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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

A Note to Danny Tarkanian

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  May 19th, 2010 at 06:38 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

I’ve said that I intend to check poll numbers about two weeks from the California election to see if I think conservatives should stay with Chuck DeVore or switch to Carly Fiorina.

It is looking more and more like the answer will be that Fiorina should drop out. If the goal is to beat Tom Campbell in the primary, all the polling shows a DeVore drop out will help Campbell and DeVore outperforms Fiorina against Boxer.

But I intend to be consistent. I’ve expressed my concerns about Sharon Angle in the general election, but will say again how much I like the lady and how much I really think she would be so much better both against Reid and in the Senate compared to Sue Lowden.

Polling is showing Sharon Angle has the momentum. I’d love to stick with Danny Tarkanian, but if he is not going in the right direction, unlike in California where Chuck DeVore is the only acceptable conservative for conservatives, Sharon Angle is a perfectly acceptable conservative in Nevada — in fact, truth be told, she’s probably a more hard core conservative than even Danny.

So while I think Danny may have a greater chance of not imploding against Reid, Danny v. Sharon in the primary means Sue Lowden gets the nomination and I find that more unacceptable than Fiorina getting the nomination in California.

If I’m going to be consistent in trying to get the viable conservative elected, the rule must apply in Nevada too and that means you should not be surprised if very soon I’m urging everyone to get onboard Sharon Angle’s campaign bus.

We must beat Harry Reid, but we need a real conservative to do it.

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COMMENTS

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  • rrreaganite

    Tarkanian is a stronger general election candidate and is as strong a conservative. The point is to find viable conservatives and I think that Angle’s mouth and sketchy associations would become the issue in the campaign, rather than Harry Reid’s terrible record.

  • trt1

    I was asking you why you weren’t even mentioning Angle in a previous piece…maybe a week ago or so. I’ve been worried about this one knowing that Angle is the more proven conservative…and knowing the conservatives running as conservatives win elections. However, NV is a state that I haven’t studied much in the past…so wasn’t willing to overstep my lack of local knowledge. Thanks for keeping us informed on this one. Cheers!

  • NeoKong

    ” No no…you’re not fired. In fact we have a new job for you. It involves training this new guy to do a job very similar to yours and then cleaning out your office”

  • Hugh

    “high class problems”.
    In Nevada we have two candidates that would make great conservative senators. Both can’t win. The problem is if they fight to the “death” of the other the third much less desirable candidate may win. It is nice to have both of them. We need both of them. One of them needs to find another race so we can have both in office.

    In California we also have two candidates that we could support. If both continue we may lose both of them. One also needs to find another race.

    One of the candidates in each race needs to read the tea leaves and do what is best for our country rather continue for now. They will find our support will be greater in a different race and we will all be better for their patriotism. We must not lose sight of our ultimate goal which is to save our country from Progressives/Socialists.

  • peg_c

    He endorsed Angle weeks ago (something he does very infrequently – endorsing anyone) and gave me pause. Now I understand.

    When Mark and Erick both endorse a candidate, that seals the deal. Sorry, Danny…

  • peg_c

    She is very impressive.

  • crassus

    Why does anyone think she is a bad general election candidate. Because the fact is, in Nevada, the general election is the most important- Reid must be defeated.

  • crassus

    Why does anyone think she is a bad general election candidate. Because the fact is, in Nevada, the general election is the most important- Reid must be defeated.

  • rrreaganite

    Believe me, she is a conservative, I get that and agree with her on the issues. However, she has really odd things in her background such as a disparate affinity for Scientology. This is Harry Reid, a seat we must win and he will have unlimited funding to attack his opponent. His only chance is by making it personal and Angle’s skeletons make her an easy target. Tarkanian is just as conservative without the baggage.

  • KevinM

    if Nevada didn’t include Clark County (where Las Vegas and most of the population is) she would “vaporize” Harry Reid, but unfortunately, it does. Yes, Sharron Angle’s credentials are top notch, but when you add in Clark County, electability in the general election becomes a consideration. I’m inclined to think that Sue Lowden has an edge there. As I stated above, Sharron Angle is the “perfect conservative”, but Sue Lowden comes close too. She’s no RINO.

    What I think is unfortunate, is that most, if not all of the Republican candidates are reasonably solid, it’s too bad that they all chose to run for Harry Reid’s seat. Regardless of the outcome in June’s primary, we will have a winner in November.

