Daily Glean: Sen. John Ensign, R-(insert right-wing and/or corporate special interest of your choice here)

• Sen. John Ensign, R-PromiseKeepers, says voting against the the bill to expand government-funded embryonic stem cell research will be just fine and dandy with voters, because he's going to vote for a couple other (less consequential) bills that will accompany the main one that Bush vows to veto. "I think it is very defensible, and I don’t think it will hurt anybody," Ensign says of his effort to triangulate churchy vigor and common sense. NYTimes
• Sen. John Ensign, R-National Rifle Association, says Rudy Giuliani not willing enough to kill to be president. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• Sen. John Ensign, R-Backbench, wants to be in the Senate leadership. For one thing, the Hair Do helpfully explains, he'd have more influence on issues that matter to Nevada, like Yucca Mountain (RGJ). We freely stipulate that the prospect of Ensign having influence on Yucca Mountain would certainly constitute a change.
• Sen. John Ensign, R-Telecom, is a "tech star," his party's "high-tech hotshot," the "tech wiz"  anchoring a Senate committee's "freedom corner" and playing a "center-stage role" in sweeping legislation that will ... make the word safe for big telecom corporations. LVSun
• What with unbridled chaos, er, freedom on the march in the Middle East, leave it to the Republican leadership in the House to set America's priorities straight. This week: The gay marriage thingy, and an absolutely delicious little item that would prohibit courts from even hearing cases that challenge the "under god" bidness in the Pledge of Allegiance. After all, if we take "under god" out of the Pledge, what's next, taking "in god we trust" off of our currency? Um, OK.
• Democrat Tessa Hafen, who is about to end the short and ignominious congressional career of Republican Jon Porter, has taken yet another action that stands in stark contrast to her opponent; she reportedly got married the other day. LVRJ
• Speaking of Porter, as expected, his recent fact-finding mission to the border failed to unearth a cohesive position on immigration. Yes, he voted for the mean House bill -- but he reiterates that he always thought that the Senate would take up more comprehensive reforms, and he supports the Senate bill, too (LVRJ). See, no waffling there! Just complete and total disconnection from his House Republican masters, who, unlike Porter, have been quite consistent; they want nothing whatsoever to do with the Senate bill. In Porter's defense, he probably hasn't been invited to the meetings where the House Republican leaders discuss these things. Oh, flippity-floppity, says Hafen, or words to that effect. The newlywed's campaign has cobbled together the disconnect between what Porter says about immigration and how he votes on the issue, by the by.
• Porter and Ensign, R-Corporate America, not unsurprisingly have more money than their opponents. Meantime, Democrat Jill Derby, the next representative from Nevada's second congressional district, rolls along, with over a half-million on hand. AP

Comments

[IronJawed]

I am depressed about Carter's cash-on-hand situation.

[CollegeStudent]

Is JP Coll campaigning to unseat the incumbet Jonny-R as Nevada's top political reporter?
Is he using the very same tactics the Democrats are in rural Nevada as he described in yesterdays article?
Did he he wear a sleek expensive suit in Goldfield?

[IronJawed]

College Student and Myrna, I wrote something for you. (Feel free to hit me back with some of your fun fact about Titus supporters, CS - I think this will be fun.)

Life according to Gibson supporters on the Gleaner (Beastie, CS, et al):

Gibson can’t possibly be held responsible for anything bad that happens in Henderson (including giving away land to Martell), but Dina Titus is responsible for every single thing that happens in the state legislature among her 62 colleagues.

Dina Titus is bad for convincing a Republican to switch parties (since when do we complain about that?!? Shouldn’t we want more Republicans to do the same?!?); but Gibson is well within his limits to donate $1,000 to Jon Porter, and thousands more to Republicans in the Nevada legislature, but still be considered a “true Democrat.”

Jim Gibson can say that women should not have the right to choose unless they have been victims of rape or incest, yet we can safely say he is pro-women's rights and pro-choice. In fact, Jim Gibson is the next Simone de Beauvoir.

Jim Gibson can back the Defense of Marriage Act and say those gays make us want to “recover from the onslaught on the traditional family” (an actual quote, )but still not be considered homophobic.

