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POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Reid just irks Nevada GOP PAC raises more, but few dollars to defeat senator
Las Vegas Review-Journal ^ | Jun. 08, 2009 | Molly Ball

Posted on 06/11/2009 10:18:59 PM PDT by Syncro

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Reid just irks Nevada GOP

PAC raises more, but few dollars to defeat senator

By MOLLY BALL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

If anger were money, Sen. Harry Reid's opponents would be wealthy indeed. But it isn't, and they're not.

Fundraising appeals sent out by a group that launched a supposedly major anti-Reid campaign last month reveal that the Our Country Deserves Better PAC is struggling financially.

"Ouch folks, this is not too good" was the subject line on an e-mail sent Wednesday. It said only 75 people had chipped in less than $2,800 to the latest push for the "Defeat Harry Reid" campaign against the Senate majority leader from Nevada.

"We've got to do better, friends -- much, much better!" the group's Joe Wierzbicki wrote.

Another e-mail came the following day with the subject, "We've made some progress -- the update." Thanking "those of you who have graciously stepped up and made a contribution... as we try to keep pace with the fundraising efforts of Barack Obama and Sen. Harry Reid," the letter said that in 48 hours, 192 people had chipped in to raise the tally to $8,282.

A list of 32 of the 192 donors who gave $100 or more included just two Nevada names among many from California, Texas and Florida.

At that rate, it would take 483 days, or a year and four months, to equal the $2 million haul Reid and the Nevada Democratic Party reaped in one night from last month's presidential fundraiser at Caesars Palace, in conjunction with which the California-based Our Country Deserves Better staged a protest and launched a television and radio ad campaign.

This time, the group is trying to rally the conservative troops around a Reid fundraiser scheduled to be held in Chicago later this week.

Attorney William Singer is hosting the fundraising lunch Friday at his Chicago law firm, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. It costs $1,000 to attend the "intimate," "open-ended discussion of the most important issues of the day" with Reid, though the invitation notes that checks for the maximum $2,300 are welcome, too.

'R' IS FOR REID

Last week's announcement of a group of 56 prominent Republicans who are supporting Reid's re-election put the state's Republican Party in a tough spot. How to denigrate Reid's accomplishment in putting together the list, while simultaneously not insulting their own?

After all, a lot of the big names on Reid's list are people the Nevada GOP also badly needs as donors if it is to recover from the broke, battered, disorganized state it was left in after the last election. The Republicans for Reid list includes consultant Sig Rogich, first lady Dawn Gibbons, entertainer Wayne Newton, the mayors of Reno and Sparks, and numerous prominent businessmen.

An e-mail to supporters from the party's chairwoman, Sue Lowden, and finance chair, Robert Uithoven, all but called the Reid supporters out-of-touch elitists: "Without question, he's going to need all the haughty Washington politicians, self-absorbed Hollywood friends and powerful Nevada players he can get to win his re-election," the letter said.

And it came this close to accusing the list members of lying about their fealty to Reid: "While it's arguable whether these listed Nevadans will actually support Harry when casting their votes in private, what is certain is that Harry Reid has a serious lack of support from ordinary, hardworking Nevadans."

The e-mail goes on to ask those salt-of-the-earth types to chip in a hard-earned "$10, $20, $50 or even $100."

The Republicans for Reid are making a more ambitious pitch. A letter from Rogich and Sparks Mayor Geno Martini went out to the more than 800 registered Nevada Republicans who have donated to Reid's campaign, asking them to come out of the closet.

"You have already contributed financially to Senator Reid," the letter says, "now we are simply asking you to make a public endorsement."

The letter touts Reid's work on home-state issues such as water, energy, expanding the 215 Beltway and fighting Yucca Mountain.

"Although our party affiliation may say Republican, we are Nevadans first and we believe it is crucial for our state to retain Senator Reid," it states.

ELEPHANT FIGHT

The Reid committee isn't the only situation that finds Nevada Republicans working at cross purposes. Last week's conclusion to the legislative session also laid bare the longstanding rifts in the party.

Clark County Republican Party Chairman Bernie Zadrowski is convening a special meeting of the party's Central Committee this week to consider condemning the Republican lawmakers who voted for tax increases over Gov. Jim Gibbons' veto during the session.

