I tuned in to KXNT this morning to catch the sparks and zingers I was pretty sure would fly between Sue Lowden and Danny Tarkanian during their hour long on air debate.  Although things stayed relatively civil and no one lost their cool, there was some good stuff.  Here are my notes and some of the money quotes:

Asked about the #1 campaign issue, Tarkanian (predictably) kicked things off with yet another reiteration of his often-reiterated pet plan for jobs:  a Yucca Mountain reprocessing center which he says will produce 7,000 jobs and $1 billion in revenue.  When asked about transportation safety concerns, he said that is just “fear mongering” coming from Harry Reid and that we’ve been trucking nuclear waste around the country for 30 years without incident.  He added that tests have been done in which they’ve shot up a truck carrying spent fuel containers with a bazooka and said containers stayed intact.

(I had never heard of this bazooka-nuke-truck testing and was both intrigued and hopeful of finding a video with footage or at least a written report – but alas, could not.)

Lowden agreed that the #1 issue is jobs and added that this is related to two other major Nevada issues, health care and foreclosures:  “If you have a job, you have health insurance and you can afford to pay your mortgage.”  She followed up by saying the other big issue is decreasing taxes so both employers and employees have more money and called this “real stimulus.”  Lowden specifically mentioned reducing corporate taxes, extending the Bush tax cuts and repealing or reforming the death tax.

Tarkanian said his main priority once in office would also be to reduce tax rates (and then zinged the first zinger):  “But every Republican in the race says those things.  I am trying to be original, to bring new ideas, so I didn’t mention the obvious.”  He then proceeded to mention the obvious by re-stating that he would also, of course, seek to reduce taxes.  And also try to reverse regulations like those handed down by the EPA re: endangered species and which “usurp legislative control.”  Ditto Cap and Trade regulations.  He also mentioned protecting the farmers and cattlemen in San Joaquin valley who have “toiled our soil for decades” and are now prevented from getting “90% of the water they have gotten in the past.”

Re: the health care bill just signed into law, Lowden said, “We’ll see what happens with amendments in the next day or so” (referring to GOP attempts to use procedural measures to hold up the bill) and then mentioned a Coburn amendment proposing that sex offenders not be given prescriptions for Viagra.  She added that “repeal and replace” will the slogan for “those of us elected in November,” adding that she hopes the bill can be repealed or slowed down until “common sense people” can address the issue.

Tarkanian said he, too, would work with the other senators to repeal the health care bill and come up with better solutions.  He then reiterated his oft-repeated plan for health care:  let people choose and buy insurance across state lines, enact tort reform, change Medicare law so it is the payee of last resort and do away with state mandates which contribute to 50% of the cost of insurance premiums.

Lowden took the opportunity to point out that Harry Reid has not had any “legitimate town hall meetings to hear first hand how people, seniors are outraged and frightened about Medicare cuts” and added that if Reid had held a town halls or had meetings out in Sun City Summerlin or Sun City Anthem, he would know these things.

KXNT host Allan Stock then referred to “the 800 pound gorilla in the room” and asked Tarkanian about his campaign running against Sue Lowden more than it seems to be running against Harry Reid.  Stock invoked Reagan’s 11th commandment – which says, roughly, that thou shalt not slam thy fellow Republicans but instead shall focus one’s slamming on one’s Democrat opponent – and then said to Tarkanian: “But most of your ads are directed against Sue. How do you respond to that criticism?”

Tarkanian said, “Well, I am running against Sue Lowden and, what, 10, 12 others in the primary, and that is what you have to do. Campaigns are about contrast – which, by the way, is a line from Sue’s own Facebook page.” (zing!)  Tarkanian went on to talk about the 11^th commandment, which he explained just says that you don’t go after a fellow Republican personally.  And he gave as an example of a non-personal non-attacky contrast, “Sue saying she would have voted for the bailout,” which he then went on to explain, as follows:  “She didn’t say she wouldn’t have voted for the bailout, so we said, that is the same as a “yes.”"

(Got that?  At Team Tark, “I don’t know” equals “yes.”  File this away for later.)

When asked by Stock about campaign hit “ads” calling Lowden a “socialist,” Tarkanian said, “I am not aware of that, I think that’s wrong” and then, “There is no socialism word in there. You are wrong on that, I guarantee you.”  He then corrected Stock by saying, “What you are talking about was not an ad, but a robo call.”

Lowden responded by reminding Danny that in January he said on Laura Ingraham’s radio talk show that he was not going to claim in the campaign that she (Sue) was not a conservative.  Lowden added, referring back to Danny’s earlier comment about the line from her Facebook page, “I’m glad Danny is exploring my Facebook page and my website” (zing!) and, “I have a copy of the ad in question, and he did call me a socialist.”  She added, “But I have nothing negative to say about Danny. He should run on his record,” and, “I think he is a fine young man.”