Gibson can propose to build coal-burning power plants in Nevada and have no actionable plan for renewable energy, but still be considered an “environmentalist.” Gibson can also take half a million dollars for his law firm, and propose to build coal-burning power plants, but still not be considered a shill for Nevada and Sierra Power.

[CollegeStudent]

Sorry IJ-
I won't succumb to silly generalizations as a way to marginalize your political opinions.
Have fun though.

[IronJawed]

Oh, CS. You are such a party pooper ;)

[IronJawed]

Jon Stewart had a funny news report on Ensign's Net Neutrality bill and Senator Steven's support of it.

Go here and click on "Dumptruck / Tube Symposium".

[Henry]

And a good morning to you IronJawed; how was your weekend?

Might as well respond to your obtuse assertions:

The Marnell project isn't bad for Henderson, actually it is quite good. You see Ms. Springer, a 2 billion dollar project not only generates revenues for the city to continue to build parks, new police and fire substations, but also creates thousands of new jobs within the community. In other words the Marnell project will perpetuate and ensure Henderson residents enjoy the quality of life and safety they have grown accustom to under Mayor Gibson. Selling Marnell the land at a price above the going rate to provide said benefits, is good government in action.

Dina Titus isn't bad for convincing switching Republicans to switch parties, just smart. And for that same reason, Jim Gibson, acting as the Mayor of Henderson with no intention of running for Governor, wasn't bad for donating to Jon Porter's campaign. Should he have donated to Dario?

I don't know if any politician would fit into the miniscule box you have defined as "pro-women." Certainly Constadina Titus wouldn't; this is the same woman who actively campaign for Bob Miller (who holds the same views on abortion as Jim Gibson) over Jan Jones, and said "abortion is a non-issue the Governors race." Did Constadina live up to your "pro-woman's rights" definition then?

So I guess this still begs the question Deb; WAS DINA TITUS PRO-WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS WHEN SHE WAS CAMPAIGNING FOR BOB MILLER?

[IronJawed]

Was Gibson pro-women's rights when he was campaigning for Ronald Reagan?

[CollegeStudent]

Couldn't tell ya IJ, I was -3 and 1 when Reagan was running.
But hey do you think Dina can win in the rurals?
Check this out:
http://www.rural-view.com/

[Henry]

How about we angage in a dialogue like normal humans; you ask a question, I'll respond to your question, and then ask one of my own. You see Deb, the question mark is your que to respond.

Which leaves us where we left off: WAS DINA TITUS PRO-WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS WHEN SHE WAS ACTIVELY CAMPAIGNING FOR BOB MILLER (the same Bob Miller who holds identical abortion views as Jim Gibson)? <---There it is Deb; ready, set, answer the question!

[IronJawed]

Settle down Henry. No need to use all-caps.

Well, first you should ask her that question. I can't really speak for her. But, I'm guessing that she was herself pro-choice while campaigning for Bob Miller. So, yes, she was pro-women's rights.

Gibson on the other hand, has never been pro-choice. As a result, many would say that he has never been pro-women's rights.

Why is this one issue so important to you? I don't think you are going to convince anyone here that Gibson has magically become a women's libber... You may want to look into some other issues with which you can back up your guy.

Sorry Henry, but I have to leave for the rest of the day. Have fun in Gleanerland.

[Beastie]

IJ-
I am reposting this since you chose to ignore it and then still try to bring up Marnell.

Why does Dina continuously lie about Jim Gibson? And since we are on the subject why does Hugh Jack-Ass lie about Gibson, oh wait nevermind, he it Titus' little bitch boy, that's why.

You still never answered me about the city of Las Vegas selling a 5.4 acre parcel of land for below FMV. This parcel is in an industrial area downtown, and is worth far more than $9 1/2 mil, it is estimated to be worth about $20 - $25 mil. The reason for this is like Oscar said, for the city, unlike the private sector "sometimes money is not the only object." Another qoute from the Sun's story "So, $1.75 million is probably on the low side, but you have to sell it to somebody at a price where they can still get a project done. You sell it for a little bit of a discount, but you get something done."

