Archive for April, 2010

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Average Joes and Janes to Explain How Harry Reid and Health Care Reform Have Helped Even Though Few Benefits Have Actually Kicked In Yet

By Elizabeth Crum | 7:30 pm April 28th, 2010

That’s the gist of Harry Reid’s new ad campaign, from what RalstonFlashed a couple of hours ago:

Reid to go up with huge ad buy defending health care reform law

Best defense is a good offense campaign begins Friday with a series of spots featuring individuals talking about how various aspects of the new law have helped them, sources confirm. I understand the buy will be larger than any of those currently purchased by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s GOP foes.

Game on.

Yep. Here comes the money!

Reid’s health care narrative between now and November:

“I’m Harry Reid, and I single-handedly saved all of Nevada’s sick and dying. And quite possibly some of their household pets as well. A vote for me is a vote for your poor, ailing auntie AND her cute little dog.”

Etc.

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Title: If You Thought Anger Was Brewing Before, Or Activist Debbie Landis Skewers Tea Party Express for “Disgusting Manipulation”

By Elizabeth Crum | 5:03 pm April 28th, 2010

Wowza.

Debbie Landis, a Tea Party uber activist-organizer — she is the founder of a 501(c)4 and website called AngerIsBrewing.com and the organizer of last Friday’s debate in Reno — is rather displeased with the Angle-endorsing Tea Party Express (TPE) peeps right now.

Seems TPE sent out a press release “defending” Anger is Brewing from a “whisper campaign” without bothering to name their source, verify their facts or get a comment from Landis.  And it seems Landis thinks the press release is more of a smear than any kind of support.  First, the TPE missive:

Tea Party Express Statement Defending Anger Is Brewing from Whisper Campaign

“Over the past few days we here at the Tea Party Express have heard several different rumors seeking to discredit the Anger Is Brewing organization, which has been active in the Nevada tea party movement.

“These rumors allege that the Anger Is Brewing organization has decided to sell out its endorsement for U.S. Senate to candidate John Chachas after Chachas made a $3,500 contribution to the Anger Is Brewing organization.

“This is obviously a false and malicious attempt by some people to smear and defame Anger is Brewing leader, Debbie Landis, and the organization as a whole.

“Obviously Ms. Landis would not sell her endorsement for a candidate in exchange for $3,500. We’ve worked with her and know that she has higher ethical standards than this.

“Furthermore, John Chachas is obviously not a candidate that would earn tea party movement support. In the last presidential election, Chachas was a contributor to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign (contributing $2,300 of his personal funds to Obama). And Chachas made no friends in the conservative-aligned tea party movement when he smeared Sharron Angle by calling her too conservative.

“Anyone who thinks that a candidate who follows the constitution is ‘too conservative’ is obviously not going to be taken seriously by the tea party movement.

“In the race for Senate there are many important issues that should be discussed by the candidates who have asked for our votes. We should focus on these issues and reject any attempts by various camps to smear those involved in the tea party movement who have sacrificed their time, energy and personal money to fight for this country.”

Landis says Chachas gave Anger Is Brewing $3,000 to help pay for insurance costs associated with the Carson City Tax Day Tea Party, but that he donated nothing to the candidate debate in Reno. Chachas and numerous other candidates spoke at the Tea Party on April 15th, and Landis says he received no special benefit for his donation.

“How dare anyone insinuate that I am for sale?” Landis fumed.

Landis says she believes the TPE press release was, at best, a thinly veiled attempt to perpetuate a rumor and smear both she and Chachas under the guise of “defending” her.

“Why aren’t these accusations against me quoted or sourced?” asked Landis.  “I am outraged that they would send out a press release with false, unsourced information and not even come to me for a comment.”

Landis admits she likes and supports Chachas personally, but says Anger Is Brewing has not and will not endorse any candidate and that she merely wants Nevada voters to make up their own minds without outside interference from out-of-state groups like TPE.

“The arrogance of this Tea Party Express press release surely demonstrates the impotence they feel in trying to influence Nevada politics from the outside,” says Landis. “It’s desperate, it’s disgusting, and it’s politics as usual.”