(Political translation: fine young man = inexperienced candidate)(zing!))

(And:  Here is the audio from that robo call:  Danny Tarkanian Robocall 2010-03-02 — The snippet in question (in which “she” = Lowden) goes like this:  “…she and the Republican establishment defended the Wall Street bailouts…that’s not freedom… Let’s call it what it is:  “socialism.”)

Tarkanian defended his comments on the Laura Ingraham show, saying that when he was asked if Lowden was a conservative, he simply said, “I do not know.”

(Hm.  Doesn’t Team Tark consider an “I don’t know” to be the same as a “yes”?  I think I remember that from somewhere…)

Tarkanian went on to say (again) that Sue had sidestepped answering the bailout question and then said someone told him that at a recent political meet-and-greet, Lowden had said, “Danny doesn’t have the mettle to beat Reid.”  Tarkanian said, “That is a personal attack. I am not going to complain about it, but she is coming after me personally. It is frustrating to me that she is making it personal.”  And then Tarkanian again invoked the 11th commandment.  (And, amazingly – again!! – said “Reid” instead of “Reagan” while doing so.)

(Memo to Tarkanian:  Repeat ten times:  Reagan’s 11th commandment… Reagan’s 11th commandment…)

Tarkanian continued:  “And why don’t you repudiate the false attacks against me on the 2^nd amendment, the false statements?”  He then named political consultant Dan Burdish as an alleged circulator of false or misleading information on the issue.

Lowden responded by pointing out that Tarkanian’s NRA questionnaire is still not on his website (zing!) and reminding him that he said he was going to post it.  Regarding her position on the bailouts, she said, “I was not in DC, I was not part of it…” and tried to explain what she had first said about it:

“I was having an intellectual discussion with a reporter I have know for years.  I said, “Imagine the difficulty, the pressure, for those conservative guys to have voted for the bailout.”" She added that Tarkanian “does not know how it is in the caucus room, but I do” and that her intent was to express “sympathy and understanding” for the bailout voters, but, as to her record, “I never voted for any tax increase, any fee, ever,” and, “I stood up to my own party.”

Re: the meet-and-greet, Lowden said that the only thing she has said about any and all of the candidates was, “I looked at the field, and I felt none could raise the money, none could really beat Reid…and I felt I could. I’ve raised the most money, and that was the point I was making:  that I was the last to enter and that the other candidates could not compete.”

Tarkanian defended his gun credentials and then said, “I do not believe this race is about money, money is not an issue.  This is about principles,” and, “As to Sue’s comment about, I’m not in the caucus room…yes, we understand she has been in the caucus room, she is the establishment candidate” (zing!) and, “Now that she opened the issue…she HAS raised taxes” (referring to that business tax on new hires)(zing!) and, “Her record is full of pork projects.”

(end Part 1)

The second half is easier to sum up because it consisted of a number of quick questions from callers and brief answers from the candidates.  There were no surprises.

Both support Israel, are against gay marriage, leave the issue of gays in the military up to the military bosses, support the Supreme Court ruling on corporations as persons who can fund campaigns, think affirmative action is reverse discrimination and should be repealed, support the Patriot Act as long as enforced properly, and are in favor of energy R&D and energy independence for the country.  And both more or less support a reprocessing center at Yucca Mountain along with an R&D facility tied into our university system.

Both were critical of Harry Reid’s lack of attention to energy in Nevada until, as they said, it became an election year.

When asked by a caller if either had ever donated to Harry Reid or a Democrat:

Tarkanian:  “I donated to Shelley Berkley on one occasion.  She was on the Board of Regents in 1992 when they were trying to force my father out; she was one of supporters.  And when she called, I felt I should support her because of her support for my parents.”

Lowden:  “Three decades ago, I did support Harry Reid, and not too long ago, I also supported Lois Tarkanian, who is a Democrat.” (zing!!)

On immigration issues, Lowden focused on border control and the use of e-verification to make sure those employed are really citizens.  Tarkanian focused on taking away benefits through enforcement of existing laws and talked about removing the reasons illegal immigrants flock here:  taxpayer funded education for their kids, taxpayer funded health care, taxpayer funded welfare, and jobs.

And, with about a minute to go, we had this last minute zinger exchange:

Lowden to Tarkanian:  “I look forward to reading your NRA survey.”

Tark to Lowden:  “I look forward to your repudiation and apology for distortions of my NRA record.”