Nevada Caucus Starting To Generate Some National Buzz

After months of mostly being ignored, the Nevada caucus is starting to generate a little buzz of its own. Granted, it's not nearly as much as is devoted to Iowa or New Hampshire, but when New York's The Jewish Daily Forward does a story on Nevada you know the tide is at least turning.

• With Nevada having one of the fastest-growing communities in the nation, Jewish Americans are looking to have an unusually early impact in the presidential primaries this season.
• All the shuffling by other states has actually left Nevada in a good spot, says RealClearPolitics in a post titled "Finally, Nevada Finds Its Moment."
• And when it comes to candidates and their positions on things relevant to Nevada, leave it to the Reno News & Review's Dennis Myers to do the dirty work and compile it all for your reading pleasure.

YouTube Republican Debate Winners and Losers

While Reuters screamed "Fireworks Erupt," bloggers were screaming "foul" on CNN's decision to allow a Hillary Clinton advisor pose a question. So, all in all, one of the more entertaining debates in a brutally long season.

A quick look at some of the coverage and picks:

• Michelle Malkin thought Mitt Romney looked "strong and energetic" while Mike Huckabee "didn't harm himself." For losers, she thought John McCain and Fred Thompson were "lethargic."
• Right Wing News had the opposite reaction, picking Romney as the loser, quipping "He has a glass chin." McCain was declared the winner with Thompson second. Rudy Giuliani was sixth.
• Redstate went with McCain and Mike Huckabee as winners noting the Arizona Senator "won on scalps" while Huckabee scored on "points and rhetoric." Giuliani was downgraded for botching the bible question, while Redstate's losers were the "Freaky kid with the Bible. Dumb kid with the flag. CNN giving the soapbox to the gay retired General -- no bias on the issue there Anderson."
• Matt Lewis at Townhall thought the "real winner tonight was CNN, YouTube, the GOP, and the American people." He also thought McCain, Huckabee and Thompson helped themselves, while Romney underperformed the most.
• CNN's Scorecard had Bill Bennett, Jamal Simmons and Gloria Borger doing the grading. For winners, Bennett went with Romney, Simmons with McCain and Borger didn't think there was a clear one. Borger and Simmons did agree upon McCain knowing the most about the issues. For losers, Bennett and Borger picked Paul, Simmons went with Thompson.
• NBC's Chuck Todd thought Huckabee "stepped up his game tonight" and "Most importantly for Huckabee, he'll likely be declared the winner of this debate by every member of the Amtrak Corridor media elite and that should get him some serious buzz."
• Without Chris Dodd's "Talk Clock" keeping track for us, we turn to MSNBC's First Read to learn Giuliani and Romney had the most time, Tom Tancredo the least.
• Katharine Q. Seelye of The Caucus live blogged the debate and not only has comments but all the actual YouTube videos.

And, finally, if Todd is correct in his prediction that the majority of the MSM will declare Huckabee the winner, do you think it might be because this guy was working the spin room?

Paul and The Bunny Ranch Saga

After endorsing Ron Paul at a recent rally, it didn't take long for Dennis Hof to put his particular spin on political fundraising.

Not only did he have Reno's KTVN down for a show-and-tell at his Moonlite Bunny Ranch, complete with footage of Air Force Amy's "campaign headquarters" and persuasive fundraising talents, but he also let us in on some key brothel demographics.

"Democrats are 60% of our customers," said Hof. "But the Republicans spend three times as much money and are real kinky."



The bloom, though, may be off as word came down from the Paul camp that not only does the Texas congressman not condone prostitution, he takes a "states rights" position, but would vote to outlaw it if he was a Nevada legislator.

Hof responds (here) to this development and charges that the whole thing is a publicity stunt for Tucker Carlson.

Save Tucker Carlson

After all, he's good friends with Nevada's Dennis Hof.

Apparently MSNBC is considering cutting loose Tucker Carlson in an attempt to move their programming more to the left. So, in response, SaveTucker.org was born.

Hillary's Woes

Although still leading in most states, and by significant margins in the delegate-rich ones, Hillary Clinton's perceived inevitable road to the nomination may be cracking.

Maybe it is continued fallout from the planted question and a poor October debate performance, or just a natural turn of the news cycle, but the Clinton coronation may be on hold for now.

With the latest Iowa poll showing Barack Obama leading Clinton, and a Reuters/Zogby national poll showing her lead for the Democratic nomination dropping 10 points, could her campaign be feeling some unexpected pressure?

