Friday, November 14, 2014

SILVER STATE CONFIDENTIAL 11/14/2014

TUBE TIP!

Tube Tip:  A certain political “bomb thrower” of your acquaintance will be the special guest on Jeff Gillan and Amy Tarkanian’s “What’s Your Point?” program today at noon on News 3 in Las Vegas. 

We taped the show yesterday and Jeff and Amy asked that I not ruin the surprise by writing about our discussion until after the show.  Let’s just say when it came to next year’s legislative session and a certain governor and senate majority leader, I didn’t exactly sugarcoat it.

Tune in!


LET THE RECOUNTING BEGIN!

Wow!  Did you guys come through big and fast or what?!!

Just a couple hours after my Brushfire Alert asking folks to chip in to help pay the $2,000 deposit for a recount in the Assembly District 26 race in Reno – where incumbent moderate Assemblyman Randy “Kirner Tax” Kirner (RINO-Reno) seemingly defeated conservative Tax Pledge-signer Lisa Krasner by just 11 votes – I received this email from Mrs. Krasner…

“You did it!  I now have more than enough money to pay for the entire Assembly District recount.  Thank you for your overwhelming generosity and kindness.  Please do not send any further donations towards the recount.  I am very grateful to all of you!”

As am I.  Thank you to everyone who stepped up and kicked in towards this long, but still possible shot at picking up one more conservative Republican seat going into the 2015 legislative session. 

But I have to give a special “shout out” to one particular lady whose donation wasn’t the largest, but for me, at least, the most meaningful.  I think you’ll see what I mean after reading this note “Pat” sent me yesterday afternoon…

“Chuck, I contributed to Lisa Krasner's campaign. Unfortunately, since my income is only $121.00/mo I don't have a lot of cash that I can afford to let go of so she only got $5.00 from me. But I wanted to help her and do what I can to get her in and Kirner out. So I'm hoping this will help turn the tide. Please let her know that I support her whole-heartedly, but this was all I could afford.”

I don’t choke up easily, but this one did it. 

Pat, you made my day! 

One last thing.  Julie Hereford, a GOP activist in Las Vegas, put out an email last night with some incorrect information about how recounts such as these are conducted in Nevada.  So let me clear up the misinformation.

First, the recount is conducted by the Washoe County elections department, not the Secretary of State.  Secondly, the vote totals from the electronic voting machines won’t change; however, you can’t request just a recount of the absentee ballots.

Instead, Krasner needs to pick seven precincts (out of, I think, 86 precincts total) in her district that she wants the election department to recount.  Again, the votes recorded by the electronic machines won’t change; however, if a sufficient number of discrepancies are found in the hand-written absentee ballots from those seven precincts, then the election department can order a recount of the entire district.

And with a voting difference of just eleven votes in this race, even a couple of discrepancies should be enough to justify a district-wide recount.

Strategically, for the best chance of earning a district-wide recount, what Mrs. Krasner needs to do is look at the results by precinct and identify the precincts she won that have the highest number of absentee ballots cast.  That’s where she’s most likely to find discrepancies.

Keep your fingers crossed over the weekend!

HELLER’S ALBATROSS

ICYMI, Nevada Sen. Dean Heller (R) lost his bid to head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) yesterday to Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi (R).  Inside sources tell me the deal-breaker for Heller in what was a very close election was his relationship with Nevada political consultant Mike Slanker.

Slanker, you may recall, was former Sen. John Ensign’s consigliere who was eyeball-deep in the sex scandal that ultimately drove Ensign out of office. 

Slanker was also the political director hired run the NRSC in 2008 when Ensign chaired the committee.  That was the year Republicans lost not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven but EIGHT seats in the U.S. Senate without knocking off a single Democrat.

Epic fail.

He was also the strategist who tanked Republican Linda McMahon’s 2010 U.S. Senate bid in Connecticut despite McMahon spending a whopping $50 MILLION on the campaign.

He was also a key figure in the failed efforts earlier this year to bring the 2016 Republican National Convention to Las Vegas.

Slanker’s possible involvement in the 2016 races reportedly weighed heavily enough on the minds of some members that Heller had to scramble to distance himself from the architect of the NRSC’s 2008 electoral disaster.  Indeed, the day before the election, Politico reported…

“If he runs the committee, which would lead the charge to protect the GOP’s new majority, Heller said his top political adviser, Mike Slanker, would remain in Nevada and not run the day-to-day operations. While he would ‘lean on’ Nevada GOP operatives for advice, Heller said staffing decisions would be made in consultation with McConnell.”

Apparently even the notion of merely “leaning” on Slanker for political advice was a deal-breaker for some in the caucus.

Look, if you’re a candidate with a ton of money, are involved in a slam-dunk race and enjoy having smoke blown up your skirt and an occasional pucker on your derriere, Slanker’s your guy. 

But if you find yourself bringing a knife to a gun fight – like so many conservative Republicans did in this year’s Assembly races - Slanker’s about as useful as a trophy polisher for UNLV’s football team.

REMINDER: VOTE TODAY IN $100,000 TEACHER CHALLENGE

Remember, you can (and should, please) vote every day for Brenda Moynihan in her effort to secure a $100,000 grant for C.T. Sewell Elementary School in Henderson.

CLICK HERE to vote.  And remember, you can vote every day until the deadline on November 30th.  You know, just like in Chicago elections!

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

“If you had a (health care reform) law which said that healthy people are going to pay in - if you made explicit that healthy people pay in and sick people get money - it would not have passed.  Lack of transparency is a huge advantage.  And basically – call it the stupidity of the American voter, or whatever – but basically that was really, really critical for (ObamaCare) to pass.”  - MIT Prof. Jonathan Gruber, architect of ObamaCare, in a 2013 panel discussion on video that was unearthed by the Daily Caller

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