Giuliani Goes Shopping In Vegas; State GOP Takes More Heat

"People love Rudy Giuliani," led the Las Vegas Review-Journal's (LVRJ) story detailing the GOP front-runner's fundraising visit. And, apparently, Giuliani loves inexpensive DVDs too.

Following his successful visit earlier this month to a Reno Costco, Giuliani ducked into a Las Vegas Target where he picked up a $10 copy of Remember The Titans and posed for numerous photos and signed autographs.

The similar-styled visit wasn't lost on the Reno Gazette Journal's Ray Hagar, who groused "It’s like telling a lawyer joke to a lawyer – twice."

Taking Heat

When it rains it pours. After ditching one controversial chairman, Paul Adams, the Nevada State Republican Party now finds itself saddled with a new one.

Acting chairman Paul Willis has already taken heat for an association with an indicted brothel owner and now is being attacked for his handling of the proposed January Republican caucus as well as waiting until April 21 to elect a new chair.

Party faithful are hoping the expected new leader, former State Senator Sue Lowden, can turn things around.

"I think right now it's in disarray," GOP consultant Ryan Erwin told the LVRJ. "Right now there's no leadership. But if someone comes in with the determination, the political sophistication, the drive to win and the ability to recruit top-notch staff, it's not going to take very long to turn it around."

Zogby National Poll: Giuliani, Clinton Lead Handily

Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton maintained healthy leads in the recent national poll taken by Zogby International from March 22-26, 2007.

Clinton continued to hold a double-digit advantage over Barack Obama for Democrats, while Giuliani extended his lead over John McCain to 14 points. As in other recent polls, Republican Fred Thompson scored well for a candidate that only popped up as a possibility a few weeks ago. He was tied for third with Mitt Romney.

Democrats
32% -- Hillary Clinton
22% -- Barack Obama
13% -- John Edwards
2% -- Joe Biden
2% -- Bill Richardson
1% -- Dennis Kucinich
24% -- Not Sure

Republicans
27% -- Rudy Giuliani
13% -- John McCain
9% -- Fred Thompson
9% -- Mitt Romney
3% -- Ron Paul
1% -- Tommy Thompson
1% -- Mike Huckabee
1% -- Duncan Hunter
1% -- Tom Tancredo
28% -- Not Sure

The Fred Thompson Factor

If recent polls are to be believed, prepare for a lot of "dun-dun" jokes over the next year.

Despite not officially running, current Law and Order actor Fred Thompson surprised many when a USA Today poll taken this past weekend had the former U.S. Senator placing third among GOP presidential candidates.

Not only did his strong showing cut Rudy Giuliani's lead over John McCain by 13 points, it also relegated Mitt Romney to a distant sixth with only 3% supporting the former Massachusett governor.

Thompson also cut into the support of another possible candidate, Newt Gingrich. Third just a few weeks ago in Iowa with 16%, Gingrich dropped to fifth with the addition of Thompson's name. Likewise, Giuliani's eight-point lead on McCain disappeared, leaving the two tied.

Giuliani also lost eight points and the lead in New Hampshire, as Thompson drew 10%.

USA Today GOP Presidential Poll

1. Rudy Giuliani 31%
2. John McCain 22%
3. Fred Thompson 12%
4. Newt Gingrich 8%
5. Sam Brownback 3%
6. Mitt Romney 3%
7. Tommy Thompson 2%
8. Ron Paul 1%
9. Tom Tancredo 1%
10. Mike Huckabee 1%

Dullard Mush Presidential "Blog Post" Survey: March 19-26

Boosted by his appearance before Congress, Al Gore continues to be the most blogged about presidential candidate, or possible one. The former Vice President was mentioned in 17,430 blog posts during the week of March 19-26.

John Edwards, who announced his wife Elizabeth was diagnosed with a recurrence of breast cancer, logged 16K blogger mentions. Barack Obama was third with 14,281 posts.

On the GOP side, John McCain continued to lead with 8,841 mentions. Mitt Romney moved to second, edging out Rudy Giuliani. Possible candidate Fred Thompson was a strong fourth, moving past Newt Gingrich.

Last week's numbers are in parentheses.

