"They"

are already calling the Nevada Republican caucus for Romney just an hour after the Republicans' caucus started.

link

Nevada Caucus.

The GOP has some screw-ups for a change.

For the Republicans, the South Carolina primary is today as well, and officials there are concerned about the weather affecting turnout.
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Hillary Clinton's voice may have been shot yesterday after an entire day of speeches, but she still made a good impression at the Grand Sierra Resort.

I like this part:

Clinton supporter Sharon Wright of Sparks said it's time for a woman in the White House.

"To clean up the mess the males have made over the last eight years," she said.

Her daughter, Kim Sanford, said she also admires Clinton but will caucus today for former U.S. Sen. John Edwards.

"She's intelligent and has fortitude, is compassionate, has love for her country," she said ticking off the reasons.

But Edwards, she said, "believes in everything I believe in."

Sanford said she shook Edwards' hand and told him she would caucus for him at an earlier campaign rally. It's not a promise she will break.

Clinton is good, but Edwards would make a far stronger candidate in the fall.
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Nevada Caucus.

Obama was here with wife Michelle early in the day today at UNR. I talked with somebody at the Clinton speech who was at the Obama event, and she said she thought there were about 300 there.

That seems kind of low, but I'll find out soon enough from the local media.
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Mitt Romney was in town briefly and also gave an interview with the local paper which endorsed him.
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Here are some pictures of the Obama UNR rally today. The one of him and Michelle was especially nice.

Michelle, who should know better, mispronounced "Nevada."
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Here are some pictures of Mitt Romney.
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What I'd like to know is if Obama actually thinks he has the black vote locked up in SC so much that he can stick his foot in it time and time again, especially with regard to his positive remarks about Ronald Reagan.

Thank God his opponents are speaking out.
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Edwards, following his stump speech in Reno last night, denounced the UNITE HERE ad trashing Hillary Clinton:

Nevada Caucus.

Could Mitt Romney win the Nevada Republican Caucus, given the fact he has received more donations than any other candidate?

Nevada Presidential Caucus.

Duncan Hunter is making yet more appearances in northern Nevada.

I won't get a chance to attend those events, however, being up in Oregon instead until Monday.

Campaign Notes.

Mitt Romney may have an easier time in Nevada than in Iowa, especially given the fact the state is still conservative and there are quite a few Mormons.
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The Reno Gazette-Journal has some photos up of Dennis Kucinich's appearance yesterday.
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Yours truly is in this article from the Sparks Tribune:

Kucinich did not address education. Susan Nunes, a Sun Valley teacher who is undecided about whom she is supporting, said she has been going to all of the candidate appearances because she wants to see No Child Left Behind abolished.

"All it is is an attempt to privatize public schools by setting (them) up for failure," she said.

Kucinich's scheduled appearance Saturday at the Democratic Headquarters had been switched to the Reno-Sparks Convention Center to provide more space, said Diana Smith, co-coordinator of the Nevada Campaign for Kucinich, after the response to his appearance drew a tremendous response.

Kucinich supporters such as Swain say he has been marginalized by the mainstream media "because of the powerful elements within the Democratic Party ... and (therefore) in the media there has been a deliberate attempt to marginalize him."

The question of viability was on the minds of some in the audience.

"I really want Kucinich," said Sparks resident Jeane Jacobs, "but I think Edwards is more viable."

Jacobs said she thought the Republicans are pushing for Clinton, "because they will get their people out to vote against her." Also, she said, it appeared that "the media is pushing the Obama-Hillary thing because people are afraid of Edwards and Kucinich."

A lot of people I have talked to in this event and in others have picked Edwards as their second choice.
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S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom's support of Hillary Clinton may not help her.
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Hillary Clinton has been battle scarred all of these years, but she also has a soft side. The trouble is she must somehow be softhearted without being too much of a wimp, and she must have enough toughness not to be a calculating bitch.
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Pictures.

Ron Paul constantly talked about his interpretation of the Constitution and his definition of freedom. The RGJ has a brief report on the rally, which it will no doubt expand later.



This is one of several good close-up pictures I took of Congressman Paul.



A large screen was on hand in case people in the back could not see him. Hundreds were in attendance today.



Ron Paul talked at length about the economic problems facing this country, concluding that a reasonable solution would be the abolition of the Federal Reserve.




A very young supporter holds up a sign.



Here is a view of the stage at Lawlor Events Center's Silver and Blue Room where Ron Paul spoke this afternoon.

I Just Returned

from the University of Nevada, Reno, to hear Presidential candidate Congressman Ron Paul of Texas speak. Several hundred people jammed the Silver and Blue Room to hear him. I heard the figure 600 bandied about, and it's probably true. I was up at the front almost next to the stage, and I was getting hotter than hell from all of the body heat.

Paul came in after some videos were shown of how he was doing on the campaign trail, including his spectacular 24-hour fundraising of over $4 million on November 5. His campaign, as people know, has been relying largely on the internet to get his message out.