  • rightonredstate

    Just wow, sketchy. Tark takes the lead on sketchy

    Tarkanian is facing a $14 million dollar foreclosure from the FDIC. How was he planning on running a general with this massive disaster? Tark keeps telling all that he is a real estate executive, well, he appears to be a bad one.

    checkout this story:
    http://www.nevadanewsbureau.com/2010/05/12/fdic-v-tarkanian-et-al-to-move-to-u-s-district-court/

    I was seriously considering Tark, just as redstate was, but that is gone. Tark needs to come clean on this foreclosure. Nevadans deserve better.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    “Sketchy” is a lazy smear for people with an agenda.

    Get lost if you can’t post better than this.

  • bobhastings

    Erick -

    Your reasoning for moving away from Tarkanian and to Angle is complete garbage. It is obvious you are not trying to endorse the candidate who you believe is the best but the candidate that you feel can put a notch in your belt saying “I supported the winner”. With reasoning like that you can be the next Chuck Muth (and that is NOT a compliment).

  • bobhastings

    Angle will fold under the $25 million Reid machine. She will not fight. She will sit back with that smile and try to use the same tired sound bites. Sure they work great at rallies but there is little in the way of substance. As Erick said, Tarkanian is the one who has the guts and strength (witout the Lowden baggage) who can stand up against Reid.

  • bobhastings

    Angle will lose to Reid by 8-10% point. She does not have what it takes to FIGHT. Sad but true.

  • bobhastings

    My wife and I were with Angle at the Douglas Co. Lincoln Day Dinner. We made the mistake of asking where Amodei was (he was still in the race). She went off. She called Amodei “Lazy”, “Nothing but an entertainer” and “Not a real politician”. Then she persoanally attacked Tarkanian and then Lowden. None of it was based on issues. It was all personal. We sent her a letter asking for an apology but have been ignored. Add that to the Scientology stuff and you start to see a very odd person.

    I wonder what she thinks about Amodei being the state GOP chairman? – LOL

  • greatbasinconservative

    … Tarkanian *says* he is a strong conservative, but we only have his word on that, since he has no record to back it up. We have been burned too many times by candidates who run *on* the right in the primary, then run *from* the right in the general. I, for one, am not willing to take that chance; the job of U.S. Senator is too important.

    Sharron Angle has a proven track record of putting principle *before* party. Any baggage she has is minimal – someone mentioned something about Scientology – I hadn’t heard that before, but I don’t think that would stop anyone from casting a vote for her in the general. Democrats don’t care, and Republicans won’t vote for Harry anyway. And she’s a lot tougher than some here think!

    I’m glad to see that Erick has come to his senses and is backing the RIGHT candidate!

  • vinick

    Anyone who doesn’t think Reid’s machine is going to dig up dirt on Angle is crazy…that scientology stuff is downright bizarre. I prefer Lowden though…Tarkanian couldn’t win a state senate seat or the secretary of state job…sounds like a perennial also-ran. Lowden has at least won an election before.

  • bobhastings

    Lowden gets caught lying to the RGJ adout a vote that never actually happened.

    Lowden talks about “chicken for Checkup” and doubles dow and defends it. Then claims she is misquoted.

    Lowden states her bus is a donation. Then its a lease. Then her attorney sayd she’s not on the title. Then she is on the title.

    Yes – she is the upstanding politician we want representing Nevada.

    Vote Tarkanian.

  • rrreaganite

    I agree with your characterization of my use of the word “sketchy”; I suppose I was being too vague and intellectually weak. What I am referring to is her overall temperament and her association with Scientology. When we have multiple strong conservatives in a race, we should vote for the most viable one and to me that is Tark. I just think that Sharron would be proned to gaffes and then Harry Reid would tear her apart with his millions. There is no doubt that she is a conservative who I probably agree with on almost all the issues. My only “agenda” is to elect conservatives who can win in November.

  • kuksool

    Let’s at the endorsement list in Nevada.

    The NRA is backing Harry Reid.

    Tea Party Express & Club for Growth backs Sharon Angle.

    Sue Lowden has the endorsements of the Susan B Anthony List and Jeri Thompson, Fred Thompson’s wife. Plus Lowden’s campaign site has photo ops of her with Hannity & Rush.

