be able to point out the vapidity of "the tea party", just as Reid did.

Sharrontology, Meet Suzy Lowdown

Remember this?



Now look at this.



Sue Lowden imploded her own campaign with "Barter-gate". She demonstrated she knew nothing about good health care policy, she knew nothing about working class families and what they're enduring right now, and she knew nothing about how to keep her campaign functioning.



Sound familiar? Deja vu!



And deja vu?

Here's another fun data point in the Nevada Senate race. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is now being given a five-point lead over Sharron Angle -- by a Republican polling firm.

As Jon Ralston reports, a survey conducted for the Retail Association of Nevada by a well-known GOP polling firm, Public Opinion Strategies, showed the following numbers: Reid 45%, Angle 40%, plus 1% for Tea Party candidate Scott Ashjian. The survey of likely voters has a ±4.38% margin of error. The last publicly-released POS survey of this race was all the way back in February, and put Reid ahead of Angle and Ashjian by 37%-32%-16%.

According to this poll, Reid's favorable rating is only 44%, with 51% unfavorable -- a position that ought to spell political death for an incumbent. However, Angle is even lower at 38%-52%.

So once again, the Nevada GOoP looks to be succeeding in wresting defeat from the jaws of victory. And once again, their "chosen one" is sinking to complete absurdity.

Angle says women ‘staged the fight’ to detract from supposed news at non-debate [...]

Yes, that's what Senate hopeful Sharron Angle told national radio interviewer Jerry Doyle today about that scuffle at last night's Faith Lutheran forum, once again invoking Saul Alinsky. Angle seems to think every Democrat has read his works. Alinsky was a leftist community organizer and Angle loves talking about how her foes are using his techniques to disrupt her.

But can she possibly believe this was a set-up fight? What? As if that stepped on some great news event for her?

Deja vu?



All over again?





Sharrontology, meet Suzy Lowdown. And prepare for the same political fate.

She's just as out of touch.

As the forum ended and Angle turned to leave the stage, a woman approached her to ask why she wants to limit help for people with autism. The Reid campaign this week released video of Angle in which she appears to criticize a Nevada mandate that requires insurance companies to cover treatment for autism.

Angle ignored the question. Her handlers had warned that she would not be speaking with anyone after the event. They had to whisk her away to catch a flight to Reno for a morning fundraiser.

Angle looked past the woman, waved to the crowd one last time and walked away.

And she's just as clueless. Nevada is suffering. America is suffering! We need real help, not real crazy. People are looking for jobs, looking to save their homes, looking for someone who will represent us in Washington and work hard for working families. We didn't need Sue Lowden's nonsense, and we certainly don't need Sharron Angle's.

And she's just as clueless. Nevada is suffering. America is suffering! We need real help, not real crazy. People are looking for jobs, looking to save their homes, looking for someone who will represent us in Washington and work hard for working families. We didn't need Sue Lowden's nonsense, and we certainly don't need Sharron Angle's.

Bad policy. Bad attitude. Just plain bad for Nevada. Sharrontology.

Sharrontology Spinning Out of Control

Oh, jeez. It gets worse. Sharrontology attacks the workers of CityCenter, bashes Harry Reid's work to secure financing so MGM Resorts could finish CityCenter, and now lies about it by calling it "stimulus" and "bailout" that she "would not have voted for".





HUH??!! Reid helped secure funding... Private funds. There was no TARP money involved, and there was no ARRA money involved. Clearly, Sharrontology Obtuse Angle knows nothing of which she speaks.

And by the way, Reid has worked hard both to bring our tax dollars home to create jobs AND to encourage private companies to come here to Nevada to create jobs.





And if you think that's bad enough, it gets worse. Much, much worse!

Sharron Angle, the Republican nominee for Senate in Nevada against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, fired back at Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT), who predicted that she would lose to Harry Reid because of her associations with the Tea Party movement. In response, she says that Bennett, who lost his renomination at the state GOP convention this spring, has "outlived his usefulness."

"I'm glad to be lumped to a crowd of mainstream Americans who believe as they showed at the polls that Sen. Bennett has outlived his usefulness. I suppose he's not mainstream any longer," Angle said during an appearance Monday on the Neil Cavuto show. "He has become one of those elitists that is no longer in touch with what the country is really thinking about in these economic times."