The Politico reports Obama is "barnstorming Iowa with a front-runner’s swagger" noting "An ebullient Obama — coatless, tieless, tireless — conveys a sense that at least he thinks he could be on his way to being the next president." Clinton, meanwhile, is described as scrambling "like an underdog" and has reportedly beefed up her Iowa staff.

Throw in a New York Sun article about "Hillary Clinton's Radical Summer: A Season of Love and Leftists" and an attempted pay-per-comment blogging scheme from Vote for Hillary and it hasn't been a particularly good couple of weeks.

Is Huckabee's Momentum For Real?

With a series of recent polls showing GOP underdog Mike Huckabee a strong, and surprising, second in Iowa, is the former Arkansas governor's campaign for real?

If the number of articles are any indication, then perhaps there is something to Huckabee's rise. Although, it is interesting how many of the positive pieces on Huckabee are from outlets not viewed as Republican friendly, while the attacks are coming mainly from conservatives.

The Good

• The New Yorker thinks Huckabee's "manner and appearance are reassuringly ordinary" and notes, "When he smiles or laughs, which is often, his dimpled face looks interestingly like that of Wallace, of Wallace & Gromit."
• Mother Jones posts a story titled "Examining Mike Huckabee's Fiscal Record: It's Very Un-Republican."
• An unexpected beneficiary of Huckabee's Iowa success is Rudy Giuliani. Time notes the former governor's success at chipping away at Mitt Romney's lead is a boon for the Giuliani camp that was in essence conceding the early states for an expected Feb. 5 bounty.

And The Bad

• The big one. Robert Novak calls Huckabee the False Conservative today.
• Even some on the Religious Right don't like him.
• And, of course, the folks over at HuffPo aren't too fond of him either.

Hookers For Paul, Reid For Mining and A Fistful of Other Nevada News

From brothels to Bellagio's fountains, lawsuits to angry Bing Crosby fans, we bring a you load of Nevada news, even some caucus related.

• Paul has a fan in Dennis Hof. The Bunny Ranch owner plans on putting a donation box at the door of his brothel. No word as to if a Bunny fundraiser was being planned.
• Keeping with the sex and Nevada theme, the San Francisco Chronicle managed to squeeze the words "strippers," "dancers," fishnet body stockings" and "'butt-lifter' jeans" into a story on our Democratic caucus. And that was just in the first two paragraphs. Still, a solid look at some of the issues being faced by Silver State residents.
• Voter fraud in our caucus? Not likely says the Las Vegas Sun.
• But will anyone show up? Survey says only one in three.
• Forget all of Hillary Clinton's Nevada endorsements, says Barack Obama's staff. They claim to have the organization.
• Nevada's Independent American Party is preparing to sue for an exemption to campaign disclosure laws. It has worked in the past for socialist parties.
• Harry Reid reassures Nevada mining communities he has their back.
• Silver State coal plants, however, have people mad all over, including Utahns.
• Drought-stricken Atlanta looks to Vegas for answers. Should avoid the Bellagio fountain comment at end, though.
• Reno man who cut down an American flag that was flying beneath a Mexican one is honored by veterans of the U.S.S. Intrepid.
• And, finally, controversy over an Elko museum's handling of its Bing Crosby memorabilia (second largest collection in the country) makes the Canadian news.

Kucinich Supporters Hope To Outdo Paul On Bill Of Rights Day

When a Ron Paul supporter independently managed to organize a $4.2 million single-day online haul to coincide with Guy Fawkes day, you figured it would spark some imitations. It has.

A Dennis Kucinich supporter has launched December152007.com, Bill of Rights Day, with a bold goal of $10 million dollars. The site is asking for 100,000 people to pledge to donate $100 to Kucinich on December 15.

As of this afternoon (11/24), there were about 560 pledges.

Thanksgiving Greetings From The Presidential Candidates

Along with the usual barrage of fundraising email pleas, a few presidential campaigns also found time for a little Thanksgiving greetings.

Some observations:

GOP candidates were more likely to thank the troops (only Fred Thompson didn't and, on the Democratic side, only Joe Biden did) while Democrats were more likely to mention volunteer opportunities (Hillary Clinton and John Edwards). Rudy Giuliani actually did both.

Democrats
Joe Biden
Hillary Clinton
Chris Dodd
John Edwards
Dennis Kucinich
Bill Richardson

Republicans
Rudy Giuliani
John McCain
Mitt Romney
Fred Thompson

Nevada Political Roundup

With the Ron Paul invasion in full force today, we'll look at some of the reviews and other Nevada political news.

