OUR AGENDA
The NRP is focusing on three activities this year - voter registration, voter ID and Get Out the Vote
BY PAUL ADAMS

As we enter 2006, Republicans need to remember the simple rule of electoral politics - the candidate with the most votes wins. Campaigns focus on the candidates and the candidates frame the debate on the issues. The Nevada Republican Party (NRP) plays a critical role in the process, focusing on three important activities, Voter Registration, Voter Identification and Get Out the Vote (GOTV).

Everyone knows of the tremendous population influx to Nevada; our job is to ensure that these newcomers are registered to vote. The NRP will be aggressively working to ensure that we register as many new Republicans as possible leading up to the 2006 elections. 

Voter Identification is important because it helps the NRP and the candidates focus their election efforts. Someone not registered as a Republican may hold Republican values and may vote for our candidates despite their party registration. Knowing the concerns and interests of Nevadans, we can better target our efforts.

For 2006, the NRP is gearing up to Get Out the Vote and help candidates for all offices: local, state and federal. Yet, the NRP staff alone cannot accomplish the mission; we need your help.

The Republican Party relies on its true believers. The individuals who volunteer their time and energy for our party do so is because they recognize that it is just that: OUR Party. Republicans are individuals who believe that the Republican Party is the party that stands up for their beliefs and most closely resembles their system of values.

Critical to our electoral success is emphasizing Republican values: unfettered individual opportunity and minimal government. Government should provide only those critical functions that cannot be performed by individuals or private organizations. Government should impose only those taxes necessary to perform proper government functions. Government should be fiscally responsible in spending our money. Elected officials must understand that opposing taxes while supporting run away spending is not a coherent position consistent with ours.

Republican values are universal, yet we often do a poor job of articulating them. The NRP welcomes everyone who shares our values. We intend to aggressively outreach to Asian, black and Hispanic voters; many are Republican and just do not know it yet. As RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman says, "if you give us a chance, we'll give you a choice." 

If you are frustrated with the implementation of Republican values, remember that political change is an ongoing process, not a single event. If you really believe in states rights, look beyond the sexy federal races and get involved in county and state legislative races. Local races elect the officials who make the decisions that impact your lives; they decide what type of businesses will be built next to your housing development and which roads will receive stop lights. Because local races draw fewer voters, this is where your vote truly does count.

Some like to sit on the sidelines and criticize our Republican candidates. Our internal debate is healthy; this is what distinguishes our party from the mindless lockstep partisanship of the opposition. Sitting on the sidelines will not create change, only more frustration. The only way to make a difference is to make the long-term commitment to get involved and stay involved. 

In deciding whether to get involved, consider the alternative. Unless you decide to run for office, rarely will you find a candidate with whom you agree 100 percent on the issues. Republicans cannot become a fractured party of single issue idiocy; if we do, we lose. Deciding not to get involved because of a disagreement over one or two issues, no matter how principled, often results in an electoral disaster. 

An example of an electoral disaster is the Nevada Assembly. The Assembly is so infested with Democrats that it is a place where good bills go to die. This legislative body has a significant impact on our day-to-day lives, but Assembly races are often an afterthought. Although our majority in the Senate is sufficient for us to block misguided Democrat-sponsored legislation, we cannot affect real change until we increase the Republican voice in the Assembly.

The NRP has launched two new websites. The first is the new Nevada Republican Party website at www.nevadagop.org. This site will be the focal point for the party message in the state. Please visit the site, volunteer, donate and sign up for e-mail updates. 

The only way we stay connected is by communicating and this is one of the easiest and most cost-effective methods available. The second website is The Reid World at www.thereidworld.com. This site is dedicated to exposing the hypocrisy of our embarrassing senior senator. When he speaks, he does not speak for all Nevadans and this site is intended to drive home that point to all visitors.

As Ronald Reagan said, "To sit back hoping that someday, someway, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last - but eat you he will." Don't give up out of frustration; get engaged to make a difference. LW

Paul Adams is the Chairman of the Nevada Republican Party. E-mail him at chairman@nevadagop.org