Clark County Democratic Party Chairman John Hunt lashes out at Culinary Secretary Treasurer D. Taylor and says his party’s caucus plan is flawed. Plus, Republican operative Steve Wark and liberal blogger Hugh Jackson chime in on the lawsuit that threatens Saturday’s events. [Read more →]

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Should university students and faculty pay the price for Governor Jim Gibbons’ demands for cuts to the higher education budget? Jon asks University System Chancellor Jim Rogers and Board of Regents Chairman Michael Wixom. [Read more →]

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Sun columnist Jon Ralston breaks some news about Obama coming back Sunday and Monday. Also, Sen. John Kerry, who endorsed Obama today, cold-called Ralston today. J.R. summarized the conversation to readers of his e-mail newsletter:

So why Obama instead of his former running mate and the former first lady?

“The times are different,” Kerry said. “The times demand different things.”

He said Obama’s race will not be an impediment to “most
Americans….This is 2008…I think most Americans are way beyond that.”

But what about Clinton’s argument that talking change is different than producing change? Listen to this, dear Flashees:

“He produced one of the most significant ethics reform bills we passed. He has been a legislator longer than Hillary Clinton.” And then this zinger: “Health care didn’t pass in 1994 if I recall.”

I would love to be on the Senate floor when they all get back.

Ira Glass had a really funny bit about John Kerry on his radio show “This
American Life.”

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WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just took a spin in Wolf Blitzer’s Situation Room on CNN and proffered these caucus-inspired nuggets.

On former White House aide Karl Rove’s Wall Street Journal piece blasting Sen. Barrack Obama’s lack of Senate accomplishments: “Karl Rove, as usual, was wrong.” Reid went on to laud Obama’s work on the ethics bill singed into law this year.

On Reid’s son, Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid, leading Sen. Hillary Clinton’s Nevada campaign: “My son is more than 40 years old… I can’t tell him what to do.”

Reid was careful to insert every few moments the point he makes over and over again: He remains neutral in this race, endorsing no candidate. (He quipped last month in Washington that he would endorse after the nomination.)

When Blitzer asked the majority leader to offer up a few hidden facts about each of the three front-runners from his time in the Senate, Reid smiled and obliged.

On Obama and Clinton: “They’re both great writers. She got a Grammy. He got on the best sellers’ list.”

As for former Sen. John Edwards: “The thing about him is the devotion he has to his children,” Reid said. “He really focuses on those children — I’m confident the reason is he lost that boy in the accident.”

For the majority leader known for his zingers, these went down easy.

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Education officials and activists are joining lawmakers in a chorus of protests to proposed budget cuts. Will Governor Gibbons opt to dip into the Rainy Day fund rather than implement cuts of almost five percent? Jon talks with experts about options ranging from a lawsuit against the state to a recall effort aimed at Gibbons.
[Read more →]

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WASHINGTON — All eyes may be on Nevada, but the big ticket in town here today was the sold-out (well, it was free but you had to RSVP) forum on the economy at Brookings.

The White House and Congress are separately wrangling over the R-word, and whether a stimulus package is needed to fend off a full-blown recession.

But Mark Zandi, a chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, says Nevada is among a half-dozen regional economies already in a recession.

Voters are making the economy a top issue – think about it, a 5 percent unemployment rate, housing foreclosures spreading like wildfire in places Southern Nevada, creeping inflation especially with high gas prices.

Expect to hear more on this in the opening days of Congress.

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WASHINGTON — For heads still spinning from Sen. Hillary Clinton’s poll-defying victory in New Hampshire, there are lots of attempts to sort it out this morning.

The Washington Post offers an exhaustive piece dissecting the Clinton campaign.

Here’s the teaser of the lead:

“In a campaign run by conference calls, this one stood out. It was Dec. 2, just a month before the Iowa caucuses, and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was furious. She did not yell, but her voice, serious and deep, bristled with irritation over how things were going for her in Iowa.”

Not one, but two, jump pages inside the paper follow. Plus a sider on the gender gap.

The New York Times dishes up its take, while Andrew Kohut at Pew offers his thoughts on how race remains an issue in polling.

They’re insightful recaps of what just happened.

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After another disappointing fourth place finish in New Hampshire last night, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson declared his campaign would go “On to the West” to compete in the Jan. 19 Nevada caucus.

Now it appears the campaign may be going no further west than New Mexico, where several news reports, including the Associated Press and CNN, say Richardson is planning to announce his withdrawal from the presidential race tomorrow.

The decision is a bit puzzling, despite his weak finishes in the first two contests. As the only Westerner in the race, Richardson devoted a good deal of money and time to Nevada, banking on his natural advantage to give him a strong showing, if not a win. In fact, he and Edwards have competed for the title of most frequent visitor to the Silver State.

For our part, the Sun tried to get to know Richardson a bit — and finally caught up with him in New Mexico earlier this year.

More to follow.

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The state Democratic Party is advertising not only for its own caucus, but the Republicans’ as well.

In a new spot running statewide, Sen. Harry Reid walks through a room in Searchlight (birthplace of the Majority Leader).

“The presidential candidates are listening. So whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, caucus on Saturday the 19th. Let them hear your voice and be part of the change America needs.”

Meanwhile, a graphic comes up saying “Attend Democratic or Republican Caucus Saturday, January 19th.”

Reid told us that a robust turnout in both caucus would benefit Nevada.

“I think Republicans should have a good caucus,” he said.

Kirsten Searer, spokeswoman for the state party, says that as independent and Republican voters learn about the caucus in coming days, they can re-register at their caucus sights to participate in the Democratic caucus. The Republican caucus is closed to new registrants. The party spent $150,000 on the ad buy.

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WASHINGTON — New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez is leading a delegation from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus into Las Vegas for the Clinton campaign this weekend, reaching out to Nevada’s growing Hispanic population to get out the vote.

A colleague from The Record in New Jersey broke the news just a short time ago on his blog:

“Sen. Bob Menendez will lead a delegation of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Las Vegas this weekend to urge Latino voters to support Hillary Clinton…. Menendez, a national co-chairman of Clinton’s campaign, may also record a television commercial in Spanish. “It looks good in Nevada. She’s had a great organization there,” he said.

A spokesman for the senator confirmed the trip.

Not only is Menendez doing a neighborly deed for the New Yorker, but he’s also returning a political favor – Clinton’s HillPAC contributed $10,000 to Menendez in the 2006 cycle, according to Center for Responsive Politics. Menendez pulled through that tough re-election to help Democrats re-take Congress, and make Sen. Harry Reid the senate majority leader.

Course with Obama in town Friday, the competition to turn heads may be tough.

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