    Danny Tark had Chuck Heath, Sarah Palin’s father, do fundraisers for him., chuck Heath made phone calls for Tark,

  • kuksool

    Let’s at the endorsement list in Nevada.

    The NRA is backing Harry Reid.

    Tea Party Express & Club for Growth backs Sharon Angle.

    Sue Lowden has the endorsements of the Susan B Anthony List and Jeri Thompson, Fred Thompson’s wife. Plus Lowden’s campaign site has photo ops of her with Hannity & Rush.

    Danny Tark had Chuck Heath, Sarah Palin’s father, do fundraisers for him., chuck Heath made phone calls for Tark,

  • http://www.ConservativeAlliance.org Richard Dean

    Eric – What polling could you possibly be looking at? All internal polling within all three campaigns shows Sharron as a distant third place in this race.

    The Mason Dixon poll (commonly referred to as the RJ poll) is the only poll that shows Sharron within 5 points of Sue. BTW the same poll shows Danny within 7 and the margin of error makes that a dead heat between Sharron and Danny.

    All of that aside for a moment, you cannot possibly believe that Sharron is a better General Election candidate against Reid.

    TeaParty Express money notwithstanding, Sharron is not getting her message out well. In fact, I am having a hard time figuring out what her message is! All I hear her talk about is how she was the lone vote against taxes. Is that what we can expect from our Senator? She will be the SYMBOLIC vote against taxes that still become law? How will that help us?

    Eric – Just because there are 50 articles based on the same errant poll doesn’t mean the tide has turned.

  • crassus

    He stuck w/ Stutzman (I was with Hostettler) to the end. Basically, what I think Erick is doing is trying to pick the most likely challenger to Campbell & Lowden in California and Nevada respectively. Look, he endorse Rubio when Crist was leading by 50. Sorry, I disagree w/ some of Erick’s endorsements, but he is certainly not an opportunist.

  • crassus

    He stuck w/ Stutzman (I was with Hostettler) to the end. Basically, what I think Erick is doing is trying to pick the most likely challenger to Campbell & Lowden in California and Nevada respectively. Look, he endorse Rubio when Crist was leading by 50. Sorry, I disagree w/ some of Erick’s endorsements, but he is certainly not an opportunist.

  • redtillimdead

    http://foxandhoundsdaily.com/blog/joel-fox/6953-sbacm4-strategies-poll-tight-races-top-ticket-offices
    Fiorina has nearly caught up to Campbell, while DeVore still is stuck in the teens

  • bobhastings

    There was another guy who didn’t have a “voting record” before being elected to his first major office. Who was that again? Oh yeah – Ronald Reagan.

  • bobhastings

    Jim Gilchrist of the Minutemen Project has also endorsed Danny Tarkanian.

  • bobhastings

    I have been asking Joe Wierzbicki (TPX) to clarify their endorsement. He stated they would happily support several of the candidates in the general. I said that means there are several Tea Party worthy candidates in the race and support in Nevada is mixed. Why woiuld you then endorse one. By doing so he has caused negative effects on other Tea Party capable candidates. He has tapped danced and been snotty. I even think I may have been banned from the America Deserves Better PAC Facebook page. Real class.

  • lookingforanswers

    I AM A CONSTITUTIONAL CONSERVATIVE NEVADAN, AND IM BEGGING YOU TO STAY BEHIND DANNY TARKANIAN. IF SHARON WINS THE PRIMARY WE END UP WITH HARRY REID AGAIN!!
    CHECK A LEGITIMATE POLL. CHECK TODAY. IF YOU CHECK A RELIABLE SOURCE TODAY YOU WILL DISCOVER THAT DANNY TARKANIAN IS POLLING IN FIRST PLACE.
    DONT LEAVE DANNY. DANNY IS VERY LIKELY GOING TO WIN ANYWAY, BUT YOUR SUPPORT HAS BEEN A BADGE OF HONOR FOR BOTH YOU AND DANNY. DONT GO BACK ON DANNY. HE IS IN THE LEAD RIGHT NOW SO YOUR REASON DOESNT EXIST. CONTACT SOMEONE “IN THE KNOW” FROM TARK’S CAMP. I’M SURE THEY CAN DIRECT YOU TO A RELIABLE 3RD PARTY FOR DATA.. NOT THE CRAP THAT WAS IN THE REVIEW JOURNAL. SHARON ANGLE CAN NOT WIN NEVADA BECAUSE SHE CANT GET EVEN CLOSE IN CLARK COUNTY.
    DUH DUH DOUBLE DUH

  • bobhastings

    POSTED ON BEHALF OF PETE ZOPOLOS:

    I AM A CONSTITUTIONAL CONSERVATIVE NEVADAN, AND IM BEGGING YOU TO STAY BEHIND DANNY TARKANIAN. IF SHARON WINS THE PRIMARY WE END UP WITH HARRY REID AGAIN!!

