During the presidential candidate debates last weekend, there was an issue (if it can be called that) that showed up in both Republican and Democratic debates.

In the Republican debate, moderator Charles Gibson asked the following question (if it can be called that) of Rudolph Giuliani: more... »

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After New Hamphire, candidates reinforce Nevada operations.   http://www.nytimes.com

 

Richardson says, On to the west.   http://www.boston.com

 

Where the Republican presidential candidates stand on Nevada issues.   http://www.newsreview.com

 

Where the Democratic presidential candidates stand on Nevada issues   http://www.newsreview.com

 

New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, who formerly said, “I’m watching Michigan. I’m watching Nevada,” now says, “It’s all Michigan”.   http://www.mlive.com

 

The Unification Church newspaper in D.C. takes a look at the “often forgotten” Nevada caucuses.   http://www.washingtontimes.com

 

Scripps Howard columnist Kate Nash is impatient with Governor Bill Richardson’s failure to close the deal in Nevada.   http://www.scrippsnews.com

 

New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner is getting more and more attention, including two feature stories in the Washington Post. His office is granted the sole authority to determine the date of the state’s primary, including the power to move the date back as far as he wishes to retain its first-in-the-nation primacy. “I’m watching Michigan. I’m watching Nevada,” he says.   www.washingtonpost.com

 

 

The Chicago Tribune reports that even some in New Hampshire, the nation’s first primary state, say the presidential nominating system “can’t continue this way”. The state’s GOP chair says, “If we started out with a blank sheet of paper, no one would come out with the system we now have.” www.chicagotribune.com

 

 

Whether the Nevada Democratic caucuses realize the hope of boosting minority voices in the presidential nominating process is far from certain, Jay Jones reports in the Reno News and Review. “It’s not something that can happen from one day to the next. These efforts to register people to vote—to educate them, to mobilize them—you need a lot of money, you need a lot of people, and you need a lot of patience, as well.”

www.newsreview.com

 

 

A former Oregon state legislator argues that the premise under which the Democratic Party moved Nevada’s caucuses back—that the early states have a disproportionate voice in selecting the presidential nominees—is flawed: “Since 1952, in races where no sitting president or vice president was involved, more than half the time winning New Hampshire didn’t lead to the nomination. Just ask Paul Tsongas, Gary Hart, Ed Muskie or Estes Kefauver (twice). Iowa is similar, where Muskie, Gary Hart, Tom Harkin and ‘uncommitted’ each won.”

http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article

 

 

Just over the border from the first primary, Boston Globe columnist Charles Euchner writes that “As earnest as Iowans and New Hampshirites may be, they are no better than voters from Rhode Island or Nevada, Vermont or California, Florida or Washington. … No state deserves to determine the range of choices for everyone else, year after year.” He suggests an NBA-style draft of states would do a better job.

www.boston.com

 

 

Three of the Democratic presidential candidates naively took Hillary Clinton’s word for it that she would not campaign in the Michigan primary, so—ignoring the “trust, but verify” rule—they took their names off the ballot there and their Nevada campaign leaders now are upset that Clinton failed to do the same.

www.mlive.com

 

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On Thursday this week, if leaked reports are to be believed, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will speak at the Bush Library to explain his religion to the public. more... »

Last week’s debate in Las Vegas among the Democratic presidential candidates ended on a particularly low note:

Cable News Network host Wolf Blitzer: “Maria, would you stand, please? Give us your full name.”

Maria Parra Sandoval: “Maria Parra Sandoval, and I'm a UNLV student. And my question is for Senator Clinton. This is a fun question for you. Do you prefer diamonds or pearls?” more... »

On July 12, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson strolled along B Street in downtown Sparks, shaking hands and chatting with vendors and residents. Then he encountered Cheryl Huett of Washoe Valley, who had a booth where she sold Goodi's Fresh Squeezed Lemonade. She took more of an interest in more... »

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At the forum for Democratic presidential candidates in Carson City a few days ago, as the candidates finished the on-stage interviews with moderator George Stephanopoulos, most of them stepped into a different part of the building for a “media availability” – a press conference with waiting reporters. more... »

            Last week Hillary Clinton’s campaign distributed a two-page news release that was 627 words long (and was principally an attack on Barack Obama). more... »

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Last week a story appeared in newspapers that probably seemed to most readers to be the ultimate inside-baseball kind of story that politics produces. South Carolina's Republican Party announced it would hold its presidential primary on Jan. 19, 2008, an earlier-than-planned date. more... »

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 If the Democratic National Committee approves a recommendation that Nevada be thrown into the early rush of presidential primaries and caucuses, the state will have an enhanced role in picking the next president compared to its previous role, which was none. How could anyone argue with that? more... »