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August 8, 2009
WE GET IT
Dear Republican U.S. Senate Candidates,
We get it.
Harry Reid’s bad. He’s a liberal carrying water for Barack Obama. He wants to nationalize our health care system. He said the war in Iraq was “lost.” He’s forsaken the interests of Nevada to advance the interests of the far left in Washington, DC. He’s boring. He’s pale. He’s old. He has suspicious land deals. He had ties to Jack Abramoff. He’s in the pocket of Big Labor. His polling numbers are weak. He’s vulnerable. Blah, blah, blah.
We get it.
And if you are a Republican campaigning for the nomination to run against Reid next year, or are considering such a run, we stipulate for the record that every one of you are more conservative than Reid and would vote very differently from him if elected.
We get it.
So can we dispense with the formalities and get down to the nitty-gritty: How are you going to beat him?
Signed,
Nevada Voters
Former Nevada state assemblywoman Sharron Angle was the first to throw her hat in the ring and is a bona fide, card-carrying conservative. I contributed money to her campaign as soon as she filed. But it appears I was one of the only ones, because her campaign finance report shows she’s only raised $35,000 for the race. Folks, that’s not enough to win the GOP primary, let alone take on Reid’s expected $25 million warchest.
Angle’s recent email fundraising appeal nails the Senate majority leader for his support of Obamacare. “Now is the time to tell Harry Reid that he’s got it wrong,” Angle writes. “Once elected to the United States Senate, I can vote to represent you and the values we hold dear.”
Yes, we get it. And we agree. But how are you going to beat him with just $35,000? Inquiring minds wanna know.
Ditto Chuck Kozak.
Chuck who?
Exactly.
None of us in Nevada have ever heard of the guy.
Apparently he’s a recent transplant to Reno, a lawyer and a former college basketball player who our buddy Ray Hagar of the Reno Gazette-Journal informs me went by the name of “Chuck the Truck” while playing at the University of Idaho way back in the 1960s – which means he probably qualifies for the “cash for clunkers” program.
Oh, and “The Truck” has also hired a high-priced team of non-Nevada political consultants to come into Nevada and tell us why we Nevadans should elect this decidedly non-Nevadan, even by Nevada standards, to represent Nevada in Washington, DC.
To that end, Kozak’s high-priced out-of-state direct mail fundraising guru recently sent out a four-page cookie-cutter template letter – complete with those patented hand-written blue check marks, stars, underlines and “over please’s” – telling us how bad Harry Reid is.
Dude, I know you’re new to Nevada and all, but….we get it.
What we DON’T know is (1) who you are, (2) why we should elect you rather than a Nevadan, and (3) how you expect to beat Reid in November 2010.
Indeed, out of four pages of standard-issue anti-Reid pabulum – “Democrat Harry Reid needs to go.” – here’s all we learned about this complete unknown: “As a conservative Republican Marine and former JAG attorney, I’m proud to be pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, and anti-tax.”
Lovely. But so is Sharron Angle. And she’s a Nevadan. And she’s served in public office in Nevada. And she’s been working in the trenches training grassroots activists and building a stronger Republican Party.
So why should Nevada Republicans vote for Chuck Kozak instead of Sharron Angle? And if for some unknown reason they do, how will you then beat Harry Reid in the general. Inquiring minds wanna know.
And then there’s Johnny Chachas.
Who?
Exactly.
Although the man’s family reportedly hails from Ely, Mr. Chachas is a Wall Street banker who still lives in New York. Apparently he’s so confident of his superiority as a GOP candidate against Reid that he’s just gonna phone this one in. I mean, Reid’s so bad that it really isn’t necessary to live and campaign in Nevada to beat him, right?
In fact, so far the only scheduled campaign event that I know of for Mr. Chachas is a fundraising luncheon reception scheduled for Tuesday, August 18th.
In St. Paul, Minnesota.
Good grief.
Danny Tarkanian threw his hat in the ring yesterday.
At least he’s Nevadan whom Nevada Republicans have heard of. But that raises a completely different set of questions.
Nevada Republicans know Danny’s name because he has run for the state senate and lost and run for secretary of state and lost. So the question naturally arises that if he couldn’t win those two undercard races, how does he expect to win a main event match against Harry Reid? Inquiring minds wanna know.
Which brings me to Bill Parson.
Who?
Exactly.
Last week I published a list of candidates running against or thinking of running against Harry Reid and my projected odds of them getting into the race and winning the GOP nomination – which elicited this blistering email from one of my readers:
“Your list the other day did not include Bill Parson, who is also in the race against Reid. Do you seek to inform, or only manipulate? Manipulation in the form of information is called propaganda. . . . In my opinion we need to be supporting citizen legislators who are serious about stepping up and running for office, not just the political usual suspects. You talk the talk of a libertarian leaning conservative, so at least give those of our ilk that are walking the walk some press.”
Ah. This is what Barack Obama calls a “teachable moment.”
The primary reason Bill Parson didn’t make my list is because I’ve seen no indication that he’s a “serious” candidate. I’m sure he’s a credible conservative and probably even a strong libertarian-conservative such as myself. But if believing in the “right” things was all it took to get elected, there wouldn’t be any liberals in office today – other than maybe in San Francisco.
That ain’t the case.
As for giving “those of our ilk that are walking the walk some press,” let me explain why this, in campaign-speak, is called “earned media.” They call it that because it is incumbent upon the candidate to EARN media coverage. It is not automatic nor assumed. And to even have a shot at getting said earned media, the candidate, you know, has to at least inform those in the media that he or she is, you know, running and stuff.
But even that doesn’t guarantee media coverage, even from like-minded ilk. You need to be a credible candidate. And what sorts of things make you a credible candidate?
Well, after receiving an email from Mr. Parson’s campaign a few days ago, I responded by sending him a list of 16 questions on my mind which would help me determine if he was a serious, credible candidate or not. Here are the 16 questions:
1.) Why are you running?
2.) What are your qualifications?
3.) What campaign training programs have you attended?
6.) How many votes do you need to win?
7.) What’s your “game plan” for winning?
8.) What are you going to do differently from others who have run for this seat and lost?
9.) How much will your campaign cost?
10.) What will you spend the money on?
11.) How much have you raised so far?
12.) How much of your own money have you put into your campaign?
13.) How do you expect to raise the balance?
14.) Who is working on your campaign (manager, consultants, advisers, etc.)?
15.) Who is supporting your campaign (endorsements)?
16.) Are you going to campaign full time?
I’m still waiting for a response. And until I get one, I just can’t consider Mr. Parson a serious, credible candidate no matter how much I might agree with him philosophically.
Indeed, instead of wailing about how bad Harry Reid is in fundraising letters, emails, radio commercials, stump speeches, etc., it would behoove ALL Republicans vying to run against “Dingy Harry” next year to stash the stale political anti-Reid rhetoric for the time being and instead at least address those same, basic Sweet 16 questions I posed to Mr. Parson.
I mean, come on. My nine-year-old daughter Kristen would be a better vote in the United States Senate than Harry Reid, but….
Hey, wait a minute. I think I have an idea.
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