Republican Presidential Results

1. John McCain 8,841 (8,667)
2. Mitt Romney 5,318 (4,422)
3. Rudy Giuliani 5,102 (4,965)
4. Fred Thompson 3,o61 (2,770)
5. Newt Gingrich 2,826 (2,875)
6. Chuck Hagel 2,170 (1,817)
7. Ron Paul 1,984 (2,042)
8. Sam Brownback 1,513 (2,089)
9. Mike Huckabee 1,266 (1,024)
10. Tom Tancredo 1,252 (501)
11. Duncan Hunter 1,105 (1,002)

Democratic Presidential Results

1. Al Gore 17,430 (11,723)
2. John Edwards 16,002 (7,355)
3. Barack Obama 14,281 (11,254)
4. Hillary Clinton 13,018 (11,045)
5. Bill Richardson 2,899 (2,589)
6. Dennis Kucinich 2,194 (1,437)
7. Chris Dodd 1,578 (522)
8. Joe Biden 1,330 (1,313)
9. Wesley Clark 395 (292)
10. Mike Gravel 288 (168)

Numbers were for a candidate's full name in "quotes" and taken from Google's Blog Search. Since Chris Dodd and Wesley Clark are also frequently referred to as "Christopher Dodd" and "Wes Clark," both versions were used.

Democratic Activist Uses State Party Voter Rolls To Smear Fellow Blogger

While bloggers taking the low road in attacking others is hardly new, one Reno blogger took the art to new depths. Even more interesting was from where they did their dirty work -- voter registration rolls provided by the Nevada State Democratic Party (NSDP).

Anonymous blogger NV UpNorth, who describes themselves as "Northern Nevada's Progressive Leader," was commenting on Reno and Its Discontents when, in a discussion with fellow blogger Ryan Jerz, dropped the bombshell "Mistakes like not voting in elections?" and "The latest missed election appears to be the general in 2006."

Besides the relevance to the discussion at hand, it also happened to be false.

"As for 06, I voted at Scolari's at Caughlin Ranch and stood right where the old vault used to be when I worked in the bank there. I worked there before UpNorth was out of elementary school. I even said 'hey' to the pharmacist, Pat, who's been there forever," Jerz told us Friday evening.

But, perhaps, of even more importance was where UpNorth obtained such information. They didn't go down to the Washoe County elections office for research. Instead, they used their status as a NSDP member to access the party's official voter rolls to investigate others.

UpNorth, in an apology posted Friday night, admitted to using the records and claimed that their NSDP "privileges have been stripped." UpNorth also announced they were suspending their blogging activities because of the incident, though, according to a post back in November 2006, the UNR Economics senior was already planning to cease publishing this spring.

But the big mystery remaining is why did UpNorth do it? In the world of blogs, where discussions often turn ugly and blood feuds develop, the anonymous blogger and Jerz were hardly mortal enemies. Image what UpNorth tried to dig up on frequent targets like Nevada Assemblyman Ty Cobb and the Reno Gazette-Journal's Ray Hagar.

Update (6/19/07): The secret of who is NV UpNorth is no more. Ryan Jerz reveals the name, it's Ross Armstrong, and a whole lot more, including Armstrong's now-derailed dream of being a Democratic candidate for Congress in 2012, in a hard-hitting post.

Early Reviews On Vegas Health Care Forum

John Edwards telling the crowd he was "definitely in the race for the duration," big applause for Hillary Clinton and some differences of opinion on whether a tax hike was needed highlighted today's Las Vegas presidential candidate forum on Health Care.

Edwards opened by reiterating his decision to remain in the race after learning his wife Elizabeth had a recurrence of cancer. Reuters reported that one Clinton supporter privately "believed attention from the announcement would put Edwards on track to surpass (Barack) Obama as the presumed No. 2 Democrat in the race," while other analysts thought he "risks turning off some Democrats who might see his decision as overly ambitious, or could find supporters reluctant to donate to a candidate who could pull out for family reasons."

Clinton received the warmest welcome according to KLAS-8. The station also noted that "after she spoke several dozen immediately left, not sticking around to hear Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd." The Las Vegas Review-Journal (LVRJ) also noted "(Clinton's) tales of people faced with insurance nightmares got wild, standing cheers, and much of the arena emptied when she left the stage."

On the topic of how to pay for a national health care plan, the candidates split, with Edwards saying taxes would need to be raised while Bill Richardson said no increase was necessary. Clinton and Obama did not rule out a tax increase, but were less specific with their plans. Dodd, meanwhile, thought repealing the upper-income tax cuts and ending the War in Iraq would provide the necessary resources for a universal health plan.

Update (3/25/07): Besides the just added LVRJ story above, other reviews include the Washington Post, AP, and the Chicago Tribune. We also launched an online poll to see who people thought "won" the forum.

New Poll: Iraq Top Concern For Nevada Voters

The War in Iraq is the top concern in a recent poll of 407 likely Nevada caucus voters. Health care and security were tied for second.

Commissioned by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the poll also asked voters how much they thought presidential candidates were talking about health care. 47% said "too little" with 14% saying "too much."

SEIU is one of the sponsors for this Saturday's "Health Care" presidential candidate forum in Las Vegas.

