(NV-Sen) Sharron Angle’s Downfall: REPUBLICANS

(Originally from Nevada Progressive)

Not that long ago, the Nevada Republican Party truly was a “big tent”, one that could fit the more traditional “libertarian conservatives” that once dominated, pragmatic conservatives, moderates, and others. But these days, it seems to be dominated by “Tea Party, Inc.” and the radical religious right. And no one better demonstrates this better than Sharron Angle and her ascendancy in the Nevada GOP.

Perhaps this is why we’re seeing more and more “Republicans for Reid” speaking out?

Former Clark County (Las Vegas Metro) Sheriff Bill Young spoke about how Harry Reid has delivered in keeping Nevada safe.

And Former Nevada First Lady Dawn Gibbons spoke about Reid’s commitment to education, reminded us of all her work on education reform, and made sure we didn’t forget about Sharrontology’s desire to starve it to death.

Republican former First Lady Dawn Gibbons said today that she supports Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid because of his diligence and hard work, not because she wants to spite her Republican ex-husband, Gov. Jim Gibbons, who she said cheated on her and who has been a frequent Reid critic.

“I’ve known Harry Reid for a long time,” Dawn Gibbons said today during an endorsement event at UNLV. “He’s a strong advocate and a strong voice — someone we need in these trying times.”

Gibbons also noted that Reid is a good husband to his wife Landra and calls his kids daily. […]

Taking a page right out of Reid’s playbook, Gibbons criticized Reid’s Republican opponent Sharron Angle, accusing her of having an “extreme and dangerous” policy on education.

During the 15-minute event, Gibbons said the words “extreme and dangerous” four times. Students who have benefited from government grants and scholarships and spoke with Gibbons to lend their support to Reid repeated the phrase another four times.

Interesting enough, John L. Smith wrote in his column this morning about what may be a larger trend of prominent Republicans coming out to endorse Reid. Why? Well, they’ve been here in Nevada for quite some time, they understand the strong relationship Harry Reid has with our state. Plus, they’ve also seen with their own eyes Sharron Angle, her dangerous extremism, and how detrimental a “Senator Angle” would really be to our state.

No wonder why more and more Republicans, whether they be traditional “paleo-conservatives”, pragmatic business folks, or middle-of-the-road moderates, are speaking out and speaking up for Reid.

Remember that this used to be the party of Abraham Lincoln, the party of Teddy Roosevelt, the party of Dwight Eisenhower, the party of Barry Goldwater, and the party of Former Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn. This used to be a big tent for civil rights advocates, environmentalists, libertarians, old-school conservatives, rural interests, urban interests, and more. But now? Now it’s this?

Perhaps it’s the reverse of what Ronald Reagan used to say. These people haven’t left the Republican Party. The Republican Party has left them by veering so extremely to the right and nominating people like Sharron Angle who care more about getting praise from outside interests than doing what’s right for Nevada.

Sure, there have been many times when progressive Democrats were irritated by Reid. He’s certainly no progressive icon, and there have been many times I’ve taken Reid to the woodshed for not being more progressive.

But you know what? At the end of the day, Reid is not in the Senate to be some progressive icon. He’s there to serve ALL OF US in Nevada. Perhaps that’s why all of these Republicans can join Democrats, even “dirty fucking hippie” progressives like moi, in supporting Harry Reid. That’s something Sharrontology doesn’t get, and I guess that’s why she can’t win here.

NV-Sen: Reid Scores GOP Endorsements, Launches First Anti-Angle Ad

Is Harry Reid the luckiest mofo in politics? Fresh off getting the craziest imaginable opponent, he scored two big endorsements, both from Republicans. Reno Mayor Bob Cashell had backed Sue Lowden in the primary, but after Chicken Lady’s goose got cooked, he switched to Reid instead, calling Angle “wild” and “an ultra-right winger.” He’s right!

The other boldface name newly in Reid’s corner belongs to Dawn Gibbons, the estranged and soon-to-be-ex-wife of lame-duck Gov. Jim Gibbons. Dawn Gibbons, you may recall, came in third against Angle in the NV-02 GOP primary in 2006, and describes her as a tough campaigner. (Angle lost to now-Rep. Dean Heller by fewer than 500 votes.) But Gibbons says she thinks Reid is better on the economy. (She also declined to endorse Brian Sandoval, the man who beat her husband in the gubernatorial race.)

While we’re on the subject of Reid’s good fortune, a piece in the WSJ suggests he might be able to win this year with less than 50%. That’s because there are multiple independent candidates, at least two third-party candidates, and Nevada’s famous “none of these candidates” option on the ballot. Interestingly, Todd Palin-like, Angle was once a member of one of these third parties, the Independent American Party, which, according to the WSJ, “opposes gun control, illegal immigration, abortion, gay rights and ‘global government’.” There’s probably a treasure trove of dirt on these nutters.

Meanwhile, Reid has a new ad up absolutely lacerating Angle for wanting to do away with Medicare and Social Security. And I think it even uses a clip from that gonzo Sue Lowden ad attacking Angle for her “massages-for-cons” proposal. (Relatedly, Angle surfaced in a 2007 video touting this Scientology-backed program.) No word, as per usual, on the size of the buy, though the AP says it’s “airing statewide.” See it for yourself:

For her part, Angle just hired Scott Brown’s web consultants, hoping to recreate his sui generis success in Massachusetts – but I know I don’t need to list the myriad ways in which Angle and Brown are nothing alike. She’s also jetting off to Manhattan to parlay with the “Monday Meeting,” a right-wing cabal of NYC plutocrats, modeled after Grover Norquist’s DC-based Wednesday meetings. While I’m sure the cultural differences will be extreme, as long as Angle sticks to her plan to abolish the 16th amendment, she’ll get along fine with this gang of banksters.

