Monday, August 23, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: GOP 'pep talk' veiled in mysterious secrecy

Leadership describes closed-door meeting as `strategy session' for election volunteers

What was all that secrecy about Thursday when a bunch of Republicans met with their party's chairwoman and Gov. Kenny Guinn?

It was described by leadership partly as a "strategy session" designed to offer tips for election volunteers, but three people who attended the closed-door meeting at Brady Industries said it was more like a pep rally.

"When I walked out I felt like I had a bunch of smoke blown up my ass," one attendee said.

Another added: "The party's heading in the right direction and they made that point very clearly, over and over, despite no one saying anything to the contrary."

Those who attended arrived to locked doors at the business.

A volunteer who opened the door made sure the person was supposed to attend, and each person, even District Attorney David Roger, was checked in at a computer of registered voters to ensure he or she was a Republican.

Seems a bit much for a pep talk.

This reporter was shown the door.

"We didn't issue a press advisory about this," executive director Chris Carr said, standing near the stairs on the first floor of Brady Industries.

Upstairs, about 80 people sat in folding chairs and listened to reports from Earlene Forsythe, the party's chair, and Guinn, co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign in Nevada, attendees said.

There was apparently some message about volunteer work on that campaign, attendees said.

A third attendee said there was no negativity in the room.

"It was like a lovefest," the active Republican said.

Speaking for Bush

The secrecy of the local Bush-Cheney campaign has been explained to reporters this way: Spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan helps organize things but can't speak on the record for the campaign.

Those calls go to campaign headquarters outside of Washington, D.C.

State director Scott Stewart will speak publicly at events and tell reporters that if he's quoted he'll lose his job.

Maybe Bush-Cheney doesn't want to highlight Stewart. When Stewart chaired the college Republicans back in 2001, three women accused him of harassing female colleagues and using party funds to pay for cell phone bills and other personal expenses.

The Republican National Committee hired an outside law firm to investigate. The firm found that Stewart's actions did not meet the legal definition of sexual harassment, but the firm's report states his conduct was "unprofessional and inappropriate for a work setting."

Stewart didn't return a call for comment.

Optimism toned down

There appeared to be a sea-change in attitude within the Kerry-Edwards campaign last week.

On Aug. 17, the campaign held a news conference to discuss what happens next after the two-day visit by John Kerry. The resounding message seemed to be, "We're going to win." Absent was any notion that Kerry was dead even with President Bush or trailing by a couple of points.

State director Anne Sheridan said Kerry's visit sparked 1,000 new volunteers and 200 veterans to sign up to work on the campaign. She suggested Kerry would win because of Yucca Mountain, health insurance issues and uneasiness veterans have with Bush.

Asked whether Nevada is now Kerry's to lose, Sheridan was adamant with her "No."

"This is a battleground state and we're going to work very hard to win it," she said.

Country music support

Nevada Supreme Court candidate John Mason isn't shy about using entertainment client Reba McIntyre in his television ad. Now he's hoping to cash in courtesy of a boot-wearing angry American.

Country music star Toby "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" Keith will perform shows Friday and Saturday at fund-raisers for Mason at Harrah's Lake Tahoe.

Give enough money to Mason's campaign and you can get your photo taken with the singer.

This and that

• Congressman Jim Gibbons has hired Dianne Cornwall to be his district director. She'll be responsible for Gibbons' three district offices in Reno, Las Vegas and Elko.

• Reno Republican Amanda Klein gave it her all in MTV's Choose or Lose Stand Up and Holla essay contest, walking away with a nice consolation prize. Princella Smith of Arkansas won the contest for a chance to speak at the Republican National Convention next week in New York City, but Klein and the other finalists were invited to attend.

• A funny thing happens if you type in a Family Court candidate's name looking for her Web site. Department F challenger Gayle Beck-Nathan's name -- http://www.gaylebeck-nathan.com -- actually takes you to incumbent Judge Bob Gaston's site. Beck-Nathan was unaware of the site until it was pointed out to her Friday. The domain, she believes, was bought up by Gaston's campaign.

• KLVX-TV, Channel 10 will televise its first primary election debate Thursday at 9 p.m. The debate features the five Democratic candidates for Clark County Commission District B and the three Democratic candidates for District D. Four hot state Senate primaries will be debated Sept. 2 at 9 p.m. Check out www.klvx.org for information.

Contact political reporter Erin Neff

at 387-2906 or ENeff@reviewjournal.com.