In case you missed it, the buzz in our nation’s capital this week - proving that nothing serious ever goes on politically in the month of August - is over South Carolina Republicans moving their presidential primary up to January 19th, the same day as the Nevada Democrat and Republican caucuses. Ho-hum. I mean, really. So what?
But Nevada’s premier liberal blogging bloviator, Hugh Jackson, wrote yesterday that South Carolina’s move has “relegated the Nevada contest to history’s dustbin.” Jackson - who I suspect is either off his meds or got himself engaged recently - added breathlessly, “Thanks so much to overpaid area War Party consultants Pete Ernaut and Chuck Muth for this stunning and truly comprehensive failure.”
What in the world does Jackson think Pete and I had to do with South Carolina’s decision? Methinks the man has been watching too many Oliver Stone movies lately.
And how sharing January 19th with South Carolina - which still means Nevada will likely be second or third in the nation to weigh in on the presidential nominating decision - relegates Nevada to the political dustbin is a mystery. Does Hugh actually think that being 35th to weigh in, two days after Super-Duper-Mega Tuesday, would make Nevada somehow “MORE” relevant? Get real.
And then there was this gem of a quote by UNLV “political scientist” David Damore - who might well be the very embodiment of the phrase, “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach” - in a Las Vegas Review Journal story yesterday:
“What this means is we’ll never see a Republican in the state now.”
Really, Dave? Hmmmm…
Because I just received two press releases this very morning detailing upcoming visits by two GOP presidential candidates in Nevada next week. If you want to see a Republican in Nevada, here are some opportunities…
On Monday at 7:00 am, Mitt Romney will be speaking at the Great Basin College in Elko, and he’s tentatively scheduled to be in both Las Vegas and Reno the following week.
Then on Tuesday, you can catch Rep. Duncan Hunter in Las Vegas on Heidi Harris’ talk-show (KDWN-720 AM) at 8:00 am; at a luncheon hosted by the Las Vegas Republican Town Hall group at Sunset Station at 11:00 am; a town hall meeting at Arizona Charlie’s at 5:00 pm; and finally a fundraising reception at the Canyon Gate Country Club at 8 pm. Then on Wednesday morning you can have breakfast with Rep. Hunter at the Marine Corps League at 7:00 am.
So much for “we’ll never see a Republican in the state now.” Jackson and Damore might want to consider staying out of the Vegas heat in August.
Posted on August 10th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: Nevada
One of the pundits on last week’s “Meet the Press” said that every contested (no incumbent Republican president running for re-election) Republican nominating process since 1980 has followed the same pattern. One candidate would win the Iowa caucus, another candidate would win the New Hampshire primary, then the South Carolina primary would become decisive.
Right now, Governor Romney looks like the favorite in both Iowa and New Hampshire, so the pattern may be broken next year. However, if the two states split like they’ve done in the past, then it would seem that the combination of South Carolina AND Nevada on the same day would be decisive, which means that the top tier candidates would be spending a lot of time here in the next 4-5 months.
Mr. Jackson and Professor Damore focused on how this will impact the Republicans, and blamed the Republicans for diminishing the value of Nevada’s caucus because of South Carolina’s action.
This is ironic given that AP reported today that John Edwards is relocating some of his Nevada staff to Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. So far, he’s the only major candidate to reduce his Nevada presence, and he’s a Democrat.
If it’s of any consolation, WYGOP has moved the GOP Presidential primary/caucus up to match New Hampshire, whenever they decide to have it.
Mr. Romney is hitting Wyoming as the first GOP ‘08 Presidential candidate to visit us