• The Las Vegas Review Journal's Molly Ball reports on Paul's Monday rally in Las Vegas that drew over a 1,000. Ball notes "(Paul) is a grandfather crowd-surfing on a youthful wave."
• Sandra Chereb, AP, follows Paul to Reno and writes "in Nevada (it) is like preaching to the choir" as his "frank talk about cutting back government services is an easy fit in a state with a strong libertarian streak."
• Reno Gazette-Journal (RGJ) political reporter Anjeanette Damon also covered Paul's visit, including his press conference where brothel owner Dennis Hof pledged his support. Also includes a photo of MSNBC's Tucker Carlson with one of the Moonlight Bunny Ranch's top attractions.
• KRNV's Bill Frankmore has an interview with Paul. Video available, though they don't have a direct link to it, so search this story.
• Random Thoughts From Reno attended the rally and returned with pictures and an opinion -- "the flip side of the flake Dennis Kucinich."
• Reno and Its Discontents takes a critical look at some of Paul's views, gets flamed by supporters and then has "force_ten" come to her rescue.
• The RGJ released a Research 2000 poll today showing Nevada Democrats overwhelmingly supporting Hillary Clinton (45%). For Republicans, Rudy Giuliani recaptured the lead from Mitt Romney, though the race is far from settled. But can you really trust a polling outfit with a website this bad and runs Google Ads on it?
• Conservative activist Chuck Muth fights back against Child and Family Services after someone anonymously reported his children were playing while barefoot.
• Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons increases budget cut request to 8%. Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley isn't happy.

Obama Takes Over Iowa Lead

Some rare good news for a Democrat not named Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama is leading in Iowa according to a recent ABC/Washington Post poll (.pdf).

Obama was the choice of 30%, while Clinton stayed at 26% (the same number she had in July). John Edwards fell to 22% and Bill Richardson held steady at 11%.

Some other recent polls of interest:

Thompson Falters In New Hampshire: A CNN/WMUR poll shows Fred Thompson dropping to sixth in the GOP race, losing seven points in two months. Mitt Romney surged to 33%, with John McCain second at 18%. Rudy Giuliani dropped to 16% while Ron Paul was fourth with 8%. Even Mike Huckabee edged Thompson 5% to 4%.

Clinton, Giuliani Still Lead Nationally: Rasmussen Reports has Clinton up by 17 points and Giuliani leading by 10. Surprisingly, Huckabee is ahead of McCain 12% to 10%. Paul polled 5%.

Thompson Slips In Florida (.pdf): After being tied with Giuliani in September, Thompson slips badly in another state. Giuliani leads by 21 over Romney and 24 over Thompson. For Democrats, Clinton leads Obama 42% to 15%.

Clinton Leads In Missouri: Though not as big as other states, the Senator from New York was favored by 36% of those polled. Obama was second with 21%, Edwards third at 20%. For the GOP, Giuliani led Romney 24% to 17%.

New Huckabee Ad Is Chuck Norris Approved

Next to Joe Biden, is any 2008 presidential candidate seemingly having as much fun as Mike Huckabee?

With a surprising second-place showing in recent Iowa polls, including one where he trailed Mitt Romney by only two points, Huckabee reaches back to bring out his biggest weapon. Chuck Norris.



Cleverly playing off the internet cult favorite, Chuck Norris Facts, the ad is funny and continues to add to Huckabee's likability factor.

700 Campaign Emails In 112 Days

When we started Campaign Emails, mainly on a whim, we figured not only would it be interesting to find out what the candidates were saying, but that it would be pretty easy too. You cut and paste the occasional email and add a pithy line or two.

Of course, occasionally quickly became numerous and daily, and with all the different email formats, cutting and pasting became a major chore. Easy went out the window.

So when we reached 700 emails this Friday, we thought we'd take a look at what we've learned so far.

Dennis Kucinich and Hillary Clinton are Prolific: The two Democrats are in a death match to see which campaign can send out the most emails. As of 11/17/07, Clinton leads 100 to 97.

Least Amount of Mail: Sam Brownback and Tom Tancredo each tied for least amount of email sent. We never received a single one from either of them, despite our multiple sign-ups. Surprisingly, Barack Obama has only sent 12 emails to us, though we have heard that his campaign does send out more. Perhaps his staff targets recipients better than others.

National Press Release King: Fueling Kucinich's numbers are the mind-numbing number of press releases his campaign sends out. Although we signed up for emails on his site, the press releases have been coming directly to us ever since we asked for an interview in the Spring. We never did get a response on the interview request.

Nevada Press Release Queen: Hands down the most active has been the Clinton campaign. Their Nevada office has provided probably 70 of the 100 Clinton emails we have received. Like Kucinich, these are ones sent to us as part of a media list they must have put us on at some point. A lot of these are endorsement announcements that, quite frankly, can be a little much. A recent example was news that 200 Nevada nurses were supporting Clinton. They named every one of them.

