Questions in the Nevada Senate Race
[Guest post by DRJ]
Nevadan Jon Scott Ashjian has filed as a Tea Party candidate seeking the seat of Senator Harry Reid. Some Nevada Republicans fear he may be a Tea Party fake:
“It’s a grass-roots protest movement composed of the newly politicized and people distrustful of hierarchy. So how is it possible to be an illegitimate Tea Party member?
Ask Republicans in Nevada. Some are accusing Jon Scott Ashjian, a new Tea Party candidate running for U.S. Senate, of being a fake. The allegation? He was put in the race by agents of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to siphon votes from the GOP.
“No doubt about it,” says Danny Tarkanian, one of the many Republican Senate candidates hoping to challenge Reid in November.
“Nobody in the Tea Party knows who he is. He didn’t know any of the principles of the Tea Party,” Tarkanian tells CNN.”
Ashjian’s presence in the race concerns Republicans because a recent Nevada poll shows Reid would win with a Tea Party candidate in the race:
“It’s clear why Lowden and Tarkanian would be concerned. A recent poll conducted for the Las Vegas Review-Journal indicates Lowden and Tarkanian each beating Reid in one-on-one hypothetical general election matchups. But add a Tea Party candidate to the ballot, and that siphons off enough conservative votes to give Reid a narrow victory. According to the survey, Reid would grab 36 percent of the vote, the Republican candidate 32 percent and the Tea Party candidate 18 percent in a possible three-way showdown.
So the conspiracy theories abound from Tea Party activists and worried Republicans: Ashjian’s never attended Tea Party rallies; he hasn’t coordinated with local organizers; the secretary of his Tea Party of Nevada, Barry Levinson, is a registered Democrat. Levinson said, “I vote the person, not the party” and calls the accusations “political garbage.”
Real or not, Ashjian’s campaign is getting off to a rocky start due to complaints about his business and reports of a pending lien, although he got a nice write-up in the Reid-friendly Las Vegas Sun.
The Nevada News Bureau also points out an unfortunate but comic oversight: Ashjian’s campaign URL apparently belongs to someone who isn’t a fan.
— DRJ
“So the conspiracy theories abound from Tea Party activists”
They really only needed to write this.
imdw (05d41e) — 3/12/2010 @ 5:09 amImd-liar, Glad to see you recognize a professional lie when you read it. Too bad you can’t stiffle your own lies.
Harry Reid needs to be retired, and not collect unemployment. The TEA party and the GOP in Nevada ought to sit down and unite against Reid. The problem I have with GOP leadership is that they are usually from Rockefeller/country club wing and are as bad as RINOs and liberal Democrats.
PCD (1d8b6d) — 3/12/2010 @ 5:13 amAs a member in semi-good standing of our local TEA party, I can attest that none of us has committed to a run for office. Rather we said we will support anyone running that shows by example the conservative/semi-libertarian principles we hold. I smell a DemocRAT false flag operation.
GM Roper (6afe02) — 3/12/2010 @ 5:14 amPotentially “36% of the vote”.
Mandate Baby!!!
Techie (43d092) — 3/12/2010 @ 5:31 amWhat does a panic – stricken Dem party look like? Right here – these amateur theatrics are fooling no one, and whether it’s the lame – o “coffee parties” or the SEIU – funded Tea Partiers, they’re all going to be found out shortly and taken down. Here’s a novel thought – how about running on an actual platform?
Dmac (ca1d8c) — 3/12/2010 @ 6:43 amThis is a great example of why the Tea Party shouldn’t go the third party route. It’s also a great argument for them developing a real organization to stop sleazy Democrats from profiting from the Tea Party brand. I still think that the Republicans should run a Coffee Party shill that thinks Reid is too conservative.
FatBaldnSassy (9520fd) — 3/12/2010 @ 9:24 amThis is straight out of the Dick Tuck “Handbook of Dirty Political Tricks”(sic).
AD - RtR/OS! (597a8f) — 3/12/2010 @ 11:35 amComment by PCD — 3/12/2010 @ 5:13 am
Harry is thankful for the changes that have been seen in Las Vegas in particular, and Nevada generally.
AD - RtR/OS! (597a8f) — 3/12/2010 @ 11:37 amRetirement in the old days was a hole in the desert.
Never forget hearing Harry on our local radio morning gab fest – Armstrong and Getty – humping his new-at-the-time book and talking about how the movie “Casino” was “his story”… he was the man responsible for running the Mob out of Las Vegas. The show’s two hosts couldn’t contain their disbelief and their snickering.
[note: fished from spam filter. — Stashiu]
GeneralMalaise (d63092) — 3/12/2010 @ 11:52 amReid is a ” ‘hole in the desert”.
GeneralMalaise (d63092) — 3/12/2010 @ 11:54 amI would have no problem with this bonehead collecting unemployment checks for 99 weeks if he would get away from the nation’s business. A nasty nasty person.
I feel terrible for his family’s accident and am bracing for a lot of over the top exploiting of the tragedy for health care and reelection.
This TEA party gambit will fail and probably even backfire. I’m glad. Perhaps that will reduce the chances of it being used to Perot the 2012 race.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 3/12/2010 @ 12:05 pmThe tea party should not have become the Tea Party. When are people going to learn? Yeah, it may feel good to be uncompromising, and vote your ideals, but in the end you just help elect the candidate furthest removed from your ideals.
norcal (1e08da) — 3/12/2010 @ 12:15 pmIt seems that the only “organized” Tea Parties are astro-turf such as this one in Las Vegas, put together by a Liberal Democrat, who is very pro Big-Government.
AD - RtR/OS! (597a8f) — 3/12/2010 @ 12:26 pmLong-time reader, rare commenter.
Is there not enough aggravation in this world? imdw, please go find somewhere else to play.
em (017d3c) — 3/12/2010 @ 12:36 pmnorcal, the tea party didn’t become the Tea Party.
That’s the problem. One is a legit grassroots organization, and the other, completely independent, is an astroturf attempt to fool people. The tea party is far, far, far from uncompromising. Scott Brown = realizing a huge impact by electing a supposed RINO. I think most tea partiers are happy to elect anyone who is willing to reduce the scope and size and bloat of government. Democrat, Republican, whoever.
but a lot of Ron Paulians and democrats will exploit the name, and I’m delighted that this initial effort is going to backfire and hopefully reduce the chances it’s employed more cleverly in 2012.
anyway, don’t fault the real deal for the not being able to prevent this kind of crap.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 3/12/2010 @ 12:40 pmem, you’re attempting to appeal to an individual who has nothing in their life of any value or worth, thus they come here to express their stupidity ad infinitum. I have asked the commenter hundreds of times regarding their purpose in coming here, day after day, mouthing their reflexive pathologies – but no answer has ever been offered.
Dmac (ca1d8c) — 3/12/2010 @ 3:15 pm