Joe Wierzbicki, a spokesperson for the Tea Party Express, had the following to say (these are excerpts from an email he sent me in response to my inquiry):

Our release today came in response to several calls we’ve received from local tea party activists (starting yesterday) who were furious that they claimed that Anger Is Brewing was trying to organize a group endorsement of John Chachas.  And we were sent the TV clip where Chachas said he gave $3,500 to Anger Is Brewing as part of the proof.  The accusation made to us was that the endorsement was sold out for money.  Of course a lot of this is he-said, she-said rumor stuff which frequently happens in political campaigns like this.

We said to those who have contacted us that this had to be a joke just to smear Debbie and Anger Is Brewing by various campaigns.

We get rumors here all the time, including smears of us…

And:

I have to say that Debbie’s response to our press release surprised me.

She’s always been very down on Sue Lowden, but surely she’s not serious about backing John Chachas?  A Wall Street millionaire who didn’t even live in Nevada before deciding to run for Senate, gave money to Obama and now attacks Angle for being too “right wing” when clearly the candidates who emerged from the tea party movement were Sharron Angle and Bill Parson.

So I’m a bit confused at Debbie’s comments, but she should know we are fans of the work she has done in the tea party movement in Nevada.

And I’m quite sure no one in the tea party movement could possibly be serious about doing a push for Chachas.

Landis says that last statement is an example of the type of outsider arrogance that irritates her.

“I think John Chachas is an excellent option for Nevada, maybe even our new Scott Brown,” says Landis.

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NSML Slams Suspension of UNLV Basketball Player for Postitive Test for Pot

By Elizabeth Crum | 10:48 am April 28th, 2010

I do think it is interesting to note the repeated use of the not-any-worse-and-maybe-better-than-alcohol angle in the pro-pot PR missives put out by Dave Schwartz:

From his release:

Suspension highlights the way society treats individuals who make the rational choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws (NSML) is releasing the following statement in the wake of the announcement that University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) basketball player Matt Shaw has been suspended for one year — ending his career with the team — because of one positive test for marijuana. Shaw, fourth on the team in scoring last year, tested positive during a random drug test administered during the recent NCAA tournament.

“At the age of 22, Matt is an adult,” said Dave Schwartz, NSML campaign manager. “As an adult, he made a rational decision to use a substance less harmful than alcohol. Now, for this simple act, his career with the Runnin’ Rebels is over. We hope all Nevadans will stop to think about this for just one moment — and think specifically about the fact that players who drink alcohol to excess face no punishment, at least until they assault someone. It simply makes no sense. And for those who say, ‘He should have just followed the rules,’ we say, ‘Why do we have rules and laws that horribly punish people who choose to use marijuana instead of the more harmful substance, alcohol?’ It is time for a change.”

Nevadans for Sensible Marijuana Laws is a ballot advocacy group formed in Nevada to support a 2012 ballot initiative to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol in the state.

As you can see there, NSML’s other often-pushed angle is that the marijuana industry could be “revenue enhancing” at a time the state is desperate for cash.

Are these winning marketing strategies?

“It’ll never happen,” is the mantra most heard from the opposition.

In 2012, Nevada voters will decide if Never has arrived.

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Rory and Oscar Are BFFs

By Elizabeth Crum | 9:16 am April 28th, 2010

Teaming up to curb firefighter overtime (and other) costs to both city and county are a rather unlikely pair:  Clark County Commission chair Rory Reid and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

Other suggested cuts filed under the tab “shared services” are animal control, business licensing, information technology, parks, television production and purchasing.

According the LV Sun (which covered yesterday’s joint press conference at City Hall), Rory got real specific-like:

“It would be a disservice to those who made sacrifices not to point out those who have not,” Reid said…

“I’m talking about firefighters.”

Bam!

Wonder how many hate-grams and I-hope-your-house-doesn’t-catch-on-fire emails Rory got yesterday?  And did he forward them to Steve Sisolak so they could commiserate about the joys of public office?

Rory and Oscar want county and city staff to offer suggestions for service join-ups by June.

Commissioner Sisolak told the Sun he thought the changes would save each government entity in the ballpark of $1.1 million.  If so, that’s a lotta bank, and good for them (both).

