(Ron Futrell) – The main question in the US Senate primary seems to be, “just find the person who can beat Reid, and I’ll vote for him/her.” We’ve been told in the polls that the “bellman at Bally’s” beats Reid 2-1 so why not just pick a person at random, throw her/him up there and just sit back and watch?
Well—there are plenty of problems with that scenario.
First, if anybody thinks Reid will be easy to beat, they are delusional. He is a brutal campaigner and like the wounded junk yard dog protecting its property, Reid will not go down without a vicious fight. I’m not being critical of Reid, everybody knows this is what it is.
Second, if supposedly anybody can win, why not pick the best candidate with the best KNOWN conservative record? Somebody we can count on who votes as a conservative every time and won’t turn RINO on us?
I say to win this race, and turn this seat conservative (for perhaps a generation); you need the best combination of a candidate who wins elections and votes as a conservative. That’s why when my longtime friend Chad Christensen called me, I jumped on board.
I’ve known Chad’s family forever and he has been my Assemblyman for nearly the entire 8 years he has been in the State Legislature. Danny Tarkanian and Sue Lowden have been my friends just as long. 26 years I’ve known this trio. I’ve met Sharon Angle and John Chachas more recently, but they all seem to be nice enough and I’d take any of them over Harry Reid. That’s not a tough choice.
BTW, I’ve known Reid for just as long as I’ve known Christensen, Tarkanian and Lowden—perhaps that’s part of the reason I’m so disappointed in what he’s become, especially his last few years in office.
First, the elephant in the room: the money.
Chachas and Lowden have the cash. One argument I have heard in their favor is that since Reid will have $25 million, we need the person with the most money to win this primary. This doesn’t make sense. On June 8th, each of the Republicans will have spent all their money they were going to spend in the primary. Their balance sheets will be zero (perhaps even minus zero).
On June 9th the cash will begin pouring in to the winner, by the millions and millions. Money will not be a problem for the winner of this primary at that point. The bellman at Bally’s would end up with $20 million+ to take on Reid if he/she won the primary.
I do think a proven conservative candidate would raise more money for the general election, but that’s another issue.
Also, heaven help us if Republicans just vote for the person with the most money to win elections. I don’t think Republicans do that, they vote on values and principles. Sometimes big money can hang like a noose over a neck. You need it to win—but as I mentioned before, money will not be a problem in beating Reid, and remember, beating Reid is what we will all be focused on June 9th.
I want somebody with a history of winning elections taking on Reid.
Perhaps part of the reason Angle, Lowden and Tarkanian have not caught fire in 9 months of campaigning is that the public knows their history in elections. It’s not pretty.
Angle and Tarkanian have both lost their last two general elections, Sue hasn’t won in nearly two decades, the unions took her out in her last election and they will be back with a vengeance if she wins the primary. Every Republican candidate in the state will have to deal with a passionate Democrat/union electorate if Lowden wins the primary. These are facts, not petty partisan bashing. We need to analyze these candidates like adults without getting personal.
2008 was a tough year for Republicans in Nevada, a lot of great Republicans got smacked around pretty hard in that election. Along with the State Party left in ruins, Bob Beers, Joe Heck and Jon Porter were flattened by the Obama Wave. It was not a pleasant sight.
One Republican survived in a Democrat district that went 10 points in Obama’s favor in ’08. Chad Christensen.
This was no small feat to win as a Constitutional conservative in a district that went big for Obama. How did that happen? Chad wins. He is a tireless grass-roots campaigner who connects with voters. Winning the largest district in the state for 4 consecutive elections, in this current political environment, is no small task.
The 13th Assembly District has nearly 14% of the voting population in the state, so a lot of people have been punching Chad’s name in ballot boxes in this state for a long time. Democrat and Republican. Any other candidate in this race would love to have Christensen’s record in elections. We need somebody who wins elections to take on Reid.
Voting record is also something Chad likes to talk about.
How do we know what the other candidates will do when they get to Washington DC? They love talking about what they plan to do when they get there, but other than Sharon Angle (2006 is when she left office and lost her two subsequent elections) we have no recent record with any of these candidates.
Chad’s record is as current as the Special Session in February when he voted once again against a tax increase. Any of the other candidates in this race would love to have Chad’s current voting record. Chad has an 8 year history of a voting as a Constitutional conservative that he can point to. That is priceless. I’ll take that over the money any day.
This explains why the other candidates in this race spend so much time bashing Reid. Believe me, there is plenty to go after with Reid. It seems like it releases endorphins and I understand why candidates do that. But, bashing Reid only takes you so far.
Chad Christensen can do that as well as anybody, but there will be plenty of time to go after Reid. Perhaps some other candidates in this race bash Reid because they have no other story to tell about themselves. They don’t want to talk about their record in elections, or they do not have a record as a conservative voter. Take your pick.
Chad tells voters why they vote for him, and not just why they vote against Reid. Call me crazy, but I prefer to vote for a candidate instead of against a candidate. I believe Republicans feel the same. We voted for John McCain because we were voting against Barack Obama. Where did that get us?
If Chad is fortunate enough to win this primary, I would vote for him in November because I know he will do in DC what he has done in Carson City. I like that idea. It’s a message of true hope and optimism for Republicans, instead of just settling for a candidate because they run slick TV ads or got in the race earlier. Chad Christensen is the best candidate to beat Reid, period.
Another point that is not insignificant. Chad speaks fluent Spanish.
This is a major base that Reid has worked for 24 years. Chad is the only candidate in this race who has a chance to take that away. Other candidates have their Hispanic Outreach. Christensen is his own Hispanic Outreach.
For years Nevadan’s have asked how we get the socially conservative Hispanic voters to the Republican Party….well….Chad could be that connection. It is powerful to have a candidate speak to Hispanic voters across the state in their language, without pandering to them on immigration issues. Fellow Republicans across the state wouldn’t mind the support extra Republicans on the rolls would bring to their races as well.
Bottom line, Chad is not “late to this race”, as some have said. I would ask, “have you voted yet?” The election is June 8th, so nobody is “late.” It’s time to take a fresh look at the candidates in this race and not just accept the media template that has been handed us because other candidates have been called the “front-runners” because they’ve been in the race longer. Too much is at stake here.
I want the best candidate to beat Reid, and the guy I know will not go RINO on us in DC. It’s nice to have that in one guy.
(Mr. Futrell is the communications director for the Christensen campaign)
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