Most Annoying Fundraiser: Although most of the national headquarter emails have fundraising elements, none are more annoying than those from the John Edwards campaign. Led by Joe Trippi, no opportunity or apparent slight can go without a "let's show them by giving me money" appeal. And, trust us, there's one about every other day.

Most Verbose: Edwards staff would routinely send out mini essays, when their message was pretty simple -- "send us money."

Least Verbose: Duncan Hunter. He has actually sent out emails with no text, just the email subject title and his campaign's postal address.

Vegas Democratic Debate Wrap-Up, The Nevada Perspective

With the national media working virtually every Vegas pun possible into their coverage of Thursday night's Democratic presidential debate, we thought we would take a look at what Silver State blogger/pundits thought of the event.

• Jon Ralston did the live blogging thing over at the Las Vegas Sun. Liked John Roberts and Joe Biden, caught Bill Richardson telling stories on Yucca Mountain again.
• The Gleaner thought CNN's questions stunk and John Edward's campaign probably came to an end when his "Is that a planted question?" joke fell painfully flat.
• The Reno Gazette-Journal's Anjeanette Damon provided an insider look with multiple posts before, during and after the debate.
• Though technically not from Nevada, Sven on My Silver State thought the biggest winners came from the second-tier candidates, specifically Joe Biden and Dennis Kucinich.
• And, finally, our own debate analysis over at Pajamas Media.

Kara Tsuboi Saga Continues: CNET News.com

Dullard Mush history was almost made last week as the second-highest day of search traffic for an individual (yes, it is an odd category) in DM history unexpectedly occurred.

Now one would assume that for a small-time political blog, the most popular Google searches for names that come our way would be, well, for a politician. And while over the long haul you might be right, for a single day surge, sadly, you are mistaken. You see, in the Mush Traffic Hall of Fame the longstanding champion of bringing the most search visitors in a day is Katie Rees.

Yes, who knew the great "Myspace Pics Doom Miss Nevada" story, thrown in at the last minute to fill out a post that included an Iranian visitor and a blogging award, would lead to a 300+ rush of people Googling Miss Rees that cold December night.

But last week, we had a new contender. Out of the blue, the stat counter showed 250+ searches for "Kara Tsuboi." So much for interviews with Chris Dodd, Nevada Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, Bob Beers, Mike Gravel, etc. The people have spoken. They prefer hot girls.

For some reason or another we are the internet's resident expert on all things Tsuboi. Every single time the former KOLO-8 newscaster does something, people (read: young males) start arriving on our site thanks to Google. The funny thing is, the story that brings them in is about how we seemingly have been able to predict when local newscasters are ready to bolt Reno for a bigger market, not specifically Tsuboi. Of course, we did include a popular flickr picture that probably helps matters a little.

So what drove hundreds of "Kara Tsuboi" searchers to us last week? She did have a new show, Taste For Adventure, on the Fine Living Network that was airing and sending a few hits a day. But nothing to explain that many. However, the mystery was soon solved.

Combining two of the net's most popular subjects, attractive women and tech stuff, CNET News.com may have hit a winning formula. They had Tsuboi cover a convention of vintage computers. Traffic gold! For good measure, she was back a couple days later with the "internet van."

Is the gig permanent? Who knows? But for all the people out there who can't get enough of Tsuboi, here is the definitive list of all things Kara.

• The Post That Started It All: Although it was about another newscaster, Koula Gianulias, leaving Reno, we mentioned (in jest) that perhaps Tsuboi could be next. 12/14/06.
• She Leaves Reno: Google's number one search result and the source for endless visits. 1/24/07.
• Is Oprah Interested In Tsuboi?: For some reason, somebody in the Oprah, Inc. corporate office kept Googling her and visiting us. So we speculated on a deal with the Oxygen Network. We were wrong. 5/11/07.
• Mystery Solved: Ironically, the one post that answers all the questions and points visitors to Tsuboi's own site (yes, she has one) is the one that is buried in the search engines. 8/26/07.
• KaraTsuboi.com: Her own site, with pictures, resume and a blog. If you're a fan, bookmark it. Please.

Clinton Increases Lead In Nevada

On the eve of Thursday night's Democratic presidential candidate debate in Las Vegas the news only got better for Hillary Clinton as she has apparently crossed the 50% threshold in Nevada, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Poll released today.

On the heels of a Zogby poll showing Clinton with an 18-point lead over Barack Obama, CNN's was even more generous. The poll found the former first lady leading Obama by a whopping 51% to 23%. John Edwards was a distant third at 11%, while Bill Richardson (5%) and Joe Biden (4%) were fighting it out for fourth.