Why would the city do this? Because it is a great project for the city, will bring jobs, revitalize an area of the city, and will eventually bring in tax revenue for the city. Sounds a lot like Marnell's project in Henderson. I am glad that people like Mayor Goodman and Mayor Gibson have the foresight to see things like these, unlike Titus. This is just an example of how badly Titus would hurt our economy.

One more thing, Marnell paid FMV for his land, not less than half like this developer in Vegas did. According to Titus and her brilliant supporters, Goodman must be on the take. This is why developers don't give money to Titus, she would cripple economic devlpt in this state.

[UpNorth]

"I am depressed about Carter's cash-on-hand situation." -IJ

I agree that I was disappointed too. I thought all these fundraisers in New York, LA, and DC were going to bring in a lot more money.

The Carter campaign will be a test for the Dems' new neighbor to neighbor strategy where voter moblization will matter more than money.

Of course a little more help from Sen Reid(D-Ensign) would be nice. It would also be nice to see some comments thinking of ways to boost the Carter campaign rather than the constant Titus v. Gibson comment war that has dirtied the threads for the past couple of weeks. I'm pretty sure everyone who reads this blog has made up his/her mind and it will be a lot easier for College Student and IJ to work to defeat the Republican if they don't piss each other off now.

[Sr. Bojangles]

Carter's cash is not the problem.

I want him to win, a lot. But after meeting him a couple of times and seeing the direction his campaign is taking, I'm going to have to say that he is not going to wake up the many half-asleep voters in this state with a discussion on values (yawn).
This isn't Georgia 1970, where his father, Jimmy (moment of silent respect) ran on values in the rural parts and pulled a gubernatorial victory.
In this day and age he's going to have to turn up the volume and turn up the heat on the rhetoric to get noticed. At least talk about gas/renewable energy/energy policy or something a little confrontational. Point out Ensign's Bush friendly voting record. Frown and say the country is heading in the wrong direction because of it, or something.
Please Jackie, Please!

[Susan Nunes]

I agree Carter needs to make some changes in his campaign while he can.

Why isn't he using his father in generating more money? Certainly this guy has the connections, better connections than virtually anybody else in the country, and he's not doing it.

Meanwhile, Ensign is going around the country trying to help Republican incumbents in tighter races than his own.

This guy, Ensign, deserves to get whipped, and it makes me mad Democrats are once again falling down on the job.

[IronJawed]

I'm back early! My dreaded meetings weren't as long as planned.

Of course you are right, UpNorth. I shouldn't bait arguments about Titus/Gibson. I just had to get those last (poorly typed and grammatically dubious) thoughts off my chest. It was a bit belated, true. But it was fun while it lasted... sigh

As for Carter, I think his strategy of "concentrating on the rurals" simply will not get him the votes he needs to beat Ensign. This race will be a numbers game, and the numbers are here in Clark County.

[IBlogOnMyspace]

What's the point in any of this argument? Everyone sees the ads, everyone reads the "facts" on both sides of the aisle. At the end of the day it just comes down to who you feel more personally inclined to. If it's Titus, good for you. If it's Jimbo, that's great. Just remember that we're dealing with politicians... nobody's record is perfect, and every record is prone to attack.

[Dee Holzel]

Carter is concentrating on the rurals? Really? Is that the NSDP's definition of rurals (north Las Vegas) 'cause we haven't seen a lot of him north of Highway 50.

Dee Holzel
Winnemucca

[IronJawed]

IBlogOnMyspace,

We do it mostly for our own amusement.

[CollegeStudent]

IBOM-This may be one of the few times I am compelled to agree with IJ.

[Chris Wedge]

Dee, I have personally been to Fernley, Fallon, and Elko with the Carters. The Rural Road Tour is going to Tonapah, Hawthorne, Austin, Eureka, Ely, Wells, West Wendover, Battle Mountain, Lovelock, Fernley, and Yerington. Jack will be in Winnemucca at Fifties Fever on Friday the 28th. He has also been to Parumph, Alamo, Moapa, Mesquite and he is going to Panaca on Friday. To Name a Few.

[IronJawed]

Chris, will Carter be concentrating on Clark County after the primary?

Geez! I should get paid for that kind of alliteration.

[CollegeStudent]

Instead you get paid for exageration and illusion.

(sorry-I couldn't help myself)