HamptonGate: The FBI has begun their preliminary investigations with simple phone calls.  That tells me that they are doing the perfunctory stuff and going through the motions.  Know that all that’s brought to them is at least looked at, files are opened, and if you’re involved in this mess, don’t ever lie to an FBI agent.

The government’s #1 witness in Doug Hampton ruined any potential prosecution, but this latest development puts Sen John Ensign back in the news and contributes to the overwhelming voter anger at career politicians in both parties.

No, Ensign can’t resign; Gaming has now accepted Harry Reid’s defeat and they need someone who knows their concerns while the new person elected in November gets up to speed.

Yes, John Edwards is even scummier (notice nothing in the lefty media about that here?) than John Ensign!  St Elizabeth indeed!  Most women I know would have shot his balls off!

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NLV Files: Hit the State of the City luncheon address by Mayor Shari Buck and I’ll give a whole piece to NLV up next!  Spoke to GOP Assembly 13 candidate Matt Passalacqua there too and this guy is going to be very tough to beat; he’s very likable and very at ease campaigning. The GOP rank and file there liked him and he’s also yet another 35 foot tall guy in this state!

http://assembly13.com/index.html

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GOP Sen Mark Amodei for NVAG? Where would the WatchdogWag’s bazillions of loyal readers have read that first…and long ago?

http://www.watchdogwag.com/?p=6323

Amodei does look like the Lucky Charms Guy!

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Babs Buckley Files: Yep, I’ll get into how she and Sen Steven Horsford completely blew the last session but I will comment now on her desire for a new building for her Legal Aid work.  That work is very commendable, but a new building?  Oy!  The best market to pick up terrific existing structures in 30 years and Barbara Buckley insists on brand new and is wasting colossal resources that could help even more people?

Good riddance Babs; you let us all down big time toots! More later.

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Flores Power!: I met Lucy Flores who is running for Assembly 28; bright, smart and sharp…also very young.  My only advice to Ms Flores is that the average age of your primary and general election voter will be 147 years old and they’re all going to have concerns that you will instantly fold to the Speaker.  You neutralize that by telling your voters you will always vote your district and that you won’t march in lockstep, even if that means defying the Speaker…

That’s what they’re going to want to hear from you (and see in your performance when elected)!

http://lucyflores.com/

Ms Flores is a particularly bright spot for NVDEMS; she is the party’s future folks!

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Elliot Anderson Files: He’s up with a website for Assembly 15 too and it’s nice to see Elliot smiling! He looks like Atlas carrying the world sometimes, but when he’s enjoying it he looks much better and much more approachable!  Read this if you haven’t yet done so Elliot:

http://www.watchdogwag.com/?p=7453

I served with Elliot at NVDEMS.  I just dig the off-center, slightly tilted picture placement too! The reality is that most people don’t give a shit what your positions are folks…they want to see photos of you…non-posed if at all possible!

This is especially true of women—the very voters you are all wishing to capture in both parties!—pay attention to what every women does almost first when she comes into your home; makes a mad dash to the photo wall or table, right?

Trust me on this. Almost 200 focus groups over thirty years and how women process things is always paramount to political success.  When I tell you all to ‘know your own voters’, this is one of the major things I’m telling you! (mine are very different than they are on the other side of the valley, for instance!)  If your handouts and web are too chatty, you’ll be lucky if they flip both sides then toss in the recycle…the more pics you have, the longer they’ll look at both handouts and websites.

That said, you have to get almost all of this on homepages too without being too cluttered!  Very few will cruise your entire website!

http://www.andersonforassembly.com/

Sidebar:  And you all have to get a traditional webpage too.  I know a lot of you have your Facebook stuff and that is a micro-targeting very good thing to do.  But, do you really expect my 96 year old Grandpa, or ageless mother to sign up to be your Facebook friend in order to learn more about you?

Which age group is the number one voter group in Nevada primaries? Are you focused on them?

My 96 year old Grandpa is still taking out his pen knife and carving FDR into the touch screen!

Sidebar II: The best photo gallery collage I’ve seen this season belongs to State Senate 07 candidate, Mark Manendo, whose photo collection is superior, but it’s on page 672 of his website where no one can see them!!!   This stuff has to be front and center kids! Go ahead, try to find them:

http://www.markmanendoforsenate7.com/

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Desperate Danny: Misfire after misfire! Shooting at Sue Lowden for bailouts which all the GOP signed off on and I guess he preferred global depression instead?

Then his failed real estate deal in the papers and Tarkanian, a lawyer, completely failed to conduct any level of due diligence, and now he expects the courts to bail him out!

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jan/22/tarkanian-family-sues-bank-avoid-propertys-foreclo/

You can’t write fiction better than that folks!

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Anti-Lowden Files: Mr Dan Johnson popped in with his new site that I’m sure is giving the Lowden campaign some agita, but I have no problem with stuff like this because it isn’t blind bomb-throwing and she damn well better be able to answer this stuff within her own party.

http://suelowdenisnotaconservative.blogspot.com/

I will caution my GOP readers that the goal is Harry Reid and not party purity, isn’t it? No one on either side is Mother Theresa, now are they?  4,347 people challenging Reid tells me there’s a lot of ego and little deference to the common good of the party with so many offices still without a GOPer in the races!

WTF are you people thinking? (are you even thinking at all?) You can’t all be giant killers!

You always back your very strongest horses in an election like this and hold your nose in primary if you feel you must with the singular thought of this: ‘Who is best equipped to beat Harry Reid?’

The entire nation’s attention is on you GOPers here in Nevada, not my Dems; always keep that in mind!

Yes, you could lose to this guy!

Do you people really want that to be the headline around the world on November 3, 2010?

Lowden opens her new offices in my region tomorrow night; very smart move lady!

Sue Lowden for US Senate – Las Vegas Office Grand Opening

January 25th from 5:30pm to 7:30pm

6655 South Tenaya Way, Suite #170

702.302.4097

Sidebar: Yes, I do think Lt Gov Brian Krolicki is a stugots if he decides to challenge Harry Reid and jump into this already too crowded field.  He’s the Polish kid with the funny haircut whom I defended regarding his false indictment, but he should stay put and likely be re-elected because he can’t win the primary–only Heller stirs things up there–and he would lose to Harry Reid if he did win the primary.

I don’t think the GOP wants to take that chance this year, do you?

Perhaps Lt Gov Krolicki is unaware that Sen John McCain is not a favorite of red-meat conservative GOP primary voters, he just got his lousy McCain-Feingold tossed by the Supremes, and he is likely to lose to former Rep JD Hayworth in the Arizona primary this year.

John McCain is not exactly the guy to be taking advice from Brian!

Waiting for 2012 seems your better choice and you don’t want to be labeled the ‘McCain’ senate candidate by all of your primary opponents, do you?

Mike Zahara
01242010
www.WatchdogWag.com