"Not mainstream"? "Elitist"? Oh boy, Sharrontology didn't wait long to resume attacks against her own fellow Republicans for not being batsh*t crazy wingnutty enough for her own personal taste. And for the record, Bob Bennett was defeated at a convention, NOT at the ballot box.

And wait, I thought Sharrontology didn't like "death panels"... Apparently when she's a death panel of one making all the life-or-death decisions, she relishes it!

Oh, and Bob Bennett not alone in rejecting her extremism. An increasing number of Nevada Republicans are doing the same.

A growing number of Nevada Republicans are expressing skepticism over Angle's Senate candidacy. Some are even signaling they may not vote for the GOP contender over Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in November.

Mayor Geno Martini, the Republican mayor of Sparks, Nev., bucked his own party this week when he endorsed Reid over Angle.

"Harry Reid's been very good for us for many, many years," Martini said of his decision to support the majority leader. "We can't rely on a new person, especially Sharron Angle, to do anything for us here in Sparks."

After first withholding her support, former Nevada Congresswoman Barbara Vucanovich, a well-respected figure in the party, announced this week that she would back Angle. But Vucanovich's endorsement ended up sounding more like a scolding.

"I said, 'Sharron, you're scaring the bejesus out of everybody,'" Vucanovich told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, describing "a long, candid conversation" with Angle. "I told her you better make damn sure people really understand what you're trying to do." [...]

State Sen. William Raggio, who Angle tried but failed to unseat in 2008, recently said he will "find it very difficult to support" the Senate candidate and also wagered he's hardly the only member of the Nevada GOP who has concerns.

"I would say there are a lot of Republicans who will find it difficult to support Sharron Angle," Raggio said shortly after the Nevada primary. "Abolishing the Department of Education, phasing out Social Security, those are pretty extreme positions. I think any incumbent is vulnerable, but you have to have somebody that is also acceptable if you're going to win."

Republican Reno Mayor Bob Cashell, who backed Angle's GOP primary opponent, Sue Lowden, recently criticized Angle by calling her an "ultra right-winger." Cashell does not mince words when it comes to Angle: "Our state [would] suffer and we would never get anything done." The Reno mayor intends to hit the campaign trail for Reid.

No wonder why Sharrontology has to depend on corporate funded outsiders like Sal Russo, Ralph Reed, Dick Morris to raise money. If even a growing chorus of conservative Republicans are rejecting Sharrontology, she's toast... Or should I say charbroiled chicken?



And by the way, why wasn't Suzy Lowdown at the GOoP Convention last weekend? Hit too close to home for Sweet Suzy? She now has the experience to smell the start of a losing campaign?

Sharrontology Emerges from the Bunker... And Blames Reid for It

(Btw, Sharrontology has apparently scrubbed and "relaunched" her "new web site"... But you can still find Obtuse Angle's original batsh*t crazy here.)

Surprise, surprise! Sharrontology is coming out of her bunker!



And look where she landed. Oh, jeez...

Ralston played back the audio, with accompanying on-screen text, from an interview that Angle gave with a conservative talk radio host back in January. "You know, our Founding Fathers, they put that Second Amendment in there for a good reason, and that was for the people to protect themselves against a tyrannical government. And in fact Thomas Jefferson said, it's good for a country to have a revolution every 20 years," Angle said. "I hope that's not where we're going, but, you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying, my goodness, what can we do to turn this country around? I'll tell you, the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out."

"A lot of people think that's pretty outrageous rhetoric," Ralston said, referring to the language about "take Harry Reid out," and asked Angle whether she thought President Obama was a tyrant comparable to King George III.

"Well, I was speaking broadly, as you saw, about the Constitution, and that was the context of that rhetoric," Angle responded. "I admit that was a little strong to say 'take him out,' but you know what I meant. I meant take him out of office, and taking him out of office is a little different. I changed my rhetoric, to 'defeat Harry Reid.'"

Ralston continued to ask Angle whether she had gone too far.

"You know what, Jon," Angle responded, "I think it's interesting that we're nitpicking on all the little topics that Harry is putting out there."

"Harry Reid didn't put this out there," an excited Ralston said. "You put it out there."

So this is the new Sharrontology? Try to explain away dangerously radical positions, then try to blame everything on Harry Reid? Whatever happened to that 'conservative value" of personal responsibility? Why is Sharrontology Obtuse Angle now morphing into... SUZY LOWDOWN??!!