Also of interest, Sisolak said he thinks the county ought to push for “zero-based” budgeting on collective bargaining agreements.  In a nutshell, this means Talks would start at “0″ rather than status-quo (which includes all kinds of perks, bonuses and benefits).

Doubt that’ll happen, but a guy (or gal) can dream.

Bonus Materials:

As reported by an insider with close ties to both municipal chiefs, here are a few texts exchanged between new pals Rory and Oscar while that City Hall press conference was going on:

Oscar:  U gonna name names and call out firefighters like u promised?

Rory:  Having second thoughts. U do it.

Oscar:  No way! City employees already mad for layoffs threat. This one all u.

Rory:  I’m scared. Plus everyone hates u already, what’s BFD?

Oscar:  Look if u wanna be BMOC, u gotta do this stuff!!

Rory:  But I want everyone to like me.

Oscar:  WTF?! You are such a wimp!! Do it!!!!!!!!!

Rory:  Calm down! Jeez!! Did you skip martini this morning?

Oscar:  Spilled on drive here, forgot flask at home. Don’t change subject.  Say it!!

Rory:  All right! Will do. Sorry. Still BFFs?

Oscar:  4ever. Or at least ’til budget BS over.

Rory:  ok

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Chamber Disses Gibbons, Kisses Sandoval

By Elizabeth Crum | 8:30 am April 28th, 2010

(“Disses” is the third-person singular simple present form of the urban verb “diss,” so get off me if you were going to say something.)

And, yeah, I know the Chamber’s endorsement of Brian Sandoval was announced eons ago (i.e. early last night), but I was slammed so only had time to Tweet this:

The LV Chamber of Commerce puffy hearts Sandoval, not the incumbent tax-hating GOP governor? How fickle! (But Sandoval IS, like, way cuter.)

It is usually incumbent upon a Chamber to support the Republican incumbent, so this is definitely notable.

I’d try to research other instances but do not have time; maybe later.

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Keystone, Retail Association Back Gust in AD-13

By Elizabeth Crum | 7:21 am April 28th, 2010

When GOP candidate Elizabeth Halseth jumped from the AD-13 to Senate-9 race on the same afternoon Michele Fiore suddenly ditched her state senate seat bid for a shot at CD-1 (read about that here if you missed it), half the Republicans in the state went into an uproar while a young man named Joshua Gust just smiled.

Today he has even greater reason to grin:  both Keystone Corporation and the Retail Association are backing Gust in that primary based on his pro-business platform.  This has got to worry Nathan Taylor and the rest of the GOP field (Scott Hammond, Kelly Hurst and Alan Lefebvre) as well as Leonard Foster (IAP) who are all hoping to snatch up Chad Christensen’s seat in a district that is by no means a slam dunk in the general election.

AD-13 is large:  encompasses west Clark County from Hualapai and the 215 over to the Nye County border, runs south along I-15 to the Cali border and then runs north of Centennial Parkway to US 95 all the way up to Indian Springs. It includes both high-density suburban areas and rural communities and has voters in all three Congressional Districts and wards in both Las Vegas and North Las Vegas Townships.

Keystone is an organization made up of business leader-members (who pay dues of $1,000 per year) with a narrow focus:  support and advocate for political candidates who favor of low taxation and oppose an abundance of regulation.   The Retail Association of Nevada represents and lobbies for retailers across the state.

Good thing Gust’s campaign sent out a press release explaining all this, because the Issues page on his campaign website still says “Coming Soon” so visiting voters would have to guess at his position on taxes and business (or anything else).

Does he know early voting starts in about four weeks and the primary election is in 40 days?

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Confirmed: Gubernatorial Debate Off, Montandon Will Still Speak

By Elizabeth Crum | 1:45 pm April 27th, 2010

Interesting insider stuff here.  It is definitely campaign season, Dear Readers, and emotions run high at times.  Two updates to this post:

A few minutes after I wrote that I had heard (from a source who has never steered me wrong, or I would not have posted it) that Gibbons and Sandoval were Out of this Friday’s debate, Sandoval’s spokesperson, Mary-Sarah Kinner, called and said the only reason her candidate was not appearing at the Orleans this Friday was because KDWN had canceled the gubernatorial portion of debate (back in March, she said).