Poll Results
40% -- Iraq
26% -- Health Care
26% -- Security
22% -- Immigration
18% -- The Economy
17% -- Retirement
17% -- Education
12% -- Taxes
9% -- Moral Values

Heller Holds Town Hall Meeting; PLAN Opposes Repeal Of Bank Tax

Usually town hall meetings are held in, well, town halls. But for Nevada's freshman congressman Dean Heller (R), who was back in DC, the phone would suffice.

Using an auto-dialer, Heller rang up northern Nevadans to take part in his first "Town Hall Meeting" Tuesday evening. While the automated greeting was a little odd upon picking up the receiver, one was quickly patched in to the live Q & A session with Heller. Listeners were encouraged to ask questions in the call-in style format.

Most of the questions I heard asked last night were on two subjects -- the War on Iraq and illegal immigration. And most seemed to be of the same mind, bring the troops home and send the illegals home.

Heller said over 5,000 people were on the lines.

PLAN Against SB 233
The Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) will be holding a press conference Thursday, March 21, at 12:30 PM in the Main Foyer of the Legislative Building to voice their opposition to SB 233.

The bill would repeal the $1,750 per branch quarterly excise tax and lower the net payroll tax from 2% to 0.65% for financial institutions. Both measures were passed in 2003.

Dullard Mush Presidential "Blog Mention" Survey: March 12-19

Barack Obama fever cooled slightly on the blogosphere as Al Gore topped our weekly list of 2008 presidential candidates (or possible candidates) bloggers are talking about.

Gore, third last week, jumped to the top with 11,723 "mentions," edging Obama's 11,254. Last week's number two, John Edwards, dropped to fourth on the Democratic side with over 4,500 fewer postings than the previous week.

On the GOP side, John McCain's Straight Talk Express bus tour boosted postings by 2,000 as the U.S. Senator remained ahead of Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney.

Added this week were possible candidates Newt Gingrich and Fred Thompson. They placed fourth and fifth among Republicans.

Last week's numbers are in parentheses.

Republican Presidential Results

1. John McCain 8,667 (6,654)
2. Rudy Giuliani 4,965 (5,968)
3. Mitt Romney 4,422 (4,735)
4. Newt Gingrich 2,875
5. Fred Thompson 2,770
6. Sam Brownback 2,089 (1,702)
7. Ron Paul 2,042 (1,117)
8. Chuck Hagel 1,817 (1,909)
9. Mike Huckabee 1,024 (1,163)
10. Duncan Hunter 1,002 (526)
11. Tom Tancredo 501 (440)

Democratic Presidential Results

1. Al Gore 11,723 (10,941)
2. Barack Obama 11,254 (12,809)
3. Hillary Clinton 11,045 (9,497)
4. John Edwards 7,355 (11,938)
5. Bill Richardson 2,589 (1,728)
6. Dennis Kucinich 1,437 (1,104)
7. Joe Biden 1,313 (1,232)
8. Chris Dodd 522 (531)
9. Wesley Clark 292 (400)
10. Mike Gravel 168 (137)

Numbers were for a candidate's full name in "quotes" and taken from Google's Blog Search.

Nevada Assemblyman Blasts Local Activist Over "Pork" Charge

When Battle Born News founder Eric Odom posted "Assemblyman Ty Cobb Wants Pork For Breakfast," bemoaning the fact that the Reno republican was proposing to spend $300,000 for a Veterans Guest House and closing with a not-so-veiled threat at the safety of the AD-26 freshman's job, he probably thought that was the end of it. Just another clever blog post that goes unchallenged.

He was wrong.

In an email interview, Cobb not only explains the details of the Veterans Guest House program but also addresses Odom and his charges. And, it's safe to say, he pulls no punches.

"Mr. Odom should spend some time in a war zone before he criticizes expenditures on behalf of our troops," said Cobb. "I think that it is pretty obvious why his wife left him when he can't find sympathy for veterans. But then again, I'm not a 'real conservative' with my past votes and refusal to raise taxes."

As for Odom's "(He) had better tread carefully. You never know who will jump in the race against him next time around" warning, Cobb isn't exactly worried.

"I look forward to him or his friend Mr. (Richard) Disney running against me again. Considering that Disney received slightly over 1% of the vote against me in the last election, I'll be sure to accord him the appropriate amount of attention."

In that highly contentious and nasty AD-26 GOP primary, many believe Odom and Disney were behind an anonymous attack site that made numerous false accusations against Cobb.

But what about the actual issue that started it all -- the alleged "pork"?

"The Veteran's Guest House is a private non-profit that provides a home for veterans and their families to stay when they're being treated at the VA clinic in Reno. The one-time $300,000 appropriation to eliminate their mortgage is a grant that requires them to match the money before they get it- a fiscally responsible way to eliminate their debt so that they can provide a public service with private money in the future," explained Cobb. "This is the type of expenditure from our $500 million surplus that conservatives should applaud because it creates no bureaucracy and helps fill a void for our brave troops."