But wait, whatever happened to that "conservative value" that is personal responsibility? Did Suzy Lowdown and Bobby Uithoven miss that day's lesson in "GOoP Talking Points 101"? How is Ms. Suzy pulling herself up by her own bootstraps when she wants Harry Reid to tie them for her?

See how ridiculous they really sound? Again, Suzy Lowdown refuses to acknowledge that her crazy words wrecked her own campaign. And instead of realizing that the teabaggers are abandoning her in droves to go for "real deal" Obtuse Angle, she'd rather just try one more "Hail Mary Pass" to save her rapidly collapsing campaign by blaming it all on Harry Reid.

Well, we can now rest assured that personal responsibility wasn't covered in Sharrontology's "GOoP Talking Points 101" class... But "pass the buck" and "no matter what, blame everything on Reid" were. And now, Sharrontology is trying to blame Harry Reid for all the things she said (that's all, folks, and no one ever forced her to say those things!) and for the media asking questions on where she really stands on the 2nd Amendment, abortion, taxes, Yucca, Social Security, and more. Come on, haven't we seen this tried before by Suzy Lowdown?

So is this the new campaign slogan? "Sharrontology Obtuse Angle: Even Crazier than Suzy Lowdown, But It's All Reid's Fault."

One More Time...

One more tribute to the fallen (unintentionally comedic) legend Suzy Lowdown...



She'll be remembered as Nevada's Norma Desmond...





Or will she? Oh hell, her campaign was one extra crazy hot mess from the start! Maybe it was more like this...



Or this?

NV-Sen: LA Times Misses the Point (That Ralston Gets), While LV Sun Provides Glimpse into GOoP Mind

Isn't it always interesting when the outsiders take a look in and notice what we're doing? Today The LA Times tries to do that by reporting on our US Senate race. And while the story isn't all that bad, I'm not a fan of how they framed the piece.

If Republican Sharron Angle wins her party's Senate primary Tuesday, it will be a victory for the soft-spoken perpetual candidate, Nevada's conservative diehards, the national "tea party" movement and underdogs everywhere.

It will also be a huge win for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The Nevada Democrat has been working for months — some might say years — to cast his own opponent in the against-all-odds drama that is his reelection campaign. With dismal approval ratings and an anti-incumbent political climate, Reid is so vulnerable that Washington insiders have been debating who the next majority leader might be.

But Reid, known to some in Nevada as the "meddler in chief," is considered a master of nudging pieces to fall just so. And so it appears that during the GOP primary he is trying — with some success — to boost his chances of a general election victory. [...]

Reid can't — and doesn't — claim to be working the levers behind the GOP primary. Nor could he have anticipated how tea party forces would fuel Angle's shoestring campaign or how gaffes would dog Lowden's. And no matter who wins Tuesday, Reid will face a fierce election fight.

So let me get this straight, the outcome of the GOP primary is all Harry Reid's doing? Really? Or could it be something else?

My dears, this is why it's often best to trust the locals... Especially Nevada political experts like Jon Ralston!

The consensus among national and local Republicans, and a pundit or two, was that Sue Lowden was easily at the top of a second-tier field of GOP hopefuls and would be formidable against a vulnerable Harry Reid. But something happened on the path to the anointment: Lowden bartered away her front-runner status by trading her slick, TV-anchor-trained persona for a frivolous, unprepared dilettante who couldn’t get out of her own way.

It’s not just about chickens for health care, although her stubborn refusal to kill what should have been a two-day story and instead allow it to be become a national sensation, was one of the worst gaffes I have seen in a major campaign. But her dithering on the Civil Rights Act and her bizarre take on climate change — among other warning signs — showed the former anchorwoman was not ready for her close-up.

So as national Republicans called into the state, surely with expletive-filled tirades, to discern what was happening and to try to stop her free-fall, the Tea Party Express and Club for Growth catapulted Angle from a distant third place to serendipitous front-runner status. She could never have done this on her own — Angle has never been able to raise enough money to pay for the kind of campaign infrastructure and get-out-the-vote operation Lowden bought. But she almost toppled Dean Heller in a congressional race and Bill Raggio in a state Senate contest because of her core support and, in the Heller battle, because of the Club for Growth’s checkbook.

If Angle wins, it will be for two reasons: Lowden opened the door enough and outside forces pushed her through the aperture.[Emphasis mine.]