“That’s a lie,” said KDWN producer, Anthony Valdez, when I called to ask him about the situation. “It’s true that the gubernatorial portion of the debate fell apart in late March, but it happened because Gibbons said he was unable to make it, and then Mary-Sarah told me Sandoval would not participate without Gibbons there.”

“That is the only reason the debate was canceled, because we were absolutely prepared to go forward without Governor Gibbons,” said Valdez.

Valdez said Team Gibbons had initially been in limbo while trying to work out their schedule and that they had then informed him they had a schedule conflict and could not participate (this happened on March 19th).

“At that point, Mary-Sarah told me Sandoval was not interested in participating in the debate without Gibbons,” said Valdez.

But Kinner insists she told Valdez all along that if Gibbons did not participate, neither would Sandoval.

“Brian made it clear from the get-go that if Gibbons was not going to be there, Brian would not be there, either,” said Kinner.

“I’m sorry, but that’s not the way it happened,” said Valdez.  “Sandoval’s team expressed interest in participating in the early stages, and there was no mention of it hinging on Gibbons.”

Kinner provided me with an email from Valdez, date stamped March 19th, stating that Valdez had just gotten off the phone with Gibbons’ campaign office and that the debate would be canceled due to a schedule conflict.

“That email was just a confirmation based on a conversation we had already head,” Valdez said. “A conversation in which Mary-Sarah said to me that if Gibbons was out, so were they.  Gibbons being out meant the debate was not happening, and I knew that when I emailed her,” Valdez said.

Valdez said after he contacted Montandon to inform him that neither Gibbons or Sandoval would be participating in a debate, “We decided the right thing to do was to let Montandon still come and address the crowd.”

Montandon will speak on Friday after the CD-3 and before the U.S. Senate debate.

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Darn! What Will We Make Fun of Now? (Gibbons Hires New Campaign Comm Dir)

By Elizabeth Crum | 11:32 am April 27th, 2010

Team Gibbons has signed a new campaign communications director.

Who presumably will be writing all his future missives and robbing me of one of the great joys of this campaign season:  shredding Gibbons’ terrible press releases for fun.

Jill Lufrano is a former reporter and state public information officer with a background in communications. Worked for both the Nevada Appeal and the Reno Gazette Journal at one point. Also spent some time as a PIO for the state Division of Environmental Protection.

Welcome, Jill.

(sigh)

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Hearing Gibbons, Sandoval May Be Backing Out of Friday’s KDWN Debate

By Elizabeth Crum | 11:21 am April 27th, 2010

This is unconfirmed but I believe reliable (we’re working to verify and get statements):

Word on the street is that Governor Gibbons has to back out of Friday’s debate at the Orleans in Las Vegas due to a scheduling conflict.  And I’m hearing Sandoval has subsequently said, “I’m out.”

Will report on candidates’ (stated) reasons when we have them, or let you know if this is really the case.

If it plays out this way, will Montandon still show up and speak?  And will he bash the other two for not being present?  And, more specifically, will he bash Brian Sandoval for not showing up to debate him one-on-one?

And how will it play for Sandoval (and Mayor Mike) if it is perceived by the base that Sandoval thinks he is “too good” to debate “just” Montandon?

Sidebar:  It’s easy to criticize a candidate for not showing up at an event, but campaign trails are very grueling what with a gazillion forums and debates and appearances and dinners and fundraisers.  Sometimes a candidate has to pass over one thing for another, or something comes up after-the-fact that has to take priority.  A candidate rarely backs out of a debate unless he/she feels they have no choice, so we should give Gibbons the benefit of the doubt until we get the scoop.

Update – 2:45 PM: Just so it is known to you, here and now, should you read this post before my follow up post, Governor Gibbons in fact was never confirmed for this debate.  He did wish to participate and tried to work it out, but he had an event conflict and this was known both to he and the event organizers at KDWN back on March 19th.