Cowboys' "Crazy Ray" Passes Away

I know it's not politics, but one of the joys of watching the Dallas Cowboys over the years is, sadly, no more.

Wilford "Crazy Ray" Jones passed away Saturday at the age of 76.

If you have ever seen any televised Dallas home game in the last couple decades, and I've been watching since the '70s, you know who "Crazy Ray" is. From his signature big white hat, blue chaps and vest, six-guns at the ready and his trusty stick pony, he was THE Dallas mascot for years. Though never an actual Cowboys' employee, Jones had his own Texas Stadium parking space and an all-access pass for every game.

When word got out about Jones' health and financial problems in recent years, the Dallas community stepped up by remodeling his home and replacing a stolen car. For more on "Crazy Ray," or to make a donation, please visit SaveCrazyRay.com. Even if you're a Redskins fan.

MySpace Launches Presidential Forum

MySpace officially entered the world of politics with the Sunday launch of Impact Presidential Focus.

With its focus on "official" sites, some candidates saw a drop in the number of "friends" associated with their campaign. Notable would be Hillary Clinton. Her unofficial site, Hillary Clinton 2008, has over 29k friends. Her new one, 358.

So far 10 candidates have signed up, with the remainder expected to follow soon.

Friends Count
Barack Obama -- 66,469
John Edwards -- 13,460
John McCain -- 754
Joe Biden -- 700
Mitt Romney -- 587
Dennis Kucinich -- 498
Hillary Clinton -- 358
Duncan Hunter -- 299
Ron Paul -- 135
Rudy Giuliani -- locked

The Nevada Politics vs. Blogger Controversy You Haven't Heard About

And with good reason.

While the bloggers vs. FOX debate was the recent rage in the Silver State political blogosphere, a smaller story tried to gather traction -- "Nevada Senator disses bloggers." The only problem, it wasn't true.

At the heart of the matter is the following quote by State Senator Dennis Nolan.

"I don't think any legislator is too worried about what cyberspace bloggers are doing," he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in an article concerning highway construction. "We are the ones who have to sit down and get the facts and determine the needs of our motoring public."

The problem, though, is that those making a stink about the situation are conveniently leaving out the lines that directly preceded the quote:

Conservative commentator, blogger and activist Chuck Muth cried foul over that proposal. He said legislators who want to tax citizens to build roads should gather 80,000 signatures like anyone else who wants to put a question before voters.

"Absolutely the roads are needed," Muth said. "But it shouldn't be easier for them to raise taxes than anybody else."

Rather than gathering signatures to put matters before voters, a process that requires about $250,000, legislators only have to pass a bill, according to Muth.

State Senate Transportation Chairman Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas, dismissed Muth's criticisms.

"I don't think any legislator...

So instead of being a broadside at blogging in general, as some would have you believe, it was aimed directly at Muth, an activist known to throw a few broadsides of his own.

But the real tragedy is, once again political bloggers come off looking and acting like petulant children in the eyes of those they ostensibly cover. How eager do you think Nolan or others in the legislature will be to talk to or interview with bloggers after incidents like this?

As Mr. Jerz said in a post regarding the affair, "If you’re a blogger because you 'want to make a difference' or some other altruistic reason, then you should realize that making a difference isn’t just telling people what you think. It’s work. Pick up the phone, tell them who you are, and go from there. But stop acting like this is some power game in which you deserve respect that nobody knows you deserve."

New Hampshire Poll Shows Clinton Leading, Republicans Knotted

A recent poll shows the New Hampshire presidential primary race tightening in both parties. Hillary Clinton still leads the Democrats while John McCain and Rudy Giuliani are knotted at the top for the GOP.

Of interest to Republicans, is the showing by Mitt Romney. He trailed the front-runners by just seven points, separating himself from the second tier.

On the Democratic side, it was the usual top three (Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards) leading the way. Al Gore, surprisingly, was fourth with 10%.

The WBZ-TV/Franklin Pierce Poll was taken March 7-11 with a +/- 4.9% margin of error.

Democrats
Hillary Clinton -- 32%
Barack Obama -- 25
John Edwards -- 16
Al Gore -- 10
Bill Richardson -- 3
Dennis Kucinich -- 2
Joe Biden -- 1
Wesley Clark -- 1
Chris Dodd -- 0.5
Mike Gravel -- 0
Al Sharpton -- 0
Undecided -- 9

Republicans
John McCain -- 29%
Rudy Giuliani -- 28
Mitt Romney -- 22
Newt Gingrich -- 5
Mike Huckabee -- 2
Sam Brownback -- 1
Chuck Hagel -- 1
Duncan Hunter -- 1
Ron Paul -- 1
Tom Tancredo -- 0
Jim Gilmore -- 0
George Pataki -- 0
Tommy Thompson -- 0
Undecided -- 9

Gravel Banned From CNN Debate; Frosh Dems Told To Stay Away From Colbert

Unlike Nevada's Democratic presidential candidate forums, New Hampshire and CNN have decided to edit the list of who is invited to their event. And first on the cutting room floor is former U.S. Senator Mike Gravel.

