Brady Campaign endorsed Tarkanian in 2006 (R candidate against Reid -- possible dirty trick)

Washington Times ^ | 12/16/2009 | Amanda Carpenter

[markomalley]

A 2006 endorsement and robocall from the Brady Campaign isn’t the kind of thing Republican Danny Tarkanian wants coming up in his 2010 bid to unseat Nevada's senior Sen. Harry Reid, a Democrat who won an endorsement from the National Rifle Association in his last election.

But Mr. Tarkanian has only one person to blame: his mom.

The Tarkanian campaign initially dismissed questions about the little-noticed 2006 Brady Campaign endorsement Mr. Tarkanian received in his unsuccessful race for secretary of state in 2006. (PDF HERE.) The Brady Campaign also recorded robocalls urging Nevada voters to support him. (Audio script transcribed below). Tarkanian Campaign Manager James Fisfis suggested it was a dirty campaign tactic meant to discredit Mr. Tarkanian’s support for gun rights because, as he told The Washington Times, "a Brady call in Nevada is not a positive call."

Mr. Tarkanian "is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and has never reached out to the Brady Campaign," Mr. Fisfis said. He said later that Dan Burdish, a consultant who now works for their Republican primary opponent Sue Lowden, had "freelanced" by making arrangements for the call without Mr. Tarkanian's knowledge.

Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke also confirmed that Mr. Burdish, then an unpaid adviser for Mr. Tarkanian, had worked with them, even asking Mrs. Brady’s mispronunciation of "Nevada" be edited out of the call. But, Mr. Helmke said, "We weren't doing this on our own -- we were asked to do it by somebody who was with the campaign -- and they even went so far to edit the robocall."

[markomalley]

Sounds like they had some McCain staffers working for them (due to the obvious level of incompetence)

[pnh102]

Everyone needs to vote against Tarkanian. If he wins the primary then Harry Reid will continue to be Senate Majority Leader in 2011.

[fortheDeclaration]

Mr. Tarkanian "is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and has never reached out to the Brady Campaign,"

He just needs to clarify his views on the 2nd Amendment.

[mad_as_he$$]

Yup. Loser.

[VRWCmember]

Everyone needs to vote against Tarkanian. If he wins the primary then Harry Reid will continue to be Senate Majority Leader in 2011.

Really? I don't know much about Nevada politics, but if Danny's daddy was the very successful basketball coach at UNLV, then he probably has some pretty strong name recognition to play with. Is his opponent in the primary a lot stronger with the general voters in Nevada? Nevada is a fairly conservative state, so you should be able to run a conservative candidate successfully against Reid.