And in a small victory for Mike Gravel (who isn't invited to the CNN debate), his camp can claim that not only did they poll the same as Dennis Kucinich, 1%, but are ahead of Chris Dodd.

Clinton, Giuliani Lead In Nevada

Unlike Iowa and New Hampshire, there haven't been too many Nevada presidential polls to pour over. But the suspense has ended as Zogby ended the dry spell with one taken November 9-10.

The results for Democrats are essentially the same as they were in April, Hillary Clinton leading Barack Obama by a bunch (37% to 19%). John Edwards was third with 15% and Bill Richardson polling 6%.

For Republicans, there was quite a bit of movement in the numbers, though Rudy Giuliani remained on top. The former NYC mayor still was leading, but saw his support drop from April's 37% to just 28% this month. Mitt Romney jumped up five points to 20% while Fred Thompson was third with 13%. John McCain took a big tumble dropping from 15% to 8%.

Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee saw big jumps in support as both were polling only 1% in April, but November's numbers have Paul at 7% and Huckabee at 5%.

Update (11/14): The polling news for Clinton just got better, by 10 points, today as CNN's poll shows her beating Obama 51% to 23%.

Ron Paul Fever Set To Hit Reno

With a full-page ad in this week's Reno News & Review (RNR), a $1,000 a plate private luncheon and a rally at Lawlor Events Center on tap for next week, Reno is about to find out if Ron Paul fever extends to the real world and not just the online one.

The first blast was a "Democrats for Ron Paul" ad (.pdf) in the RNR. Although there was no mention of who paid for the ad, it wasn't the Paul campaign, a little digging revealed it was Reno businessman Mitch Lau. Lau was recently mentioned in a Reno Gazette-Journal story on Libertarians registering as Republicans to help out Paul in the GOP caucus.

The Texas congressman, who recently made news by raising over $4.2 million online in one day, is scheduled to hit Nevada beginning Monday, 11/19, with stops in Las Vegas and Pahrump. On Tuesday, Paul will bring his Hope For America Tour to Reno for a rally.

But first, he has private luncheons scheduled for both Vegas and Reno. A $500 donation gets you in the door, though a cool $1,000 is suggested. Details on where are available to donors only, though the Vegas luncheon is described as being held at a "private estate," while Reno, alas, is only at a "private location."

Cory Farley To Leave RGJ

You disappear for a week and stuff happens. The biggest of which was news regarding one of Reno's favorite writers.

Longtime Reno Gazette-Journal columnist Cory Farley has accepted a buyout offer from management and will be leaving the paper sometime this month. Needless to say, readers aren't happy. Ironically, it was the Reno News and Review that reported it.

On a personal note, whether it was tracking down a source he had mentioned in a column or asking advice on ABS and rear-wheel-drive vehicles in snow, I always marveled at how accessible Farley was. He was extremely helpful and quick to respond even though answering my questions obviously wasn't part of his job description. I remember mentioning that to him once and he said you'll find most reporters are eager to help. And he was right.

Ron Paul To Visit Nevada

With a fresh cash infusion and the subsequent publicity, Ron Paul is set to campaign in Nevada. He is slated to visit Las Vegas on Monday and then hit Reno, Carson City and Churchill County on Tuesday.

Currently the online political darling and being called the Howard Dean of 2008, some wonder if he is the new Ross Perot instead.

Paul's Big Haul, New Yorkers Invade Nevada Blog World

Apparently Guy Fawkes Day wasn't such a bad fundraising idea after all, as Ron Paul supporters pumped in a record-breaking $4.2+ million on November 5.

So far, Paul has raised over $7.5 million in the fourth quarter and is well on his way towards what was thought to be an outlandish goal of $12.0 million for the three-month period.

But will it be enough to compete with a guy who can pump untold millions into his campaign?

New Kid On The Silver State Blog Block

If someone from Germany can cover Nevada politics, I guess it isn't that strange for a New York media firm to try and do it too. Debuting Monday, PolitickerNV.com is the product of the New York Observer.

Obama In The Bag

When my son anxiously emptied his Spiderman bag of Halloween goodies last night, he kept saying he wanted to see "the sticker" that someone had given him.

So, curious, we dug through the Baby Ruths, Laffy Taffy, those made-in-China gummy burgers that seem to be the rage now and a lone Clif Bar(!), before finally coming across his prized sticker. But, much to his disappointment, it wasn't a scary pumpkin, a skeleton, or even a Transformer. It was an Obama '08 sticker.

Trick or treat?