See that? It seems the national media don't know what to think of this topsy-turvy Senate race. So what did LAT do? Buy Bobby Uithoven's primal whines lock, stock, and barrel? Really?

I guess they forgot to read what I said on Thursday:

But wait, whatever happened to that "conservative value" that is personal responsibility? Did Suzy Lowdown and Bobby Uithoven miss that day's lesson in "GOoP Talking Points 101"? How is Ms. Suzy pulling herself up by her own bootstraps when she wants Harry Reid to tie them for her?

See how ridiculous they really sound? Again, Suzy Lowdown refuses to acknowledge that her crazy words wrecked her own campaign. And instead of realizing that the teabaggers are abandoning her in droves to go for "real deal" Obtuse Angle, she'd rather just try one more "Hail Mary Pass" to save her rapidly collapsing campaign by blaming it all on Harry Reid.

It really comes back to this:



And it's not just "Barter-gate" itself, but really Suzy Lowdown just letting her campaign spin out of control. It wasn't Harry Reid's doing. And if anyone "from the outside" has been meddling in the Nevada GOoP Primary, it's been "Tea Party, Inc.", with all its big corporate bucks, trying to buy the election for "Obtuse" Sharron Angle. But of course, Ms. Suzy can't say this in public, as she'd look like a hypocrite (and rightly so) for trying to buy the election with her big corporate bucks.

And the result of all the GOoP infighting over chickens and checks and L. Ron Hubbard? The GOoP voters aren't all that thrilled.

“I think Republicans kept telling themselves, ‘We’re angry, this is our year,’ but there hasn’t been that much emotional attachment to this election,” said Eric Herzik, a UNR political scientist. “You don’t see it in rallies. You don’t see it in debates. The party is fractured by 12 candidates, and none of them has captured the hearts of Republican voters.”

Herzik said the candidates had failed to articulate solutions to Nevada’s problems, instead running campaigns based on personal ideology and electability.

“Anger gets you halfway there,” he said. “To really activate a broader spectrum, you have to give them a reason to turn out. You have to say what you are for. These campaigns have been all about what they’re against.”

Indeed, voters expressed that frustration time and again, offering lukewarm appraisals of the Republican contenders. The word most often used to describe the quality of the field: OK.

Lois Tribbet, a 73-year-old telephone operator who voted for Lowden, said she found it difficult to muster enthusiasm.

“I’m in turmoil right now over who we have to work with,” she said. “Nobody’s talking about how they’re really going to fix things. Everything is so negative right now, and I don’t see anybody who’s going to really turn things around.”

And why should they be? None of their "frontrunners" have offered any sort of meaningful policy solutions. It's all just become one big, ridiculous circus. And that's all the Nevada GOoP's own failing making.

NV-Sen, NV-Gov: Even Kos Admits Harry Reid Isn't Dead... But Work Still Cut out for Rory

My goodness! Can you feel the earthquake being felt from DC to SF? The DK/R2K poll is out, and...

It's the GOP's numbers that have fallen off a cliff. And one of them will emerge from the primary battered, bruised and broke, only to run into not just Reid's gazillions, but also with an agenda woefully out-of-step with Nevada.

I'll admit it -- I had written Reid off. But if there's a developing theme in this political season, it's the GOP's ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. And we can give the tea baggers a hearty and sincere "thank you" for doing the seemingly impossible -- making our bumbling Dems look good by comparison.

And why is he saying this?

General Election [June]

Harry Reid (D) 43 (41)
Sharon Angle (R) 37 (44)
Scott Ashjian (TP) 2 (5)

Harry Reid (D) 42 (41)
Sue Lowden (R) 38 (45)
Scott Ashjian (TP) 2 (4)

Harry Reid (D) 43 (41)
Danny Tarkanian (R) 39 (43)
Scott Ashjian (TP) 2 (6)

[Republican Primary]

Sharon Angle (R) 34 (13)
Sue Lowden (R) 25 (38)
Danny Tarkanian (R) 24 (28)

Favorable/Unfavorable

Reid (D) 40/52 (37/53)
Angle (R) 38/41 (41/29)
Lowden (R) 39/40 (42/34)
Tarkanian (R) 40/38 (44/33)

[January]

Harry Reid (D) 42
Sue Lowden (R) 51

Harry Reid (D) 41
Danny Tarkanian (R) 52

Reid (D) 34/55
Lowden (R) 45/26
Tarkanian (R) 48/31

As we had talked about yesterday, DC pundits are now starting to see in the Senate race what we've been seeing for some time. The Republicans have absolutely nothing to offer. They have no real policy solutions for anything. All they have are chickens and Scientology and famous last names. It's nice to see that Markos is also starting to understand now how our election is going.