There are six of them -- five state senators and one assemblyman -- two of whom, Sens. Dennis Nolan and Warren Hardy, are from Clark County. The other 17 Republican legislators voted against the $781 million in tax hikes, though not all voted against all of the spending in the budget the tax hikes helped to fund.

Zadrowski is calling on the committee to consider two resolutions: one "condemning the actions of each individual Republican legislator by name who voted for the tax increases," and another "praising the actions of each individual Republican legislator by name who voted against the tax increases, and to praise each one of them for standing behind the Governor and Republican principles in voting against overriding the governor's veto."

(An interesting side note: Even those lawmakers loyal to Gibbons, and there are a few, didn't stand by their man all the time. At least one of the 25 veto overrides was unanimous, meaning not a single Republican legislator was 100 percent faithful to upholding Gibbons' wishes.)

Zadrowski also encouraged GOP chairs in the state's other counties to follow his lead.

As conservative activist Chuck Muth reported in his e-mail newsletter, Zadrowski's action drew an angry response from state Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, who supported and helped craft the budget and tax hikes.

"Keep up these vituperative lashings at Republicans whom you disagree with and we will continue to lose elections," Raggio wrote.

"(The) Better course would be to reunite (the) party and understand differences of opinions."

Zadrowski replied that he believes standing on principle, not moderation and compromise, is what will lead the GOP back to electoral success.

"I think what is hurting the Republican Party is this idea propagated by 'moderates' that Republicans should look, act, and vote in a manner that is indistinguishable from Democrats, but not be held accountable," he wrote.

Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball @reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Nevada
KEYWORDS: defeatreid; nevada; nv2010; ourcountrypac; reid; yuccamountain
The group they are talking about is the Our Country Deserves Better PAC, who have been aggressively fighting against Reid in Nevada to despose this smarmy leftist Senator.

They are also the group that is going across the country as The Tea Party Express starting in late August to fight for conservative candidates and against vurnurable leftist incumbents/candidates.

Of course ending up in Washington, DC for the giant rally on Sept 12th and The Free Republic Comvention!

1 posted on 06/11/2009 10:18:59 PM PDT by Syncro
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To: Syncro
POLL TROUBLE FOR HARRY REID 5-19-09

A new Mason-Dixon poll for the Las Vegas Review-Journal shows Sen. Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, in real trouble with his own voters back home, but Republicans have yet to capitalize on Nevadans’ chilly feelings toward their senior senator. Reid is up for reelection in 2010.

When pollsters asked 635 likely Nevada voters if they would vote to send Reid back to the Senate if the election were held today, 45% said no, 35% said yes, and 17% said they would consider it.

The same poll showed Reid's favorability rating in Nevada at 38%, while his disapproval rating is at 50%.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/05/19/poll-trouble-at-home-for-harry-reid-but-challenegers-stay-away/

2 posted on 06/11/2009 10:29:38 PM PDT by Brad from Tennessee (A politician can't give you anything he hasn't first stolen from you.)
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To: Syncro

Yucca Mountain is a BIG issue.


3 posted on 06/11/2009 10:32:15 PM PDT by GVnana
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To: GVnana

Yes it is.

I would trust a conservative dealing with this important issue more than I would Reid.

He will say anything to get reelected


4 posted on 06/11/2009 10:36:05 PM PDT by Syncro
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To: Syncro

I look at Nevada in our Freepathons and am very disappopinted.


5 posted on 06/11/2009 10:43:51 PM PDT by Mark (Don't argue with my posts. I typed while under sniper fire..)
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To: Syncro

Noeone trusts the GOP to put up candidates that will do anything different then Scary Harry. Even if the GOP “said” they supported everything Reagan I would not send them a nickle. The party is rotten at the center and this must be addressed before millions of people like me will trust them with two cents of my money.


6 posted on 06/11/2009 11:30:25 PM PDT by liberty or death
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To: Mark; liberty or death; Syncro; GVnana; Brad from Tennessee
Two important points to make that will bring a smile to all FReepers faces. I work for the committee cited here - the www.OurCountryDeservesBetter.com Committee so here's the scoop:

1. The reporter did get correct that during those two days we raised only $8,000+ dollars. BUT... in the weeks prior to that we raised over $100,000 for our independent expenditure against Reid. And since that article was written we've raised over $30,000 more!

