I have not been alone among political pros in terming GOP U.S. Senator Dean Heller and Attorney General Adam Laxalt as narrow favorites this November.
Heller’s race is not even included in Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraising e-mails which tout close contests everywhere but Nevada.
Donkeyite gubernatorial nominee Steve Sisolak has even generated letters to the editor wondering where his campaign has been since the June primary, although he recently began raising his profile up here in the provinces.
Last week’s Barbwire was on the press when I received the political fox paw of the year (thus far), courtesy of Clark County Commission Chair Sisolak. I swear on a stack of “Art of the Deal” remainders that I am not making this up.
I got an e-mail from Sisolak’s campaign that had me rolling on the floor. (Screenshot available upon request.)
Here’s the complete subject line which took up the entire capacity of my e-mail program’s display: “I want to tell you about what happened when my dad got laid”
We know what happened, Mr. Commissioner: YOU.
When I opened up the e, the sin of omission performed an act of cyber-contrition: “Subject: I want to tell you about what happened when my dad got laid off.”
It was apparently a Labor Day e-mail which arrived a day late. (Such timing.) Either way, some sort of labor became inextricably involved at some point.
This underscores a Nevada political season remarkable for its lack of laughs. Since facts have been permanently exiled, humor remains the most devastating political weapon in any campaign arsenal. Alas and alack, amateurs abound.
Last week, I detailed how Republicans have warmed over the 1982 strategy which toppled four-term Democratic US Sen. Howard Cannon with the biggest underdog in Nevada history, Chic Hecht. Bush the Elder copied the ghost strategy in 1988, banishing lightweight VP nominee Dan Quayle to red state reservations. Nevada Republicans have sent Laxalt to the Cow Counties, away from population centers and media.
If elected, Laxalt has the potential to eclipse one-term disaster Jim the Dim (2007-2011) as the worst governor of the last 100 years. Gibbons had much more of a base than Laxalt, but like Laxalt, he looked like a governor. Adam the Anti is just plain cuter than Raiders second-string linebacker Sisolak.
It’s game over at the top of the ticket unless the Democrats do a better job.
GET YOUR TICKETS for a better show, the Reno-Sparks NAACP’s 73rd Freedom Fund Awards Dinner, Sept. 29, Grand Sierra Hotel. Go to RenoSparksNAACP.org for info. Or contact me, (775) 882-TALK.
ADIOS, THORNY. Last Saturday, I said a few words at the gathering for my erstwhile City of Reno cable committee colleague Barbara Stone (1936-2018).
Therein, I conveyed condolences from the wife of another of our hardworking volunteers, my CWA Union brother Noel E. “Thorny” Thornsberry who died on Sept. 1 in Waterloo, Iowa, at 84. I wore a union pin we both liked in his honor. Thorny was a grand man.
BILLY CLYDE PUCKETT FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE. Burt Reynolds played quarterback Puckett in the movie version of Dan Jenkins’ pro football classic novel “Semi-Tough.”
In his 2015 memoir “But Enough About Me,” written with Jon Winokur, Reynolds stated “I had the feeling that instead of trying to develop the brand, Donald (Trump) was angling (to merge the USFL) with the NFL so he could wind up with an NFL franchise for a song.”
Reynolds was part-owner of the Tampa Bay Bandits (1983-85), named after his most successful film series. The USFL was meant to be a spring-summer league, circumventing head-to-head competition with the NFL. He and his partners wanted to make football fun again, Reynolds wrote.
“It was Donald’s fault that the USFL didn’t survive…I like Donald but I hold onto my wallet when we shake hands…his personal ambition sank the USFL. He was interested in only two things: money and publicity.”
Reynolds’ bankroller, the late Canadian billionaire John Bassett (father of tennis star Carling), said that Trump’s “ego transcended his business sense.”
THE BANDIT ABOUT A TRUE BANDIDO: “In the years since, every time Donald runs for president, I pray he never gets the chance to do to the USA what he did to the USFL.”
We were warned. Thanks for the memories, Bandit.
THE CURSE OF BURT. Many decades ago, my late wife, Betty, lived next door to an Arizona State professor who was a dead ringer for Burt Reynolds. This poor guy had to run through airports because women would start chasing him, trying to rip off his clothes.
The price of fame. Thanks for the memories, Bandit.
Be well. Raise hell. Esté bien. Haga infierno.
Andrew Barbano is a 49-year Nevadan and editor of NevadaLabor.com. E-mail <barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us>. Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Tribune since 1988.
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