Tears streamed down my face, snot dripped from my nose as I finally met my own State Senator, GOPer Barbara Cegavske, Saturday!  Just under 7 years living in the district, somehow, we never ran into each other though Rochelle-y Berkley tries to run me over every weekend when she’s out driving like Mr. Magoo.

State Sen Barbara Cegavske; GOP Queen of Summerlin

Rochelle-y Berkley; Dem Queen of Summerlin, seen here driving drivers crazy

This was at a ClarkGOP meeting for their AD & SD races and their county party soldiers planning for the seats they are targeting and drew about 350 people.  I expected a lot of anti-Harry invective, Glenn Beck cheer leading, and Sean Hannity loving, and though those kind of folks were certainly there, the meeting was very business-like, people were focused, there was no rallying, rah-rah stuff at all.

It was like a Rotary luncheon in tone and tenor.

I was kind of impressed that I was at a political meeting where party business was actually being done and people were behaving! I’m a Democrat, I had never seen that over 30 years!

Sidebar note to GOPers: You could put out some cake and coffee for your guests ‘ya know, some cookies, some pop; a little ‘nosh never hurt anyone.

No snacks, no fired up troops, it’s just that simple folks!

Harry was mentioned only twice, Steven Horsford once over 3 hours and that really surprised me!  The most notable thing?  Not many young people there, maybe 10 or so.

Cegevaske’s speech was OK, typical, low-keyed GOP talking points, spoken reasonably and effectively, but the star of the day was a young lady named Monica Moradkhan the ED of the Republican Assembly Caucus; smart, very bright, on-the-ball, knew her stuff back and forth.

I have no idea where she lives, but I’m wondering why the GOP hasn’t recruited her for office.  She clearly will be in elective office one day.

I also finally met Tammy Peterson at Paradise last week, and had already met the personable Mark Brandon, and I’m glad our SD is getting some attention, but I will caution both Dems how tough Cegavske is. I’ve worked the precincts here and can attest to that.

If you’re running against her, instead of telling us what’s different and new about you, you’ll both lose to her.

We’ll get into the GOP’s targeted races and their candidates in another piece.

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Personhood: You’ll recall we were the first in Nevada to tell you that ‘personhood’ was on the way to a ballot near you in our September Mailbag on 9/29—24 days before anyone else in the state!

Anyway, I don’t know how it survives, but in the states it makes it to the ballot, it will bring out Right-to-Life voters. This same local group was going to challenge our new Domestic Partnership, but the results from their own sample told them that their own voters, especially their older ones, were just fine with anything as long as it wasn’t called ‘marriage’.

Again, congratulations to Sen David Parks; you managed the bill spectacularly and other elected officials should take note and a lesson on how to navigate tough issues and get things passed the right way.

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That took guts!: Himbo Assemblyman Kelvin Atkin$on, chair of the corrupted NV Dem Caucus recruiting effort took a pass on endorsing anyone in AD 07 because I’m told that Joe Neal’s daughter is running, and so is NLV’s Will Robinson’s son, and of course Dem-doer Carolyn Essex is out of the question because she has an actual good track record.

Ignored by the hyper-corrupted NV Dem Caucus—that’s a good thing!

Their respective offspring have never done a damn thing for the party or much for their communities, so of course, Atkin$on had to defer to them.

The rivalry between the Neal and Robinson clans should be some great political theater as their associates are already leaking all sorts of unflattering things about the other, none fit to post in a family blog…yet!

His losing the NLV mayor’s office in 2009 proved there really is a God;  is he now putting  the major heat on everyone to support his kid in AD 07, or else?

Hello law enforcement!

Given the history of these people and of Assembly District 07, I think it’s a very safe bet that the FBI is already monitoring every phone call, every email, every text message, every bank and cash transaction, every chit called in, every promise being made.

But what still angers everyone from Dem partisans to local pastors is Kelvin Atkin$on’s stunning indifference to his own community demonstrated by his joyfully stuffing his pockets full with every dime of Big Tobacco money he could get his hands on during the smoking issue a few years ago, which also burned 1000’s of small business around the state and in his district—but of course, not the big resorts.

Taking Big Tobacco money, for any reason, blesses this; thanks Kelvin, you’re really some fine example for the young people to follow!

Apparently, Kelvin Atkin$on hadn’t heard BT publicly admit that they had been micro-targeting African Americans, especially children, for decades to grow up into smokers and how that was a big part of the national settlement, but Atkin$on had heard a lot about their money available in Carson City and decided he just had to get his hands on that money.

He decided lobbying money was more important than little kids and the tobacco giants who had targeted them…and still do in most people’s perception.

When you have political leaders so absent a moral foundation and compass that they’ll take anyone’s money, without any thought of who they’re taking it from, and the carnage that money has done in their own communities, you have to call them out on it.

And you have to challenge these corrupted people in primaries!

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Actual, as well as political farts, have become a major campaign issue for Sen Harry Reid

Pass the Beano: Sen Harry Reid’s allies talking ‘anonymously’ about ‘vaporizing’ Reid’s opponents is a GOP dream-come-true, because the nastier and more caustic he becomes, the better for them.

I think they were really talking about his errant farting though. Harry’s at that awkward age where he is gassy all day long—the UN has determined that he and his own methane are a major cause of Global Warming—and I think they meant to say that he’ll be using that trusty ‘vapor’ offense, especially during debates.

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Testy Local Media Wars continue: Ever notice how little Christ there is in Shermy of the R-J, who is supposed to be a Man of the Cloth? Maybe he’s really a Man of the Papertowel? As we’ve told you, his big uptick in viciousness is likely a direct order from his board to do something, anything, to get the R-J’s very poor circulation up.

The R-J’s Shermy Frederick

Then Jon Ralston jumped in with sharp criticism of his former employer over their coverage of his current employer so Brian Greenspun can continue to keep the Malibu place and the private jet.

Eventually, Greenspun has to make some tough decisions (like when to pull the plug on the LV Sun) and this turmoil is an indication of what’s going on. Running a non-(no)profit newspaper is great when you’re rolling in dough and need the tax write-offs, but when you’re losing money on everything, the accountant types tend to advise you to cut your losses ASAP.

Jon’s upset because if the also failing Las Vegas Sun is forced to close, there aren’t a whole lot of other options for him except going back to the R-J or writing for the RGJ.  3 lousy ads on the Sun’s on-line edition, and none in the flagship paper do not pay the bills and it looks to civilians like the LV Weekly is carrying the whole operation now.

After losing Jeff Gillan and Carol Wilkinson to Channel 3, in what was not recruitment but a LasVegasOne cutback, the media kids in town are understandably nervous.  Keeping LV1 operating for only 2 shows is not sustainable for too much longer and those shows may be folded into KLAS as weekend programming.  We may lose Ralston as a daily offering in the GMG disintegration, (maybe he’ll move to PBS?) or he may be buried in late night at KLAS because reruns or syndicated programs bring in much more revenue.

There’s only three major print media in the state.  You’d think they’d come up with a way to charge for access or even printing their stuff off the Internet.  Hell, even the library charges you 10 cents a copy!

Here’s an idea!  Stop HTMLing your content to the web and don’t allow printing of that copy without a fee.

What’s the point of copyrighting your stuff if you’re just giving it away in another medium?

Mike Zahara
10262009
www.WatchDogWag.com