SSP Daily Digest: 6/4

CT-Sen: Ex-Rep. Rob Simmons needs to look like one of those allegedly-not-quite-extinct moderate New England Republicans in order to get elected in Connecticut, but he’s not doing himself any favors by appearing with Newt Gingrich at the annual Prescott Bush Awards Dinner. With a large Puerto Rican population in Connecticut, Simmons probably doesn’t want to be anywhere near Sonia Sotomayor’s loudest and most toxic critic. Another problem for Simmons: businessman Tom Foley, the former ambassador to Ireland, made his official entry into the GOP primary field today. Foley, unlike Simmons, has deep pockets he can self-fund with.

MN-Sen: Sources close to Norm Coleman are suggesting he won’t appeal at the federal level if he loses his case with the Minnesota Supreme Court. Republicans still publicly say they’ll try to stop any Dem efforts to seat Al Franken until Coleman has conceded or exhausted his appeals. John Cornyn has sent some mixed signals, though, saying it’s “entirely” Coleman’s decision whether to keep fighting and that he’s “amazed that Sen. Coleman’s been willing to persevere as long as he has.”

NV-Sen: Wondering why the GOP is having a hard time attracting a challenger to supposedly-vulnerable Harry Reid? Maybe it’s because of his deep levels of support among much of the state’s Republican establishment. The Reid camp released a list of 60 GOP endorsers, including, most prominently, soon-to-be-ex-First Lady (and former NV-02 candidate) Dawn Gibbons, Reno mayor Bob Cashell, and, in a move guaranteed to nail down the key 18-29 demographic, Wayne Newton.

NH-Sen: Could it be that the NRSC could actually be stuck running Ovide Lamontagne against Rep. Paul Hodes? Just the very fact that the NRSC is talking to Lamontagne (a businessman whose one claim to fame is losing the 1996 governor’s race to Jeanne Shaheen) with an apparently straight face should be a red flag that their top-tier possibilities (ex-Sen. John Sununu, ex-Rep. Charlie Bass) aren’t looking likely.

NY-Sen-B: Joe Biden reportedly had a sit-down earlier this week with Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who may or may not be running in the Senate primary against Kirsten Gillibrand. Presumably the meeting would contain some of the same content as Barack Obama’s now-famous phone call to Rep. Steve Israel.

OH-Sen: If a candidate falls in the woods with no one around, does he make a sound? State Rep. Tyrone Yates has been exploring the Senate race for several months, and apparently found nothing that would help him overcome Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and SoS Jennifer Brunner, as he bowed out of the race.

NJ-Gov: Rasmussen has the first post-primary poll of the New Jersey governor’s race. Chris Christie may have gotten a bit of a brief unity bounce in the wake of his primary victory, as he’s up to a 51-38 edge over Jon Corzine now, as opposed to 47-38 last month. There’s one spot of ‘good’ news, as it were, for Corzine: his approval rating is back up to 42%.

AZ-08: Construction company executive and ex-Marine Jesse Kelly seems to be the establishment GOP’s choice to go against Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in 2010. He announced endorsements from three House members: Trent Franks, Duncan Hunter, and Frank Wolf. (Not quite clear how endorsements from Hunter and Wolf help him in Arizona, though.)

KS-01: State Senator Jim Barnett got into the race for the seat being vacated by Rep. Jerry Moran, who’s running for Senate. Barnett may quickly become front-runner, based on his name recognition from being the 2006 GOP gubernatorial candidate (where he lost the state as a whole to Kathleen Sebelius, but won the dark-red 1st). He’s up against a more conservative state Senator Tim Huelskamp, and Sam Brownback’s former chief of staff, Rob Wasinger. The primary is the whole shooting match in this R+23 district.

KY-01: After the purchase of “whitfieldforsenate.com” got people’s attention yesterday, Rep. Ed Whitfield had to tamp that down, confirming that he’s running for re-election in his R+15 House seat.

MN-06: Even if this goes nowhere, it’s great to have a GOPer doing our framing for us… attorney Chris Johnston is publicly mulling a primary challenge to (his words, on his website) “‘anti-American’ hurling, malaprop-spouting, ‘they took me out of context'” Rep. Michele Bachmann. He confirms that he and Bachmann share “strong conservative beliefs;” he just thinks the 6th would prefer someone “who thinks before they speak.”

NH-02: Attorney Ann McLane Kuster is launching an exploratory committee to run for the open seat left behind by Rep. Paul Hodes. St. Rep. John DeJoie is already in the primary field, and they may soon be joined by Katrina Swett.

NY-03: Dems are scoping out potential candidates in Long Island’s NY-03 (which fell to R+4 in the wake of 2008), thinking that even if Rep. Peter King doesn’t vacate to run for Senate he’s still vulnerable. The biggest fish would be Nassau Co. Exec Tom Suozzi, who seems to have bigger fish to fry (reportedly AG if Andrew Cuomo vacates). The next-biggest fish would Nassau Co. DA Kathleen Rice. Smaller fish listed include Isobel Coleman of the Council of Foreign Relations, and minor league baseball team owner Frank Boulton.

NH-Legislature: It took a rewrite of a couple sentences that Gov. John Lynch didn’t like, but after a few weeks of back-and-forth New Hampshire finally enacted gay marriage. Both chambers passed the amended bill yesterday (clearing the House 198-176) and Lynch signed it into law on the same day.