E!!

As I noted in a post the other day, Republicans have historically tended to be more reliable voters than Democrats, i.e. they show up at the booth with a lot less prompting and prodding.  This is a factor that cannot be left out of the registration equation.  Democrat campaign managers need to figure out how many registered Democratic voters are needed to equal/exceed one Republican vote.  Because it is an issue of quality over quantity, it is not going to be a one-to-one correlation.

On this subject, NV Senator Bob Beers has some comments on all the media attention the voter registration issue is getting.  He notes that while much Ado has been made about the voter registration gains made by Democrats in the past year (here and here and here), some Republicans see it another way:

The hyper-aggressive Democrat voter registration program, funded by Harry Reid’s millions in advance of his 2010 re-election or election of his son in his place, seems to have been focusing on that peculiar brand of ultra-transient new resident, most of whom have probably moved home in the wake of the flattening of Nevada’s once-thriving job market.

Some contend the Democrat voter registration program has become so aggressive that it has taken to registering people who do not actually exist.

The majority of existing voters who are changing their party affiliation to Democrat had been registered Non-Partisan. Those people probably were already voting Democrat, so changing their registrations won’t have much impact on November end-of-season voting, though it will cause an increase in the raw number of Democrats who vote in primaries.

As case-and-point, Beers points to the primary balloting…particularly in the Porter-Titus congressional district, where more Republicans voted than did Democrats.  26,892 Republicans voted compared to 26,241 Democrats despite all the buzz re: the massive registration lead Democrats had supposedly built in that district.

Below Beers shows the trend in some other districts where there was both a Democrat and Republican primary:

Rasmussen now has McCain 45% vs. Obama @ 42% in Nevada.  See their chart (below) to see the gains and losses since February.

How big is Nevada for the candidates?  Politicker’s Pindell Report lists Nevada as the most competitive (closest) toss up state in the nation.

Rasmussen reminds us that Nevada has cast its five Electoral College votes for the winning candidate in seven straight presidential elections. And the last four of these were very competitive with nobody carrying the state by more than four percent of the popular vote.

This year is shaping up to be another squeaker – for somebody. 

I must have some sort of mental block re: Alff.  (Forgot to mention her again.)  She came in 2nd in Clark County but lost in the statewide race.  Well and good.

My Inbox is full of joyous emails from Nevada conservatives.  Here’s what they’re so darn happy about:

GOOD-BYE TO YOU:  Everyone is just delighted that incumbent Republican Assemblywoman Francis Allen - who refused to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge and also embarrassed herself and her supporters by recently stabbing her husband in a drunken rage - lost to Republican challenger Richard McArthur (who not only signed the Pledge but campaigned on it).  McArthur stomped Allen by a 2-1 margin.

BOB “LITE” BEERS IS OFF THE SHELF:  Mr. Beers reluctantly signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge after he was elected in 2006 – and then immediately broke it during the 2007 legislative session.  Beers lost by a 2-1 margin to Republican Jonathan Ozark (who signed the Pledge).

JUST MARVELLOUS:  Another victory worth noting is that of former Republican Assemblyman Don Gustavson who defeated incumbent Republican Assemblyman John Marvel.  Marvel also broke HIS Tax Pledge by flip-flopping and voting for the gigantic tax hike in 2003.

Everyone’s glad that three Pretend Republicans have been replaced (subject to general election wins) by fiscally conservative Republicans.

SQUEAKER:  In the State Senate, Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio pulled out a close one over Republican challenger and former Assemblywoman Sharron Angle.  Despite 30 years of service to his district, his strong leadership position, and outspending his opponent by more than 10-1, Raggio only won by around 500 votes.  (“whew!”)

CHAOS AVERTED:  In a closely-watched county commission race, GOP leaders dodged a proverbial bullet when former Clark County Chairman Brian Scroggins beat longtime Commissioner Bruce Woodbury…whose name was still on the ballot despite being ruled ineligible by the state’s new term limits law.  Had Woodbury won, debates would have raged over who would replace Woodbury on the general election ballot.  Now the party can just unite behind Scroggins.

KIDS AND PARENTS - VICTORY #1:  Many of you may know that the Nevada State Board of Education voted last December to slap a moratorium on the approval of any new charter schools, despite Very long waiting lists.  Under pressure, the Board lifted its moratorium at their meeting last weekend. 

#2:  Four of the nine Board members who voted against charter schools opted not to even seek re-election – including Harry Reid’s daughter-in-law, Cindy Reid.  And then yesterday Board member Barbara Myers lost to challenger Dave Cook in a three-way primary fight.  The two will meet again in November with Myers the likely loser.  Which means the Board could end up with six new members who, hopefully, won’t be as anti-school choice and anti-education as the last one. 

Does all this bode well for Conservatives in November?  Perhaps.  For today, we’ll enjoy the Victory – and continue to Hope. 

Literary ref from header:  “And, has thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’ He chortled in his joy. …”

Update:  Del Vecchio IS out.  He finished with only 23% of the vote.  Ochoa (32%) and Giuiliani (31%) will advance to the general election.

In brief for those who asked:  Family Court Judge Nicholas Del Vecchio stands accused of sexually abusing his step-daughter when she was a minor, sexually harassing and emotionally blackmailing her as an adult, and making racially and sexually disparaging comments to court employees.  Among other things.  

I’ll find the Complaint and post it later.  It’s so horrendous I had trouble reading the whole thing when it was sent to me by a friend with a case in his courtroom.

Here are the final results.  Good night!

So, unless the remaining precincts go for Pickering in a big way, it’ll be Alff and Chairez in November…

Just read this Comment from a reader (“Monte” of Portland, OR) on Ann Coulter’s column today:

This McCain campaign ad is a must see.  LOL

I just love good old fashioned journalism (i.e. patiently researched stories that include sources and/or back-up info so readers don’t have to fact check).  Here’s a great example over at American Thinker.

The upshot?  As stated in the article:  “An analysis of federal election records shows that the amount of money journalists contributed so far this election cycle favors Democrats by a 15:1 margin over Republicans, with $225,563 going to Democrats, only $16,298 to Republicans.”

American Thinker goes on to list the exact amount of the political contributions by journalists at every main stream media outlet in America.  If you have any doubt about the existence of Media Bias, you need to read the whole article.  (Surprise:  note the numbers @ Fox News Channel – ?!)