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GOP Consultant Calls State Treasurer Hypocrite for Radio Ads

By Sean Whaley | 9:58 am April 27th, 2010

CARSON CITY – A spokesman for Nevada State Treasurer Kate Marshall is rejecting any suggestion that her participation in radio ads to promote a children’s contest involving a college savings program is aimed at helping her re-election campaign.

But a campaign consultant for her GOP opponent called Marshall a hypocrite for engaging in the same practice she criticized her predecessor for doing, and for “pushing the envelope” by running ads after the close of filing for office.

The radio ads encourage children from kindergarten to fifth grade to participate in the contest, the theme of which is: “I want to go to college so I can become a______.” Six students will receive a prize of a $529 gift to be used to open a college savings plan account or to enhance an existing account.

Steve George, public information officer for Marshall, said the $12,000 radio campaign was approved by the College Savings Plans Board.

“It takes about two seconds for her to say, ‘This is state Treasurer Kate Marshall’ out of a 30-second or 60-second commercial,” he said.

The ads are aimed at children who can’t vote, George said.

The college savings programs are managed by the treasurer’s office but do not involve any state funds, he said. Parents who open accounts pay fees to fund the operating costs of the program.

Ryan Erwin, a campaign consultant for Steve Martin, a former state controller who is running against Marshall as a Republican, said Marshall, “is rapidly becoming a do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do case.”

“She may be the biggest hypocrite in Nevada politics today, and that is a high bar to reach,” he said.

Erwin said Marshall was a vocal critic when former treasurer, now GOP Lt. Gov Brian Krolicki, appeared in college savings ads. While not suggesting Marshall has violated any laws, it is a violation of common sense, he said.

Using a state managed program to get her name out in an election year, even in a modest radio ad campaign, is still hypocritical, Erwin said.

Krolicki faced more than just criticism over the ads he appeared in. The commercials became part of an investigation into Krolicki’s handling of the college savings program by Democrat Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto after concerns were raised by Marshall. The ads stopped in 2006 before Krolicki filed for lieutenant governor.

Krolicki was indicted in December 2008 on charges of misallocating funds for the program, but earlier this year a Clark County district judge dismissed the case and Masto declined to pursue the matter further. Krolicki said the prosecution was political and that he had done nothing wrong.

The use of the airwaves by state elected officials to promote various programs has also been raised by the Nevada Republican Party in an ethics complaint against Secretary of State Ross Miller, who appeared in a TV ad promoting the U.S. Census. The ad featured fighters with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Miller is also running for re-election.

Miller told the Las Vegas Sun the allegation in the complaint was “silly.”

Ciara Turns, communications director for the state GOP, said the Marshall radio spot issue has not yet been reviewed, but added it could become part of an ethics complaint in the future.

Both Marshall and Miller also face GOP complaints that they violated campaign laws by listing their state offices as contact points for their campaigns. Marshall said the criticism is baseless because the Secretary of State’s office inadvertently posted the incorrect phone number for her campaign contact. Miller called the complaint a frivolous campaign ploy.

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Face to Face: Assemblymen John Hambrick, Mo Denis Weigh In on Immigration

By Elizabeth Crum | 8:47 pm April 26th, 2010

Tonight on Ralston’s Face to Face, Assemblyman Mo Denis and John Hambrick talked about the new immigration law in Arizona.

SB 1070 states:  “For any lawful contact made by a law enforcement official, where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the Unites States, a reasonable attempt shall be made when praticable to determine the immigration status of the person.”

Mo Denis questioned the definition and after-determination of the word “reasonable,” saying, “It’s going to be different to different people,” and asking about those who might be profiled, “What do they look like? Are we talking Canadian? Are we talking Asian-American? Are we talking Hispanic?”

Denis expressed concerns with the high ratio of Hispanics residing in Arizona, saying, “I think that is problematic because I think you’re then singling out one specific race.”

Hambrick disagreed. “When you have 460,000 and the vast majority happens to be a particular ethnic group, you cannot racial profile, the pool is so large,” he said.

Hambrick defended the Arizona bill based on relatively high in-state support.  “When 70% of a state, according to media reports, agree with it, that is not 70% that are Anglo.  70% of the state, that is a good mixture, whether it is Latino or Anglo. They agree it is needed,” he said.

