Lowden’s bake sale: What’s the point?

For a candidate heralded by her allies as a wise and savvy businesswoman, it seems to me Sue Lowden has made the first mistake of her candidacy to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Lowden plans to take part in a protest gathering Friday in the parking lot of the Grand Sierra Hotel in Reno, where Vice President Joe Biden is slated to take part in a Reid fundraiser. Lowden will serve coffee and doughnuts to those in attendance and collect canned goods for the Northern Nevada Food Bank.

Bully for her. People like coffee and doughnuts and the poor can use the canned food.

But what’s the point?

What political question is she trying to ask, or answer?

That she’s a wealthy casino executive who cares about the poor? That she bought Winchell’s stock?

That she and millionaire husband Paul Lowden, as longtime Southern NEvada residents, are “just folks” compared to fellow Southern Nevada resident Reid?

Do you really need that 30 seconds of coverage on Reno's 6 o'clock news?

Here’s a little free advice Lowden obviously isn’t receiving from the brain trust that surrounds her. If you want to get elected, you first must be taken seriously. People must perceive you as being smart and savvy enough to do a difficult job.

Leave the lightweight political image-making to the gadflies.

It’s very early. But stunts such as the one scheduled for Friday are the fastest way to marginalize Lowden’s candidacy.

Yes, I realize this means no coffee and doughnuts for me.