Posted on 06/03/2010 12:28:03 PM PDT by americanophile
As the Nevada GOP Senate primary approaches its unpredictable conclusion, there is a potential disaster brewing for Silver State Republicans come fall. Sue Lowden, once the clear leader in the race has imploded thanks to politically asinine comments about bartering with chickens for health care. Never mind that bartering does continue to take place, when it comes to politics, such an unforced error is devastating. Moreover, Lowden’s questionable partial ownership and nondisclosure of her campaign bus has given her campaign an air of underhandedness. Add to Lowden’s woes her insider’s insider status as the former Nevada GOP Party Chair and her past support and endorsement for Harry Reid and her veneer of formidability evaporates. As the latest polls indicate, Nevadans are walking away from Sue Lowden in droves, and Fox News reports she’s now third behind Angle and Tarkanian. Despite the backing of heavyweight GOP establishment figures, in the final analysis, Lowden is a falling star.
The bigger problem for Nevada Republicans is the possibility that many are leaving Sue’s campaign for Sharron Angle. Sure, Angle’s conservative, and she’s got the backing of both grassroots groups and political machines like the Tea Party Express, but in the final analysis, Angle remains for many a fringe candidate with tenuous ties to Scientology and some questionable votes on spending. Her opponents, most notably Lowden, have pointed out her authorship of a bill which included the hair-brained scheme of providing massages to prison inmates. Can anyone see a Reid campaign commercial there? While Angle’s record does include some bright spots as well, the mere fact that Angle has a record at all is cause for concern in this anti-incumbency year. A four-term record in the Nevada State Assembly is sure to provide ample fodder for Reid and Democratic operatives, and Angle’s fringy style will likely prove an easy target for Reid’s well-oiled machine; a machine that’s managed to keep the sullen, liberal Majority Leader – by any measure an unappealing candidate – in office for more than 20 years. As the final vote draws near it’s clear that going with Angle is huge gamble.
The sleeper candidate in the race remains Danny Tarkanian. While Tarkanian hasn’t exactly caught fire, his quiet, consistent message and famous Nevada name have kept him in the running and amidst the unpredictability of Lowden and the quirkiness of Angle, Tarkanian looks more and more like the safe conservative choice. Tarkanian is just as conservative as Angle, he’s pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, opposed the Wall Street bailouts and focused on bringing the federal government to heel. He’s endorsed by Chuck Heath – Sarah Palin’s father and the grassroots Minuteman Project – but as an attorney and small businessman who’s never held public office before, Tarkanian comes without the baggage of a legislative record. He’s the outsider in an outsider’s year – something he grasped early as the first candidate to jump in against Reid last August when the Democrats were riding high. Going with Tarkanian has its disadvantages – Danny’s run for statewide office before, unsuccessfully – but on the other hand in doing so he’s boosted his statewide name recognition to a degree that Angle never has; most Nevada Republicans have a memory of casting their ballot for Danny Tarkanian. It helps also that every living room in the state has fond memories of watching his father, the legendary UNLV basketball coach, take the NCAA title.
Can Danny Tarkanian beat Harry Reid? If polls are any indication, yes. Tarkanian’s campaign boasts an impressive list of some 16 polls in which Tarkanian beats Reid – nearly every poll since August 2009. While most Republicans are confident that a ham sandwich could beat Harry Reid in November, their overconfidence is just that – overconfident. Reid’s machine should not be underestimated – nor the millions upon millions of dollars in negative advertising and get out the vote efforts that will pour into Nevada to prop up the ailing Majority Leader. Reid will not go quietly, and while Angle’s upstart campaign seems to have the energy now to take on Reid, like Tennessee’s Rand Paul, her record and personality will likely prove far too easy to marginalize come June 9th; in the words of one respected Republican strategist, “Harry Reid will eat Sharron Angle for breakfast.”