“Unfortunately a rancher died a few weeks ago, and there was a catalyst,” he said.

Hambrick said many voters feel the federal government has let them down on the issue of immigration.

“This administration made promises prior to coming in that certain benchmarks would be met in the first year. That has not happened,” he said. “Hopefully what happens now in Arizona will be a catalyst to force Washington to get off their bottoms.”

Hambrick acknowledged there are issues with enforcement and racial profiling but said training of enforcement officers is the answer.

“The government has said that there will be training,” said Hambrick.

“What is reasonable?” he asked. “Yes, it is in the eye or the mind of the person that is behind the badge that has made that stop.”

“Their life experinces, and the different communities they come from, if the police officer happens to be Hispanic and is dealing with a Hispanic, there is a different reasonable expectation of what will be happening there,” Hambrick said.  “If it’s an Anglo and a Hispanic, again, the community will have to judge whether that police offer has done his job adequately, fairly and objectively. And that will be determined by a court.”

Answering a question about fears that the law will become oppressive and that every ethnic person will have to walk around with proof of citizenship in their pocket, Denis said it is a valid concern.

“We are familiar with 287-G, that’s been going on even here, we have been dealing with that, trying to get people to step forward on crimes, and now they are afraid,” Denis said.

(Denis said 287-G permits Nevada authorities to ask about a person’s immigration status when they are in county jail.)

“And, but, you know, people do not trust that,” said Denis. “They think that maybe some of the police officers—  You know, we have had meetings with some of the individuals here, and there are some concerns that really need to dealt with, and even with that issue, so I can see where, you know, if you’re looking for somebody reasonable, what is it that somebody looks like… And do we really have to all walk around with papers, so we can prove our citizenship?”

Both Hambrick and Denis agreed immigration reform could be an issue in the campaigns, and that Nevada voters are generally concerned with immigration policy.

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Rory Against, Gibbons and Sandoval for AZ-style Immigration Law

By Elizabeth Crum | 7:12 pm April 26th, 2010

(Dear Rory:  I do hope you don’t mind me calling you Rory, but there are seven months between now and the general election and I am already SO tired of typing “Rory Reid” and “Harry Reid.”  This will just be so much better for me.  And you, too, maybe!  Love, E.)

Rory’s remarks against the new dealio down in AZ:

LAS VEGAS, NV – Rory Reid, Democratic candidate for governor, issued the following statement regarding passage of the new immigration law in Arizona:

“Instead of a common sense approach, what has occurred in Arizona is a wrong-headed approach to a serious issue – and that’s why Arizona law enforcement leaders, civil rights advocates, religious leaders and business groups oppose the bill,” said Reid. “It’s also evidence of what can happen in the absence of comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level.”

“On its face, this ill-conceived law opens the door to racial profiling and the violation of the fundamental civil rights of all Americans,” he continued. “You can’t determine whether someone is undocumented simply by the way they look, dress or speak.

“This law will also breach the important trust between law enforcement and the communities they protect, and divert resources away from critical incidents, where police are most needed.

“Nevadans can count on me to be a consistent advocate for comprehensive immigration reform and common sense solutions to this complicated issue.”

Ok.  What’s the comprehensive, common sense plan?  And will we hear about it before or after November 2?

And Gibbons:

(Carson City, Nevada) – Governor Jim Gibbons today demanded that President Barack Obama and his Administration take immediate steps to enforce federal immigration laws. “Guarding the borders of our great Nation is a federal responsibility that this Administration is ignoring,” Gibbons said, “Federal inaction is compelling states like Arizona to take state action and forcing state taxpayers to foot the bill.”

Recent statements from President Obama suggest he is trying to make immigration enforcement a political issue. “This President and this Administration, including Congressional Leaders Senator Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are shamelessly pandering for political gain, “Gibbons said, “These people should start acting like leaders and start enforcing federal laws”, Governor Gibbons said, “Instead, they blame others for their own ineffectiveness.”

Governor Gibbons noted the Administration is out of touch with society today. “Clearly the immigration system in this country is broken and is costing taxpayers billions of dollars,” Governor Gibbons said, “The Obama Administration must wake up and fix our immigration problems at the border.”