"When my staff inquired as to why I was being barred from participating in the debate, they received the Orwellian response that my candidacy did not meet certain criteria––a criteria that the media organizations refused to divulge when asked,” said Gravel in a campaign press release (for the video, click here.)

A debate criteria that has been used before, usually to exclude third party candidates, has been the reaching of a polling threshold (normally five or 10%). If that criteria is again being used, early debates have better be careful as only Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama would currently meet those requirements on the Democratic side and Rudy Giuliani and John McCain for the GOP.

Avoid Stephen Colbert
Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Rahm Emanuel has apparently told freshman Democrats to stay away from Comedy Central's The Colbert Report.

“He said don’t do it … it’s a risk and it’s probably safer not to do it,” said Rep. Steve Cohen (D). Advice the Tennessee representative didn't follow when he appeared last week on the show. Colbert asked if he was "a black woman."

March Madness Meets Politics: McCain's NCAA Tournament Bracket Contest

Sen. John McCain has filled out his NCAA Tournament bracket (Hint: His Final Four is heavy on the #1s) and is challenging America to beat him.

Hoping to capitalize on March Madness, but not the betting aspect of course, the GOP presidential candidate's campaign launched a points-based contest with McCain attire as prizes.

While playing it safe with all the first-seeds making the Final Four, McCain does pick a couple upsets along the way like Duke over Pittsburgh in the second round and UNLV falling to Georgia Tech in the opening frame. UNR, meanwhile, is slated for a round two defeat at the hands of Memphis. In the end, though, it's North Carolina over Kansas.

Sign-ups end Thursday at noon EST.

From "Thank You For This Forum" To "Blatant Smear-Blog" In 24 Hours

I guess that's the way it goes when dealing with the blindly partisan.

Imagine my surprise when I got a hit from the New York Times' blog this past Friday. It seemed strange since I had linked to them for a story, not the other way around. So I ventured over and found a familiar name in the comment section -- "Sean Kerr".

Kerr, of course, had been recently posting on Dullard Mush and other blogs in regards to the FOX debate. And while he was rabidly against the network, his relative anger was aimed at the usual suspects, not the blog. In fact, in his last comment on March 8, Kerr closed with a civil "Regardless, let's respectively agree to disagree - I thank you for providing this forum."

But civility, I guess, has a short half-life in the blogging world as exactly 24 hours later "thank you" mysteriously transformed itself into "PROBLEM: Dullard Marsh is really a biased and blatant smear-blog called “Dullard Mush” http://www.dullardmush.com/ - to the unsuspecting, one would think that a Mr. Marsh makes a reasonable point. In fact, upon visiting the Dullard MUSH site, it is obviously distorting information and smearing candidates."

Yes, apparently asking Democratic Party officials and an assemblywoman for their opinion (not knowing what their answer would be going in) and then publishing it word for word (so as not to be accused of cherry-picking or taking stuff out-of-context) is now the new definition for "distorting information."

The real crime, it appears, is that Chris Wicker, Steve Platt and Sheila Leslie's opinions didn't completely mesh with Kerr's.

No, actually the real crime is that despite correctly addressing me as "Anon Guy" in his comments here, he calls me "Dullard Marsh" and "Mr. Marsh" in the Times. Isn't there already a Marsh in Nevada?

Dullard Mush Presidential "Blog Mention" Survey: March 5-12

Our second "blog mention" survey found the same two on top in regards to which presidential candidate bloggers are talking about the most. However the gap, and who was closing, did change.

Although "mentions" overall were down for most candidates, Barack Obama led all again with 12,809 to edge out John Edwards at 11,983. Helping Edwards' move to second place was the Nevada/FOX debate and Ann Coulter controversies (Coulter, meanwhile, garnered 10,677 blog mentions for the week).

On the GOP side, Rudy Giuliani passed Mitt Romney for second and drew to within a couple hundred of leader John McCain.

Also included this week were possible candidates Chuck Hagel, Al Gore and Wesley Clark. Gore finished third for the Democrats, beating Hillary Clinton, while Hagel was fourth for Republicans.

Last week's numbers are in parentheses.

