Political reporter Ben Spillman of the Las Vegas Review-Journal has the scoop of the year in his Political Eye column this morning: “Donors back Democrats, Republicans.” Film at eleven.
Having apparently botched “fixing” health care, Harry Reid & the Democrats are now switching their attention to fixing the unemployment problem, which likely means extending the misery for the unemployed much, much longer. If only Democrats would stop “helping,” maybe things would get better.
The fallout from the “Massachusetts Miracle,” where Republican Scott Brown won the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Teddy Kennedy, continues. Today, Democrat Beau Biden, son of Vice President Joe Biden and Delaware attorney general, announced that he will NOT run for his dad’s old U.S. Senate seat after all. With Biden scared out of the race, that seat will now likely go to Republican Rep. Mike Castle.
Meanwhile, RJ publisher Sherm Frederick says in his blog today that Arkansas U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) may announce a decision not to seek re-election as early as this week, and that there’s a rumor going ‘round that “Nevada Democrats have approached former Sen. Dick Bryan to consider stepping in should the politically crippled (Sen. Harry) Reid start thinking like Blanche Lincoln.”
From the Department of Go Figure, the Associated Press is reporting today that “Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s refusal to raise taxes is boosting his stature with a re-energized national GOP, even while his state faces severe budget cuts to education, health care and social service programs.” Sound familiar? Still think Gov. Gibbons is dead meat in the GOP primary?
Speaking of Gov. Gibbons, his office announced today that the governor will deliver a special state-of-the-state speech on Monday, February 8, 2010, during which he will call for a special session of the Legislature to deal with the ongoing budget crisis. Citizens are encouraged to send empty cans to Carson City in advance to make sure there are plenty of them available for legislators to once again kick down the road rather than lay off non-essential government workers and eliminate non-essential government programs and services.
Congressman Dean Heller (R-NV) sent a letter on Friday to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner expressing concern over Chrysler’s decision to run advertisements during the Super Bowl which will cost about $2.5 million per 30-second spot. Chrysler has received $15.5 billion in taxpayer bailout funds to keep the company afloat.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sue Lowden wrapped up what has been described by campaign aides as a very successful rural tour yesterday and made it out of Reno ahead of a snowstorm and in time for dinner with conservative talk-show icon Rush Limbaugh, who’s in Vegas this week as a judge for the Miss America Pageant.
Meanwhile, fellow GOP opponent Danny Tarkanian is borrowing from Lowden’s playbook and announced yesterday his own rural tour which is scheduled to begin Thursday in Tonopah and hit Hawthorne, Yerington, Minden, Fernley and Fallon. The campaign will then swing through Lovelock Winnemucca, Battle Mountain, Elko, Eureka, Ely and Pioche next weekend.
Tarkanian expects to be back in Vegas next Sunday night for dinner at Wienerschnitzel’s with former conservative talk-show host Mike Wiley who will be returning that same day from his own rural tour of Adelphous IV, Berengaria VII, Rigel V, Starbase Earhart and Camp Khitomer.
Conventional wisdom says that Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki would benefit greatly in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate for the persecution he suffered at the hands of Democrat Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto which, Krolicki claims, was at the behest of Sen. Harry Reid. And while that may, indeed, help him in the GOP primary, it would also likely come back to bite him big time in the general against Reid who is expected to have $25 million to permanently affix “Indicted” as Krolicki’s middle name throughout the campaign.
The smart money says Krolicki will walk up to the edge of the U.S. Senate abyss, look down….and opt to run for re-election as lieutenant governor after all.
For all the liberals out their having a cow over the Supreme Court ruling that corporations can now participate in our elections – especially those raising the argument that corporations aren’t “people” – I’ll make you a deal: I’ll support banning corporations from participating elections of government representatives if you’ll support banning the government from taxing and regulating corporations. Deal?
And by the way, as the ever-astute Tray Abney of the Reno Chamber of Commerce pointed out on Face-to-Face Friday that the Constitution says “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech.” It doesn’t say, “except for corporations.”
Considering their backgrounds, experience, records and campaign styles, would Rory Reid, Ross Miller or Danny Tarkanian be taken seriously as candidates for governor, secretary of state and U.S. Senate respectively if not for sharing the same last names as their famous dads? Not.
And finally, The Nevada News Bureau, which operates through a grant from Citizen Outreach Foundation, has launched a new political blog which will be authored by Elizabeth Crum, the bureau’s managing editor. “The Blog” can be found HERE
http://www.nevadanewsbureau.com/theblog
