Conservative activist Bob Adney is starting Take Back Nevada, a politcal advocacy group. Mark Warden Kermitt Water Kris Munn

Everywhere Bob Adney looks, he sees freedoms being taken away from Nevadans.

That's why the conservative activist is starting Take Back Nevada, a political advocacy group that he hopes will serve as a permanent voice for the small-government views he calls "pro-freedom."

Adney has startup backing from the Virginia-based libertarian group Americans for Limited Government, but he hopes his organization will eventually do its own fundraising.

"Our mission will be to take power away from government and give it back to the people," Adney said.

In concrete terms, he said, that will mean backing Question 2, the ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to limit government's ability to take private land; backing another constitutional amendment along the lines of the Tax and Spending Control initiative, which was kicked off the ballot by the state Supreme Court last year; and possibly making some noise on the issue of taxpayer-funded lobbyists, which the group opposes.

The group also will advocate for fiscal conservatism and small government generally.

Adney said his partners in the venture include local conservative activists such as Kris Munn, Mark Warden and Kermitt Waters.

Take Back Nevada plans to have an office in Las Vegas by April.

Question 2 passed easily in November, but only after the Supreme Court removed some provisions from it. Adney said Take Back Nevada would like to get those provisions put back in, especially one that prohibits "regulatory takings" -- zoning changes that devalue property.

The initiative is widely opposed by politicians from both parties, who say it would hamstring necessary government work such as road building.

Adney was the executive director of the TASC initiative. He said it's not clear when a similar effort might be retried. The initiative aimed to limit government spending based on rates of population growth and inflation.

Opponents, led by labor unions, said important services such as law enforcement and education would be imperiled if it passed.

Adney said he and others are putting together a strategic plan that they can present to donors.

"Our dream is for this to be the fiscal conservative, pro-liberty voice in the long term," he said.

MELLOW IMUS WELCOMES REID

Adding another line to his resume as a national political heavyweight, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday finally made his debut on the Don Imus Show.

During a 15-minute interview on the syndicated radio show that also is simulcast on MSNBC, Reid thanked the somewhat mellowed shock jock for introducing him to the song "One Endless Night," by country singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore.

"You've improved my culture," said Reid, who is a music buff.

Less than two years ago, the notoriously fickle Imus said Reid "makes my skin crawl."

But after Imus' wife, Deirdre, lobbied Reid last year and gained his support for legislation to combat autism, Imus said the Nevada Democrat "is not a bad guy at all."

Reid and Imus talked about their short-lived careers as miners. The senator, who said he also once worked as a service station attendant, revealed the deepest he had labored underground was 300 feet and that he still has five carbide mining lamps at his home in Searchlight.

On political matters, Imus asked Reid if he voted to authorize President Bush to go to war in Iraq. Reid acknowledged he did and explained his vote was based "on inaccurate information."

Bush's new plan to send more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq "is not going to work," Reid said.

ENSIGN BACKS OFF PLEDGE

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is beginning to get an idea of the kinds of headaches he faces in his new role as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee going into the 2008 elections.

The party's right flank is calling on donors to boycott the committee until Ensign agrees money will only go to candidates who support President Bush's troop increase in Iraq. Radio host and blogger Hugh Hewitt came up with "The NRSC Pledge" and created a Web petition with the same name, Roll Call reported. As of Friday, about 32,000 people had signed.

The pledge Web site includes a poem about the pledge that includes the lines: "If you retreat/ And invite defeat/ We consider that a crime/; If you cast your lot/ With this sorry blot/ Then we won't give you a dime."

Ensign went on Hewitt's radio show and said he supported the additional troops but declined to make the commitment Hewitt sought. Ensign said it was his responsibility to elect Republicans to the Senate.

For Hewitt, that wasn't good enough. He said he and his pledgers felt Iraq was too important to compromise.

"The war is not an issue on which you can live to fight another day," he told Roll Call. "It is a life-or-death issue and needs to be treated as such by Republican senators. Some senators might indeed suffer from a 'no' vote (on a resolution criticizing the extra troops). But if a 'no' vote is the right vote in terms of national security, they should have the courage to make it."

REID TRIES TO BAIT ENSIGN

Reid and Ensign have a "nonaggression pact" where they agree not to criticize each other. But that doesn't mean they can't get in a small poke every now and then.

After a Nevada delegation meeting on Wednesday, Reid was telling reporters that, despite its flaws, the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project has some true believers in Congress.

Slightly nudging Ensign, who was sitting beside him, Reid said, "It is like the 'surge' in Iraq. They think something is going to turn things around."

Not taking the bait, Ensign just smiled.

CANDIDATE CAUCUS

Democratic presidential candidates continue to wonder if Nevada is a backside worth kissing as the state, a five-hour flight across three time zones from Washington, D.C., prepares to host an early nominating caucus in 2008.

But for one candidate, it's right next door. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was the first to RSVP to Nevada's candidate forum scheduled for Feb. 21, the first official 2008 event on the national Democratic schedule.

Other candidates now say they are coming, but notably not the presumed front-runners, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards.

Richardson said last week that he hoped his fellow candidates weren't disrespecting the West.

"I was the first candidate to create a campaign staff in Nevada and the first to commit to the forums in Carson City and Las Vegas, because Western states like Nevada are the future of our country and of the Democratic Party," Richardson said.

"The people of Nevada deserve to hear each candidate discuss the issues that matter to them. I hope the other candidates will respect the importance of Western voters and commit to this forum."

Is anyone listening?

Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault and Stephens Washington Bureau writer Tony Batt contributed to this report. Contact political reporter Molly Ball at 387-2919 or MBall@reviewjournal.com.