2. There IS a great tried and tested conservative in the race. Her name is Sharron Angle and she has an impeccable conservative track record and she's launched her committee to take on Reid. See her website here: www.SharronAngle.com

7 posted on 06/11/2009 11:51:27 PM PDT by Impeach98 (Anti-war protestors should try holding rallies in Damascus and Tehran!)
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To: liberty or death
The GOP should not be sent any money.

It's gone over to the dark side.

That being said, this organization isn't the GOP

It is a conservative Political Action Committee who's goal is to defeat leftist democrats (and republicans!) and try to get good solid conservatives elected to office.

The Chief Strategist is a strong conservative who set up the re-election campaign for President Ronald Reagan in California.

8 posted on 06/11/2009 11:54:26 PM PDT by Syncro
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To: Impeach98
Fantastic news, thanks for the update!

The dems are always playing the "angles", now they get one thrown at them. From her website:

Millions of Americans are asking, “How can we get rid of Harry Reid when he
comes up for re-election in 2010?” The answer is, “Only Nevadans can vote to replace Harry Reid… but every American can help by donating to this campaign

Nevada is ready for a straight talking conservative voice in the United States
Senate –someone who isn’t afraid to go up against the “good old boy system” and
challenge “politics as usual.” As a Nevada state legislator, I stood consistently for
the principles of more freedom, lower taxes, family values, and less government
spending and regulation.

By filing with the FEC, I have taken the first step in a U.S. Senate campaign
opposing Harry Reid. This marks the beginning of building a real grassroots
organization in Nevada and across the nation.  If you choose to support this
campaign, please send your contribution to:

Friends of Sharron Angle
PO Box 33058
Reno, NV 89533


I appreciate your help & support,

9 posted on 06/12/2009 12:00:45 AM PDT by Syncro
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To: Syncro

Sounds like work is to be done. There are several Democrats are are in trouble Dodd and Reid are two of the most high profile. Dodd I believe will certainly lose if faced by strong opponent. Reid will be tougher by with the right candidate he could be taken down. Where is the GOP? The lack of coordination on things like this is abysmal. One thing that I believe would help is setting up sites with fund raising goals, daily updates etc. Fred Thompson’s campaign raised a considerable amount of cash in the final weeks of his campaign doing exactly that. People need targets and goals and most importantly results.


10 posted on 06/12/2009 12:11:28 AM PDT by Maelstorm (There is nothing more pathetic than a Bureaucrat with no one who needs them.)
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To: Maelstorm
I think that the Our Country PAC is the perfect venue for that

Take a look at the route the Tea Party Express is taking and imagine the areas where rallies will be held to help turn the tide in congress and other races.

And check out the Target Races

Be prepared though, this picture is at that link!


SCARY!!!!

11 posted on 06/12/2009 12:20:29 AM PDT by Syncro
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To: Syncro

Good site. Thanks. I’ll be sure to donate.


12 posted on 06/12/2009 12:36:16 AM PDT by Maelstorm (There is nothing more pathetic than a Bureaucrat with no one who needs them.)
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To: Maelstorm
Hi Maelstrom: Your comments about where is the GOP was interesting to me. You see, part of the reason we at the Our Country Deserves Better Committee made Reid one of our top targets was that he is the Sen. Majority Leader (who's pushed through the out-of-control spending, the tax hikes, the bailouts, the efforts to hurt our troops) and polls show him vulnerable.

But the other reason is that there wasn't an organized resistance against Reid. So we figured as an independent conservative group we can take up some of the slack and keep the heat on Reid while the "right" candidate puts her/his campaign together and emerges to take him on (with us as their wingman providing cover during the campaign).

Hope that explanation makes sense!

-Joe

13 posted on 06/12/2009 12:43:38 AM PDT by Impeach98 (Anti-war protestors should try holding rallies in Damascus and Tehran!)
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To: Syncro

“The Silent Majority,” as Spiro Agnew called them, will be flushing the congressional toilet a year from November like they did in 1994.


14 posted on 06/12/2009 1:14:57 AM PDT by Brad from Tennessee (A politician can't give you anything he hasn't first stolen from you.)
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To: Syncro

#1 suggestion. Get rid of the GOP in the name. Nevada GOP PAC? What tells me it’s not GOP?

Thanks for the heads up and in this case I will dig deeper because I have no problem sending donations to individual conservatives. The GOP gets ZERO!


15 posted on 06/12/2009 4:09:27 PM PDT by liberty or death
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