And that message, of course, is extreme and actually the flip side of the flake Dennis Kucinich. However, Paul didn't hit too much on the more extreme of his extreme positions but instead hit on some of the more popular, less extreme (!) ones, such as getting us out of Iraq; pulling troops out of other countries such has Germany and Japan as being a waste of money; going back on the gold standard; abolishing the Federal Reserve (which probably got the biggest cheer from the audience); repealing NAFTA, CAFTA, the WTO, and the Peruvian trade agreement; making Social Security voluntary for young people while still allowing the elderly to draw from it (knowing as he does it would never work and would help bring back the poorhouse industry); getting us out of the UN; restoring habeas corpus; repealing the Patriot Act; and supporting medical marijuana as a state's rights issue, to touch on some highlights. In other words, he was cleverly appealing to all parts of the political spectrum by hitting upon some pet issues without coming across as a raving lunatic. He has a kindly demeanor, and I don't doubt he was a good doctor. He's just too damned extreme to ever get elected to national office.

Afterwards, it was the "meet and greet" time, and I was lucky enough to be the fourth in line and get two autographs from him, one for myself and one for my brother if he wants it.

Campaign Notes.

John Edwards will be in Reno today. He will be at Hug High School.

Event is at 1 p.m.
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Mitt met with a small group of supporters and the media yesterday giving his take on a few things.

Mitt needs to start holding PUBLIC events instead of these limited venues. After all, McCain, Hunter, and (this coming Tuesday) Paul have done it.
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Campaign Notes.

Republican candidate Ron Paul will be making a Reno appearance on November 20.

Actually two of them, including one at Lawlor Events Center.

I plan to attend.
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Campaign Notes.

About the only place in the country where Republicans are outraising Democrats in the fundraising race is in Nevada.

I like these reasons:

# Established relationships the candidates have nurtured with Nevada's monied elite.

# Desire from the state's leading industries -- most importantly the gaming industry -- to curry favor with and gain access to government leaders.

# A desire among some to prevent U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton from being elected.

Mitt Romney, though, is the only Republican candidate who has made a serious effort to campaign in Nevada so far.

Considering It Was

a workday, Barack Obama still managed to pull in 2,000 people at the Grand Sierra Resort for a town hall meeting.

During his 15-minute speech, Obama went on the attack after the designated frontrunner, but commenters who were there disagree he did much in that regard.
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Campaign Notes.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the Mitt and Duncan townhall meetings. They are both held on Friday at the Nugget in Sparks, but they are during the workday.

Maybe next time...
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I missed today's debate.
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More Campaign Notes.

This coming weekend, the Nugget in Sparks will be hosting the Conservative Leadership Conference, featuring Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Duncan Hunter.

It being what it is, it'll cost an arm and a leg to attend.

And if you're the type who is masochistic enough to want to attend the event, another bonus will be the appearance of celebrities Richard Viguerie, former Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey, and major league asshole Grover Norquist.

According to the conference website, even more celebrities will be in attendance including John Fund, Bob Barr, Governor Mark Sanford of SC, and former Representative J.D. Hayworth. Still not worth the $100-$200 to attend.

Mitt will also be hanging around Reno to attend a town hall meeting. I don't have any details as of yet. I don't see anything on his official campaign website.

Campaign Notes.

The Nevada Appeal has an article about yesterday's rally in Carson City and the antiwar protests.

I think there were more than 75 protesters, but I didn't do a head count.
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A Couple of Pictures of the Protesters.

More.

This is a good closeup picture of Representative Hunter.



Representative Duncan Hunter poses with some supporters.

Some Pictures from This Morning.

Coming to a city near you is the "Fight for Victory" tour sponsored by a group called Move America Forward.






By the time I arrived at Mills Park, the event was pretty much over. Some t-shirts and other items were being sold, and a few supporters were at the park talking. Representative Hunter wisely went under some shade. It was much cooler.

This Morning

I went to Carson City to take a look at the nationwide "Fight for Victory" tour kicked off by an appearance from longshot Republican presidential candidate Representative Duncan Hunter of California (of the 52nd district, to be exact). It was held at 9 a.m. at Mills Park , which is located on William off of U.S. 395 (Carson Street).

I got there about 20 minutes after it started, and by the time I got there, it was pretty much over. Representative Hunter was there talking with some supporters (and there weren't very many, by the way, probably fewer than 100, and fewer than there were protesters), and the heat got so oppressive, he motioned supporters to meet him under the shade.

Unfortunately, everybody hogged up the rally signs, so I couldn't get one for him to sign. There was an area where supporters sold cookies and other things to raise money for his cross-country trip. I got some pictures of him and the supporters as well as the protesters, who were about a block away from the park. I didn't get an autograph, though, not this time around.

It's funny. People can disagree on politics, yet people can be very good-natured about it. One of the speakers at this rally made some mention of the "moonbats" off in the distance, but he said that in this country of ours, they have the right to protest.

I made my way back to the car and went through the where the protesters were. Many, many motorists honked at the protesters supporting the troops yet supporting withdrawal from Iraq. I'd say there were way more protesters at the corner of William and Roop than there were at the Hunter rally.

When there are some reports available I will link them on the blog.

Campaign Notes.

Longshot Republican candidate Rep. Duncan Hunter will be speaking at Mills Park in Carson City, Nevada, Monday at 9 a.m.

I will be there if I can wake up early enough.