Gibbons believes the immigration laws in the United States must be modernized to reflect advancements in technology (facial recognition technology, biometric ID cards) and the changed world we live in today. “There are people crossing the border committing violent crimes and others who want to harm America through terrorism,” Gibbons said, “President Obama, Reid and Pelosi are ‘asleep at the switch’ and they must take action now or America families will continue to suffer.”

Did not see a press missive from Sandoval, but he said he supported the AZ law in Friday’s debate in Reno.

Update (7:43 PM): Statement from Sandoval:

“As a former federal judge, I believe it is important to follow the law. In this case, the law is very clear. Racial profiling is illegal and I do not support it. Also, if you are here illegally, you are breaking the law and should be subject to the consequences.

“The federal government has failed miserably at its responsibility to secure our borders. States like Arizona are now forced to deal with the results of that failure.

“That said, I do understand the Hispanic community’s concerns about this law and believe Arizona officials must pay close attention to the implementation of the new law.”

Not sure on Montandon; will update here if/when he chimes in (missed the gub portion of the debate so didn’t hear).

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$2,000…?! Typo or Click-thru Genius?

By Elizabeth Crum | 5:58 pm April 26th, 2010

When I saw the bolded sub-header in congressional candidate Craig Lake’s press release today, I was so amazed I had to click through to see if it was really true or perhaps a typo:

Craig Lake Only Republican With More Than $2,000 Cash On Hand to Close 1st Quarter 2010

TWO thousand…??

Nope, more like $290,016.

Not bad.  Especially considering that GOP primary oppoent Michele Fiore only has only $570 and Kenneth Wegner has $1,817.

(Hm.  I thought Fiore was the Republican party’s anointed one?  Where are all the rumored giant checks from Nevada’s Fiore-loving Republican business moguls?)

But the really impressive number is Shelley Berkley’s cash on hand:  $1,648,242.

Wowza.


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New Ad from Team Tark

By Elizabeth Crum | 5:29 pm April 26th, 2010

Tarkanian is taking a break from Lowden-bashing to inform you that Harry Reid has spent over a Trillion dollars on earmarks and bailouts for corporate America!  And now he’s raising your taxes so he can spend another Trillion on a government takeover of health care!!

See here.

(No mention of turtle tunnels, though!)

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The Curious Case of Jacob Hafter

By Elizabeth Crum | 4:23 pm April 26th, 2010

You are by now accustomed to quite a bit of snark and kidding around here on The Blog, my Dear Readers, but that headline is as far as the fun goes on this one — because what is contained herein, I take quite seriously.

Apparently attorney and Republican candidate for Attorney General, Jacob Hafter, this morning testified in court that I misquoted him in a story I wrote a few weeks back.  You can read about Hafter’s court appearance here in a follow-up story written by Las Vegas Review Journal and Las Vegas Legal News reporter Doug McMurdo.

The original NNB story containing the remarks in question is here.

For the record:

Jacob Hafter said what I reported he said:  that a source inside the state bar had told him that an anonymous complaint had been filed against the AG and that an inquiry was underway into her conduct as related to the health care lawsuit.

Hafter made his statements about the state bar and the Attorney General on an “on the record” conference call with three other attorneys and a number of bloggers and journalists, some of whom have since confirmed his statements (either from memory and/or from their notes from the call) as reported by NNB.

I find it notable that Hafter raised no question whatsoever about the accuracy of what I had written until after he realized the bar was going to conduct an inquiry into his conduct. And I know he read my story soon after it was posted on April 7, because we spoke about it and then continued to correspond in the days that followed.

Hafter did both email and call me on April 13 after he found out that he was himself the subject of a bar inquiry (and NNB wrote a story about that here). At that time he said he believed I may have misquoted him and asked me to go back and check my notes. I informed Mr. Hafter that I had written the story from my notes to begin with, adding that I still clearly remembered what he had said, in part because I had been so interested in the news that there was an anonymous complaint that had, according to him, led to a pending bar inquiry into the conduct of the state Attorney General — and that he thought her actions rose to the level of a misdemeanor offense.

However, I did re-check my notes after speaking with Hafter and was and am confident that what I wrote was accurate.

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