Republican Presidential Results

1. John McCain 6,654 (11,721)
2. Rudy Giuliani 5,968 (7,389)
3. Mitt Romney 4,735 (8,741)
4. Chuck Hagel 1,909
5. Sam Brownback 1,702 (2,343)
6. Mike Huckabee 1,163 (2,161)
7. Ron Paul 1,117 (1,401)
8. Duncan Hunter 526 (1,767)
9. Tom Tancredo 440 (1,164)

Democratic Presidential Results

1. Barack Obama 12,809 (14,666)
2. John Edwards 11,938 (10,341)
3. Al Gore 10,941
4. Hillary Clinton 9,497 (12,846)
5. Bill Richardson 1,728 (2,024)
6. Joe Biden 1,232 (1,272)
7. Dennis Kucinich 1,104 (1,314)
8. Chris Dodd 531 (387)
9. Wesley Clark 400
10. Mike Gravel 137 (150)

Numbers were for a candidate's full name in "quotes" and taken from Google's Blog Search.

Paul In; Hagel Not Yet; Giuliani Picks Up Support

Ron Paul, the Texas congressman know for his libertarian stances, officially declared his candidacy Monday for the GOP presidential nomination.

Though acknowledging the odds against him, Paul was "pleasantly surprised" by the response he received upon forming his presidential exploratory committee. He hopes his lifelong libertarianism will resonate with GOP voters tired of the current state of politics.

"I'm confident the Republican Party has gone in the wrong direction," Paul said. "We used to be a party of small government. Now we are the party of big government."

Paul was the Libertarian Party candidate for president in 1988. He will also seek re-election to congress in 2008, allowable by Texas law.

Hagel Doesn't Announce
In what many supporters thought would be an announcement by Chuck Hagel that he would be joining the race for the Republican presidential nomination, instead left them wondering still.

"I'm here today to announce that my family and I will make a decision on my political future later this year," he said Monday. "In making this announcement, I believe there will still be political options open to me at a later date."

Hagel, a U.S. Senator from Nebraska, is up for re-election in 2008.

Vitter Backs Giuliani
Despite differences on social policy, conservative U.S. Senator David Vitter (R) officially announced his support for Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign.

"It's very clear to me that he's not running for president to advance some liberal social agenda," said the Louisiana senator.

The endorsement, from a conservative Southern politician, is more good news for the former New York City mayor who already is leading all republican candidates in recent polls.

Kucinich Chides Fellow Candidates For Ditching Debates

Dennis Kucinich lashed out at fellow Democratic presidential candidates for the cancellation of two debates saying, in a press release, their "unwillingness to participate smacks of 'manipulation by some candidates who would rather run and hide than defend their records and their positions on the war.'"

For the now-defunct Reno debate, Kucinich became the first presidential candidate to go on the record defending the original Nevada State Democratic Party decision to have FOX News televise the event.

"If you want to be the President of the United States, you can't be afraid to deal with people with whom you disagree politically," the Ohio congressman said Sunday. "No one is further removed from Fox's political philosophy than I am, but fear should not dictate decisions that affect hundreds of millions of Americans and billions of others around the world who are starving for real leadership."

Mr. Jerz Discusses "Blogger Ad Controversy" On KREN-27 Tonight

Reno blogger Ryan Jerz, aka Mr. Jerz, is scheduled to appear on KREN-27's 10 p.m. news this Friday night.

The station's "Blogging" Community Correspondent, Jerz's segment will feature the recent controversy over Hillary Clinton's campaign buying ad space on only certain political blogs and the complaints by those left out (notably, a pair of Nevada sites).

UPDATE: Wrong episode. Jerz's segment was actually on the role of dispensing news and a recent discussion he had with Reno City Councilman Dave Aiazzi on blogging's place in the picture.

What Others Think About The "FOX Debate" Debate; Is A New Democratic Debate Headed To FOX?

John Edwards' decision to not attend the FOX-televised Reno debate drew praise from the parts of the blogosphere that had been calling for a candidate boycott. But what do other, more mainstream, people think of the "controversy"?

Not much, apparently.

• "This kind of demand for an outright ban of a network from participation suggests that the candidates don’t have minds of their own. They are still free to answer as only they know how, no matter what the question is. No matter the forum. No matter the sponsor," said the New York Times in their The Caucus blog.

• "So what happens when the Democrats have too much prosperity? They resort to cannibalism, of course," writes Nevada's Jon Ralston in In Business. "How else to explain the lunacy of a debate over whether the Fox should be left to play in the Democratic henhouse, which has divided the party and caused a national sensation on the liberal blogs."

• "Presidential candidates are adults and can refuse to answer a question if it seems over the top, or perhaps if they are smart enough, turn such questions to their advantage," says John Eggerton of Broadcasting & Cable in a post titled Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Fox. "Shame on John Edwards for pulling out of that Nevada debate under pressure from moveon.org. It looks like a cave, or a wilt, or a knee-jerk, or a turn-tail or something. But whatever it is, it was the wrong move."

Congressional Black Caucus To Ink With FOX For Debates?

Kate Phillips of the New York Times is reporting that the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Institute "may be pairing up with Fox News for other primary debates and that it could be announced later this week." Which could present a sticky situation for Edwards.

