FEBRUARY IN NEVADA
Democratic presidential hopefuls have their eye on the Silver State. Republicans do too!
BY LEWIS WHITTEN

Nevada has a reputation for throwing standard-setting parties. So when the Democrats announced that, for the first time ever, the start of the Democratic presidential campaign would be in Carson City last month, it was expected that they would paint the town blue.

Instead, Nevada’s Democratic Party started off their presidential campaign with about as much excitement as a single-party popper. They couldn’t even get the big-name candidate from Illinois, Sen. Barack Obama, to show up. Obama was in Hollywood that day. 

Nevada is known for persuading high rollers to fly in from California all the time; and they couldn’t get a politician to make an appearance in the capital for this momentous event? Perhaps, Nevada was preoccupied with the NBA All-Star event in Las Vegas. Or was it that the Democratic leadership in Carson City was too busy boozing with the local media?

Whatever the case, it was a feeble attempt at kick-starting the 2008 presidential campaign. Only eight candidates showed up to blast the Bush administration in front of a small group of national public employees, union members and members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The event was held on a Wednesday during the day, which had some critics speculating that all those public employees were “on the clock.” Had they held the event two days earlier, it would’ve been President’s Day, a paid holiday for most public employees. Those same critics speculate that an even smaller crowd of public employees would have shown up for a political forum on their day off.

The Democrats had their presidential campaign head start in the Silver State to draw support for Nevada’s Democratic caucus, which will be the second in the nation. This is another first; in prior presidential elections, the Nevada caucus was much later and a political non-issue.

One contender at the forum was former governor of Iowa, Tom Vilsack. He withdrew from the presidential race a couple days later. His rant, ironically, described his campaign perfectly: “It needs to be ended now. Not six days from now. Not six months from now. Not six years from now.”

He was actually talking about the war in Iraq. Vilsack is one of the most outspoken critics of the war in Iraq. While most candidates are calling for a gradual withdrawal of troops from Iraq, Vilsack is looking to exit immediately.

The current Democratic favorite, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, was focused more on a plan to get U.S. troops out of harm’s way and cut funding levels. It is no surprise that her plan is in line with polls that currently show anti-war sentiment as high as 60 percent.

Other topics included healthcare, taxes, Social Security and education. No major debates there. The Democratic candidates were mostly in agreement that healthcare should be universal, and taxes should be higher for rich folks. Also, the bankrupt Social Security scheme should be left alone. Plus, there was a push to make college available to all, at taxpayer expense.

Despite a lackluster show by the Democrats, Republicans are worried. They fear that the hoopla of an early Democratic presidential caucus in Nevada will turn the state blue on Election Day. So, they are moving the Nevada Republican Presidential caucus up also.

GOP officials in Nevada have set Feb. 7 as the target date for their presidential caucus. That’s about six weeks earlier than originally planned and two days after Super Tuesday, the judgment day when several states hold their nomination contests.

Currently, it looks like New Hampshire will host the first major Republican presidential candidates’ debate in April. Among those invited to the New Hampshire debate is “The Taxpayer’s Best Friend,” Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who appeared on the May 2006 cover of Liberty Watch: The Magazine.

Paul has already made a warm-up stop in New Hampshire, where he spoke to a large crowd of liberty watchers. He pointed out that he probably won’t be able to raise the millions of dollars other candidates will and admits his run is a long shot. Still, unlike Democratic dropout Tom Vilsack, he’s staying in the race.

“It’s worth the fight, as far as I’m concerned,” Paul said.

Like Vilsack, Paul is not a fan of the war in Iraq. In a recent article posted at LewRockwell.com, Paul makes a strong statement on the Iraq War resolution. He suggests the U.S. should stop the war, stop threatening war and bring the troops home immediately.