Lowden’s loss: biggest political flop since ’99 LV mayoral race

Granted, sifting through the ashes of Sue Lowden's calamitous run for U.S. Senate isn't easy. There's so much charred wreckage it's hard to know where to start, and this duty is probably best left to the experts.

Because the cast of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" is unavailable, I'll take a shot at this mess.

Contrary to rampant rumor, this wasn't the biggest collapse since the '29 stock market. It was, however, the greatest political crash since heavily favored Arnie Adamsen was trounced by unrepentant mob lawyer Oscar Goodman in the 1999 Las Vegas mayor's race.

Well-funded campaigns don't come unglued by themselves. Sometimes outside forces, such as vicious advertising campaigns or compelling opposition research, cripple them. There was some of that in Lowden's case.

But while Lowden's loyalists have whined that mean primary challenger Danny Tarkanian and the terrible friends of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid were pitbulls to Lowden's poodle, the fact is she provided them with far too much material. (Come to think of it, she also provided Letterman and Leno with too much material. But I digress.)

She wasn't shy about slamming both men. She even took after eventual primary victor Sharron Angle with a bruising attack ad trying to link the devout Baptist to the Church of Scientology. That poodle had teeth.

An analysis of the campaign's failure begins with the candidate. Most political pundits were too polite to admit it, but Lowden rarely seemed comfortable discussing the issues beyond her talking points. And throw in a variable, such as her opinion of Rand Paul's comment on the Civil Rights Act, and you could see the panic lights go off.

I noticed it months ago in a Review-Journal editorial board meeting when Lowden stepped into a rhetorical bog by stating and restating that the threat of terrorism on American airlines made her afraid to fly commercially. It was the perfect moment for Lowden's campaign manager Robert Uithoven to step up and clarify his candidate's concerns and poor word choice. Instead, he remained silent. It wouldn't be the last time.

Forget for a moment that if President Barack Obama had said such nonsense, he would have been filleted by the conservative press and bashed by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. As we were to discover, that kind of talk was just Sue being Sue.

Then came the "chickens for checkups" episode in which Lowden reminded everyone that a good way to approach the complex health care reform debate was to "barter" with your doctor because in the "old days" people commonly traded a chicken for medical help. The comment not only made Lowden a laughingstock and provided late-night comedians with feathery fodder, but also exposed the flaws in her retail game and her campaign management.

The chickens-for-checkups gaffe could have been resolved by the candidate. It was dumb and made her appear out of touch. It should have been fixed by the campaign manager. But it wasn't.

That means Uithoven either didn't spot the danger or couldn't manage his candidate. I suspect the latter.

Despite Lowden's career as a television reporter and reputation as a professional communicator, she rarely appeared smooth on camera. Her message always sounded rehearsed.

At a time Nevada Republicans were looking for a candidate standing to the right of center, the ink was still drying on Lowden's conservative credentials.

Lowden's diehards say she was the best candidate to go up against Majority Leader Reid, but that hadn't been true for months. Lowden's campaign began to unravel well before it showed in the Review-Journal's polls.

Finally, those starving for symbolism will note Lowden's election-night gathering took place at the upscale View 215. She is, after all, a wealthy casino executive.

Meanwhile, sensible-shoes conservative Sharron Angle mixed with the hoi polloi at The Orleans.

Forget the crime-scene tape. This one was self-inflicted.

Have an item for the Bard of the Boulevard? E-mail comments and contributions to Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.