"We’re fairly certain that certain Democratic candidates wouldn’t want to be seen as dissing the C.B.C.’s events, probably not even John Edwards, who was praised by lib-blogs for announcing he wouldn’t attend Nevada’s, in part because of Fox," wrote Phillips.

She also notes, for the record, that "Mr. Edwards has appeared on Fox News about two dozen times, most recently on Hannity & Colmes in January."

Is John Edwards Too Enamored With The Netroots?

By being the first candidate to bow out of the FOX-televised Western Majority Project Democratic presidential debate, did John Edwards strike a blow for independence that will resonate with American voters of all stripes or, once again, show his eagerness to embrace the most vocal in a blogosphere whose numbers pale in comparison?

Considering Edwards' recent track record, the latter seems more likely.

Although garnering the expected netroot praise for his decision to skip the Nevada debate, what does it really say to the public at large, who couldn't care less about DailyKos or some crank typing away in his PJs? Does it tell them that Edwards wants to be president of the most powerful country in the world, but is apparently too afraid to appear on a cable network channel with, at most, 2.5 million viewers? Or he's worried the questions may be tough? Or that he just plain doesn't care about people who watch FOX?

While careful to include the old favorite "scheduling conflicts" for cover, Edwards decision was clearly a bow to the netroots who saw the venture as tantamount to a deal with the devil.

Edwards' zeal to court the blogosphere has already backfired on him once this year when the two bloggers, Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan, he rushed to hire (and, apparently, failed to investigate) came under fire for bigoted statements they had made previously. Instead of removing them, Edwards sided with the more-extreme netroots who claimed it was all a right-wing conspiracy, despite the likelihood that it would be his Democratic primary opponents that would use it against him. Marcotte and McEwan eventually resigned.

And it's not just the world of blogs that Edwards has seemingly went overboard to embrace. Forget for a minute the vandalizing drama surrounding his virtual headquarters on the online game Second Life and consider his social network empire. While most candidates have the requisite Myspace page, complete with "friends" you don't necessarily want at your campaign rallies, Edwards one ups them. Actually, 24-ups them. Besides Myspace, he has Flikr, Facebook, Orkut, Bebo, Xanga, etc., etc. If there's a social network out there, there is an Edwards page on it.

But for all his devotion to the netroots and the social networks, what exactly has it gotten him? In all major national polls, Edwards (already a well-known candidate from 2004) is consistently a distant third. And the Democratic candidate who is said to be least liked by the netroots, Hillary Clinton, leads handily in every poll.

One only needs to look at Howard Dean's 2004 campaign to see another netroots-fueled candidate whose support appeared to be a mile wide but, in reality, was only an inch deep. And, though early, Edwards has yet too even come close to approaching the mile-wide part.

Fantasy Sports Meets Politics; Defense Fund Donors Named

Instead of worrying about Baron Davis' knee or contemplating whether Ken Griffey Jr.'s hammy is worth a sixth-round draft choice, fantasy sport fans can now ponder the likelihood of Ted Kennedy's bill to penalize terrorist hoaxes passing.

Now in its second season, FantasyCongress.org lets you draft your own team of legislators, decide who to start and who to bench, score points (based on how well their bills do) and compete against others, just like in Yahoo Baseball. And, best of all, it's free.

Not surprisingly, given the new makeup of Congress, Democrats have been the early breakout "players." Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D) currently leads all with 504 points.

For Nevada, Senators Harry Reid (D) and John Ensign (R) scored 384 and 206 points respectively, while in the House, Jon Porter (R) came in at 58, Shelley Berkley (D) 240 and Dean Heller (R) with nine points.

Sign-up here.

Gibbons Defense Fund Donors Named
Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons released the names of the donors who have given his legal defense fund close to $170,000. Top contributors include $10K each from Nevada Cancer Center and Nevada Heart and Vascular Center.

Jon Ralston posted the paperwork here.

Candidate Forum Poll Results Make Vegas Paper
In search of the definitive answer as to which candidate won the recent Carson City presidential forum, the Las Vegas Review-Journal (LVRJ) turned to an unlikely source. Us.

After correctly pointing out the "very unscientific" nature of our recent online poll, the LVRJ dutifully announced Chris Dodd's victory as well as wryly noting Mike Gravel ("whose last name rhymes with that of singer Patti LaBelle") beat out Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.

Edwards' "Second Life" HQ Attack Not Republican

Apparently the online vandals that terrorized the online John Edwards campaign headquarters in the online world of Second Life weren't rogue Republicans after all.

According to 10 Zen Monkeys, the much publicized virtual attack was actually done by a band of "griefers" that have done other pranks in the online world.

But perhaps more troubling for the Democratic presidential candidate's virtual campaign was the opening of a John Edward for President headquarters next door.