But jeez, if only more of this magic could rub off on the Gube race...

[General]

Brian Sandoval (D) 51
Rory Reid (R) 41

Jim Gibbons (R) 31
Rory Reid (D) 52

[Primary]

Brian Sandoval (R) 48
Jim Gibbons (R) 27
Mike Montandon (R) 6

Ugh. I guess there's more to do to get Nevadans to realize what's really at stake. Yes, Jim Gibbons' horrible train wreck of a career in Carson City is mercifully coming to an end... But do we really want to be stuck with this guy?



Really, this guy?



This guy?



This guy??!!



Come on, THIS GUY??!!



Obviously, we still have our work cut out for us with the Gubernatorial race. Sandoval still thinks he can get away with telling the teabaggers one thing, more moderate-to-progressive groups something else, and the media something entirely different. And since we don't have much time left to expose him for what he really is, we need to get moving.

And Rory Reid's campaign needs to act! This was a good start, but he really needs to ramp it up and make a strong case to voters that he's the best candidate for Nevada's future. I sometimes wish he'd take stronger stances on tax reform (especially mining), but all in all I know he's more likely to fix our broken state government than someone (Sandoval) who's been a part of the same ol' game of "no new taxes" fallacies... Until it's such a gawd awful mess that we pass more regressive tax hikes and temporary quick fixes while still protecting the corporate fat cats and kicking the fiscal can even further down the road.

So there's plenty of hope for Nevada this fall... And plenty of work still left to do. I'm feeling increasingly confident about getting one Reid (the elder) past the finish line first, but let's see if both can ultimately make it. You know what I like to say: Two Reids, Infinite Possibilities". ;-)

NV-Sen: Suzy Lowdown Campaign Pre-Mortem?

Is Suzy Lowdown's campaign really circling the drain? If we're to believe Suffolk University's polling outfit (via Political Wire), apparently so.

A new Suffolk University poll in Nevada shows Sharron Angle (R) leading the Republican primary for U.S. Senate with 33%, followed by Danny Tarkanian (R) at 26% and Sue Lowden (R) at 25%.

Along with a recent PPP survey, this is a the second poll to show Angle is now the frontrunner heading into the primary.

Well, it certainly helps to have "Tea Party, Inc." spend its big bucks propping up Angle's campaign...



And knocking down Suzy Lowdown...



But Ms. Suzy doesn't want to say the obvious. Why? Oh, that might offend those precious teabaggers Suzy Lowdown was hoping would jump on board her "donated RV". But now, they're all fleeing her hot mess of a "campaign" to jump aboard Koch Indistries' Dick Armey's FreedomWorks corporate astroturf campaign's Tea Party Express' preferred fruit-loopy extremist crazy train.

No, instead she's trying to blame Harry Reid.

Robert Uithoven, campaign manager for Lowden, said Democrats’ claims of neutrality in the Republican primary are “completely inconsistent with (Reid’s) actions and those of his political allies.”

Reid is trying to backpedal because Lowden has used his attacks to boost her campaign, he said.

“They haven’t been neutral all along,” Uithoven said. “They realized a little accidental honesty has been hurting them, by making the case Sue Lowden was the candidate he feared. So now he has a new set of talking points they’re rushing out there.”

But wait, whatever happened to that "conservative value" that is personal responsibility? Did Suzy Lowdown and Bobby Uithoven miss that day's lesson in "GOoP Talking Points 101"? How is Ms. Suzy pulling herself up by her own bootstraps when she wants Harry Reid to tie them for her?

See how ridiculous they really sound? Again, Suzy Lowdown refuses to acknowledge that her crazy words wrecked her own campaign. And instead of realizing that the teabaggers are abandoning her in droves to go for "real deal" Obtuse Angle, she'd rather just try one more "Hail Mary Pass" to save her rapidly collapsing campaign by blaming it all on Harry Reid.

Oh, and by the way, so much for Suzy's argument that she's so "electable"... Markos for the final blow?

Just got results from Nevada. Angle has taken significant lead in GOP primary. Reid beats all GOPers in GE matchups.

Bye bye, Suzy Lowdown. It was nice knowing you.