Tarkanian may not be a dream candidate, but his quiet demeanor, constitutional focus, and stubborn determination are a good match for Reid’s own workmanlike approach to politics and the anti-government mood of the electorate. Over the course of nine months, Tarkanian has proven to be the only reliable candidate in Nevada’s GOP field, and he’s done so without the big dollars or the machine backing that has propelled his rivals. In the final analysis Tarkanian is simply the safe, and ultimately the best the candidate to take on Harry Reid this November, and should be the choice of Nevada Republicans.
Priority is defeat the corrupt Reid and tie him to his God, Obama, and the witch Pelosi. Ensure that the voters in Nevada realize Reid is heading enemies within who are destroying this country just as much as any foreign enemies.
Please NV pick a conservative.
Pick anybody but Reid, unless you are really into rewarding the dems for shoving Obamacare down our throats.
According to my friends in NV, Tarkanian has very high name recognition & should be taken seriously.
People like Chris Christi and Jan Brewer aren’t thinking like that. They want the best and we should have the best representing us.
Elect a conservative and breath the fresh air of freedom.
Danny T. is already marked on the ballot.
I went to law school and graduated with Danny. He’s a top-shelf guy. If I lived in nevada he’d have my support and my vote. He’ll do a great job representing the people of The Silver State.
Hahaha...I thought so, but I just figured I was wrong.
Mrs. Kahuna and I have come to much the same conclusion as laid out in this blog. 2 votes for Danny this coming Tuesday.
Maybe it's because his dad, Jerry Tarkanian was the BB Coach at UNLV for so many years. He was known as Tark the Shark, and people loved his towel biting.
But the Rats will spare no expense, you may rely on it, to keep Reid in office. That is one solid point in the article, that and that it won't be a cakewalk no matter what GOP'ers think now.
Tarkanian is a very nice fellow and a great UNLV men's basketball coach of the Runnin' Rebels, but he's already shown that he loses in races against uninspiring Democrats.
Of course I will vote against anyone who can beat Reid, but the Republican nominee in the race against him will be Sharron Angle.
I just learned that Tarkanian seems to be anti-gun:
Sharron Angle The Best Choice For Nevada Gun Owners (And The Country)
— Opponent supported by anti-gun group in 2006
Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Pl, Suite 102
Springfield, VA 22151
http://www.goapvf.org
Friday, June 4, 2010
The Nevada Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate continues to shift dramatically.
A brand new poll by the Suffolk University Political Research Center now shows pro-gun Sharon Angle, who is endorsed by Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund, in first place with 33 percent, followed by Danny Tarkanian at 26 percent and Sue Lowden at 25 percent.
The three are battling it out for the right to take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in November.
Reid’s anti-Second Amendment antics are well known. In the past year, he forced ObamaCare through the Senate, along with a slew of anti-gun Obama nominees.
But one of the Republican candidates is not without Second Amendment problems of his own. Less than four years ago, when he ran for Secretary of State, Danny Tarkanian received a glowing endorsement from a leading anti-gun group.
“I’m asking you to vote for Danny Tarkanian,” said Sarah Brady, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, in a radio ad. “He supports common sense gun laws like a ban on military-style assault weapons.”
Brady was referring to Tarkanian’s support of ban on many types of common semi-automatic rifles owned by millions of Americans.
Go to http://goapvf.org/brady-endorsement-of-tarkanian-in-2006.htm to view the Brady endorsement of Tarkanian.
The choice for gun owners and sportsmen in this election is clear. GOA-PVF urges all pro-Second Amendment Nevadans to vote for Sharron Angle on Tuesday, June 8, and for supporters around the country to get behind to Angle campaign with contributions in these crucial final days of the election.
Please visit www.sharronangle.com today to make a donation to Sharron Angle’s effort to defeat Harry Reid.
Thanks again for supporting Sharron Angle for U.S. Senate.
Sincerely,
Tim Macy
Vice-Chairman
________________________________________
Paid for by Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund is a project of Gun Owners of America.
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