Dullard Mush Presidential "Blog Mention" Poll: McCain, Obama Leading

After mining the Myspace candidate "friends" poll a few weeks back, we'll turn our attention to perhaps a slightly more accurate barometer of which 2008 presidential candidate is drawing the most attention. At least in the blog world. And according to Google.

Continuing to show strong net popularity, Barack Obama led all candidates with 14,666 mentions on blogs this past week. The Illinois Senator topped fellow Democrats Hillary Clinton (12,846) and John Edwards (10,341).

John McCain, receiving a boost from his official announcement, paced Republicans with 11,721 blog posts. Mitt Romney was second with almost 9,000 mentions and Rudy Giuliani was third with just under 7,400.

Republican Presidential Results

1. John McCain (11,721)
2. Mitt Romney (8,741)
3. Rudy Giuliani (7,389)
4. Sam Brownback (2,343)
5. Mike Huckabee (2,161)
6. Duncan Hunter (1,767)
7. Ron Paul (1,401)
8. Tom Tancredo (1,164)

Democratic Presidential Results

1. Barack Obama (14,666)
2. Hillary Clinton (12,846)
3. John Edwards (10,341)
4. Bill Richardson (2,024)
5. Dennis Kucinich (1,314)
6. Joe Biden (1,272)
7. Chris Dodd (387)
8. Mike Gravel (150)

Results for the past week were taken Sunday (3/4/07) night. Numbers were for a candidate's full name in "quotes" and taken from Google's Blog Search.

Carson City Democratic Chairman On The FOX Debate Fight

With bloggers calling for a candidate boycott and a MoveOn.org petition demanding the Nevada State Democratic Party (NSDP) cancel their Reno debate contract with FOX News, we continue to seek out the opinion of those actually involved with Silver State politics.

Today we get another Democratic Party county chairman's take on the whole controversy.

Fresh from a Wednesday night meeting of the Carson City Democratic Central Committee e-board, Steve Platt gives us his view on the fight:

We discussed this tonight and the general sense of our e-board is similar to the response you posted from Washoe Chair Chris Wicker -- but I'm not nearly as eloquent as Chris.

Personally, I despise FOX News and have blocked it from all the TV sets in my house. I don't like the fact that this decision was made with no input from any County Chair or NSDP Executive Board member, but the fact is it was. That said, I know many Democrats that watch FOX -- like it or not, many, many people do. As Chris points out, we have a great group of candidates and the opportunity we have to reach those who otherwise would not get our message is significant. Frankly, I would prefer to see Stephen Colbert moderate the debate on The Comedy Channel. If that were the case, or if it were covered on any other network, FOX would cover it and spin it in a way only FOX can.

But remember, FOX covered the forum in Carson City last week along with over 150 other media outlets. Were we wrong in issuing them media credentials? If we ban FOX from covering the August Reno debate should we take the next logical step and deny them media credentials to any event? If we really want to marginalize them (i.e. not legitimize them), why does any Democrat agree to appear on FOX? And do you really think FOX will go away if we Dems ignore them, throw a hissy fit, stamp our feet, hold our breath until we pass out? Please....

Not getting satisfaction from the NSDP, the next logical step by those opposing FOX covering the debate, will be to pressure the campaigns. How many candidates do you know, when faced with the choice of speaking to (A) the base -- a group of folks that are likely to agree with them, or (B) a block of voters they need to PERSUADE to vote for them, will choose the former? The answer -- not many, probably only the losers.

I will say the response we're getting from our Central Committee members is clearly NO, NO, NO to FOX televising the debate. I've added discussing this item to our agenda at our next Central Committee meeting on March 7. We'll discuss it and make a decision as a Central Committee whether to support the decision by the NSDP (while holding our nose) or ask them to reconsider and continue fighting. Stay tuned.

For comments by Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie and Washoe County Democratic Party chairman Chris Wicker, please click their names.

Dodd Wins Nevada Candidate Forum Poll, Kucinich Second

Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd held off a late rally from Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich in our poll on who "won" last week's Democratic Candidate Forum in Carson City.

Dodd earned 46% of the vote to Kucinich's 23%. Although both candidates benefited greatly from mentions on blogs supporting the two, Dodd did lead from the very beginning. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson was third with 9%. Barack Obama, who didn't attend, tied for fifth with John Edwards. Tom Vilsack, who withdrew from the race shortly after the forum, was last with no votes.

Final Results
Chris Dodd - 46%
Dennis Kucinich - 23%
Bill Richardson - 9%
No Candidate - 6%
John Edwards - 5%
Barack Obama - 5%
Mike Gravel - 3%
Joe Biden - 2%
Hillary Clinton - 1%
Tom Vilsack - 0%

Eighty-six votes were cast in the unscientific poll.