* A late-July Siena poll of Republican voters shows Donald Trump with a solid base of 37% with another 25% being solid “non-Trump” voters. The problem there is that those non-Trump voters are splitting their support among various other candidates.
* Of greater interest is the 37% who identified as “persuadable.”
* That includes voters who have supported Trump in the past but are open to an alternative this time around. And it’s THAT 37% the challengers to Trump need to corral and unite behind their candidacy if they’re to have any shot at wrangling the nomination from the former president.
* Uphill climb, but not impossible. No one knows what’s going to happen over the next six months. There could well be an unexpected September Surprise, October Surprise, November Surprise or December Surprise before the year is out and voting begins.
* If you needed any more proof that the Nevada Republican Party is being led and advised by morons, may I present Central Committee member and key adviser to the party chairman, Rob Tyree.
* After publishing my my take-down of the Nevada GOP’s insane decision to hold a competing presidential “caucus” - in which convention delegates will be selected - two days after the state’s official primary, Short Cake tweeted…
“Let me get this straight, @ChuckMuth. You're actually suggesting Republicans should ‘TRUST’ NV SOS Aguilar (D) & Joe Gloria (D) to fairly & accurately oversee the nomination of the Repub presidential candidate? Really? Great Idea! What could possibly go wrong!”
* Robby’s apparently never learned the wisdom that it’s better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. My response…
“Let me get this straight, @RobTyree1. You're suggesting Republicans should ‘TRUST’ you as a leader of the Nevada GOP to hold a presidential caucus when you don't even know Joe Gloria has been retired for over 7 months? Really? Great idea! What could possibly go wrong?”
* And, hey, if Robby and the Nevada GOP don’t trust that the Republican presidential primary can be conducted fairly and accurately by the Secretary of State and the Clark County Registrar of Voters (Lorena Portillo, by the way, not Joe Gloria) to oversee the nomination of the Republican presidential candidate in February, then…
* …why are they still using the same primary system to oversee the nomination of all it’s other candidates for down-ballot races in the June primary? Why don’t they hold a nominating caucus/convention for local and state races like the Libertarian Party and Independent American Party do?
* What a hypocritical boob. Talk about a gang that can’t shoot straight.
* Speaking of insanity, the City of Las Vegas took another one in the shorts on Monday when District County Judge Anna Albertson ruled that the owner of the shuttered Badlands Golf Course was entitled to “fair market value of 65 acres of land” that was illegally taken from the developer.
* The appraised value of the land is $141 million. Combined with two previous losses by two separate judges of $48 million for a parcel of 17 acres and $35 million for another 35 acres, city taxpayers are now on the hook for over $223 million, not counting interest and attorney fees.
* Worse, there’s still a fourth case out there for a much larger parcel of 133 acres which the city almost surely will also lose. That could put the damages owed by taxpayers, thanks to the city council’s bungling of this issue, to close to half a million dollars!
* Las Vegas City Councilwoman Victoria Seaman – also a candidate for mayor next year – has been calling on her colleagues to settle this issue. With this latest court decision, Seaman rightfully describes the situation as “financial Armageddon.”
* Nevertheless, the council voted last week to spend an additional $1.5 million on lawyers to foolishly keep fighting the developer in court. Talk about throwing good money after bad. You can’t fix stupid.
* More dumb to come…
* Dana Gentry of the Nevada Current reports that local governments in southern Nevada are being asked to pony up over $2 million in public money “to help fund a three-day Super Bowl weekend, including a suite at Allegiant Stadium for the big game, for at least eight CEOs who may want to do business in Southern Nevada someday.”
* The estimated cost for the game-day suite alone next February is $1.24 million.
* Gentry notes that “Critics say the effort is a taxpayer-funded Super Bowl party cloaked as economic development.” But Mary Beth Sewald of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce declares “It’s not about having a suite and partying with CEOs.”
* Even though it’s about…having a suite and partying with CEOs.
* Meanwhile, Democrats recently killed a proposal by Gov. Lombardo to use $3 million in unspent COVID funds to restore cuts to the state’s Opportunity Scholarship program for low-income, minority students.
* I guess having a luxury VIP suite at next year’s Super Bowl and partying with CEO’s is more important than the education of low-income, minority students.
* Global warming cultists have blamed global warming for the drought that’s been draining Lake Mead for the last few years. But yesterday it was reported that the lake’s level is up some 20 feet this summer.
* Does this mean global warming was never really the problem? Or that the global warming scare is over? Global warming cultists say no to both. So the propaganda will continue.
* Go Henderson All Stars. Bring back the Little League World Series trophy!
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“I ran into a Southwest Airlines mask nazi flight attendant a couple of years ago. He was berating me before I even sat down in my seat because my mask was below my nose. It probably didn't help that I was wearing my MAGA hat that day. I am not a rabid Trump fan, but I wear the hat to annoy liberals. The interesting thing is that the only responses I have ever had on flights has been a thumbs up from a passenger or flight attendant.” – Paul Johnson, Carson City
Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views, and founder of CampaignDoctor.com. You can sign up for his conservative, Nevada-focused e-newsletter at MuthsTruths.com. His views are his own.