Party chief shows primary colors
During the wait on line to caucus in the gym at Walter Johnson Middle School, a woman trying to keep track of her two young daughters who had sprinted up the bleachers turned to no one and asked, “Why are we doing it this way? Why don’t we just vote like we normally do?” A few people around her chipped in with, “Yeah!” Yeah? A lot of Nevada voters and state lawmakers are asking that question. Milling around with the neighbors seems to many a barn-dance approach to selecting a party nominee, and even as the Democratic Party surpassed even the rosiest expectations with statewide turnout of 116,000 caucusers (28 percent of the party’s registered voters), State Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus is pursuing legislation to return the state to a presidential primary election.
She has support in Clark County. The Democratic Party’s chairman, John Hunt, said this week that he supports a primary over a caucus, but not because of the confusion that unfolded at many precincts because of the large turnout. “I think obviously the caucuses were a tremendous success, and the problems could be ironed out over time. The caucuses were a big party builder, they allowed us to register 30,000 new Democrats (on-site registration is allowed in caucuses but not in a primary election), so it worked really well for that purpose,” Hunt said. “But if you look at the bigger policy questions, I would favor a primary. The caucus disenfranchised members of the military, seniors (who could not make it to the tightly appointed caucusing time), people who are working might not be able to make it. You look at all those factors and a primary does allow for that right.” The argument against primaries is largely financial. Parties pay for caucuses (one reason why party reps pass a donation envelope around voting contingents before the count begins); state taxpayers pay for primaries. The Legislature would have to declare that the party would pay for primaries, too, but at the moment the state would be required to pay for that process for both parties.
The most recent Nevada primaries were conducted in 1980, when Jimmy Carter held off Ted Kennedy in the Democratic race and Ronald Reagan beat George H.W. Bush on the Republican side. After that race, state lawmakers decided to return responsibility and costs for primary voting to the respective parties, and today there is no effort from state Republicans to return to the primary system.
Hunt chuckled at the discussion of the method of voting now that the caucuses, during which the nation’s attention was focused on Nevada, have passed. “When Harry Reid, thank God, made sure our voice would be heard earlier in the process and would matter, nobody was having this discussion. Now we’re having it. But a primary would be much more fair.”
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The “what happens here, stays here” Vegas ad campaign slogan continues to surface, weirdly, across the country. Consider the story that the New York Times first reported, about how, two summers ago, Hillary Clinton suggested that a Congressional delegation visiting the Baltics conduct a vodka-drinking contest. Joining Clinton on that pilgrimage was John McCain, who swiftly rose to the challenge and, says the Times, “The after-dinner drinks went so well – memories are a bit hazy on who drank how much – that Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, later told people how unexpectedly engaging he found Mrs. Clinton to be.”
A few shots of Stoli will have that effect …
Anyway, a spokesman for Clinton, Philippe Reines, said he declined to elaborate on just how much was consumed and if any line dancing or bad karaoke ensued.
“What happens in Estonia stays in Estonia,” Reines said. Fun stuff. Save some of that material for the debates.
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A big move by a small shop that is worth noting, Anne Kellogg is shutting down her great stationary and gift boutique, Las Vegas Paper Doll, at the end of the month to work in PR for Las Vegas Art Museum. On the face of it, this is not good news for the already struggling Holsum Lofts design center on West Charleston Avenue, where every departing business is just another removal of a Jenga piece. But it is good news for LVAM, and also for my bank account, as Anne has usurped quite a few funds over the past couple of years.
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PL8 in my head: On a new VW Rabbit, PELLET.
Fabulous Las Vegas appears at this Web site. John Katsilometes, who also hosts Our Metropolis, a weekly issues and affairs show, each Tuesday at 6 p.m. on KUNV 91.5-FM, can be reached at 990-7720, 812-9812 or at [email protected]