    CHECK A LEGITIMATE POLL. CHECK TODAY. IF YOU CHECK A RELIABLE SOURCE TODAY YOU WILL DISCOVER THAT DANNY TARKANIAN IS POLLING IN FIRST PLACE.

    DONT LEAVE DANNY. DANNY IS VERY LIKELY GOING TO WIN ANYWAY, BUT YOUR SUPPORT HAS BEEN A BADGE OF HONOR FOR BOTH YOU AND DANNY. DONT GO BACK ON DANNY. HE IS IN THE LEAD RIGHT NOW SO YOUR REASON DOESNT EXIST. CONTACT SOMEONE “IN THE KNOW” FROM TARK’S CAMP. I’M SURE THEY CAN DIRECT YOU TO A RELIABLE 3RD PARTY FOR DATA.. NOT THE CRAP THAT WAS IN THE REVIEW JOURNAL. SHARON ANGLE CAN NOT WIN NEVADA BECAUSE SHE CANT GET EVEN CLOSE IN CLARK COUNTY.

    DUH DUH DOUBLE DUH

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
  • Richard Mullins

    It certainly isn’t and the support for Boss Reid is slipping all the way down. Stick with the what wins and knock off Reid. Not hard if you try.

  • SteveLA

    redtillimdead

    There’s a report from one poll, but not a link to the poll or previous polls. So it’s hard to tell what the trend line is or what the numbers look like.

    Can you supply a link to a previous poll by these folks and the actual results?

  • redtillimdead

    I read that story yesterday and went back to it when I wanted to post it. I forgot it didn’t actually post to poll on it. Here’s the poll:
    http://www.m4strategies.com/uploaded/file/2010%20May%20Statewide%20GOP_ALL.pdf
    Unfortunately, I think this is their first time polling the race. It looks like PPP will be polling the race over the weekend.

  • SirGladiator

    I’ll start out by stipulating that I don’t know as much about this race as somebody who lives in Nevada probably would, but based on everything Ive read Angle is definitely the best choice. She’s got the message, the momentum, and she can definitely win this election. I also agree its quite a similar situation to Indiana and California, where in Indiana we as Conservatives split our vote allowing the least Conservative candidate to win, and we’re in danger of doing the same thing in California only that would be much worse because while Coats was at least moderately Conservative in Indiana, Campbell is a flat out liberal in California. In Nevada I reckon Lowden is somewhere between Coats and Campbell, definitely someone we don’t want to hand our nomination to by splitting our votes.

    I want to thank an earlier poster for that California poll by the way, its good to see Fiorina making a huge leap up in the polling since the Palin endorsement, going from double digits behind Campbell to just a few points back, having gained ten points from the previous poll. With her 28 percent and DeVore’s 15 percent she would EASILY be beating Campbell’s 33 percent, hopefully Chuck will do the right thing and make that happen, assuming of course that trend is confirmed in other polling. Hopefully Angle and Fiorina will be able to keep up their strong momentum between now and their respective election days, and we can get true Conservatives nominated in these crucial Senate primaries!

  • psmith

    The trending on the CA Senate race has been for DeVore. Fiorina is lagging and in full panic mode, thus the bogus attacks and shadow groups formed to hurt him. HOWEVER, that not the worst of it for Fiorina. An article by the Mercury News shows Fiorina with the most vulnerabilites against Boxer. See the following link how they plan to attack her. The funniest thing is what they think is DeVore’s weak points is the strongest points for conservatives. It sounds more like an endorsement than an indictment.

    http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_15115139?nclick_check=1

  • mstedman

    We are going to have to put our faith in candidates that do not have a record. Between the McCainiacs and the Bushies the Republican wing of the Republican Party has been decimated and we can not afford to replace Dems with establishment Republicans this fall.

  • turningred

    Reagan never received the endorsement of the Brady Bunch Gun Grabbers and Reagan never donated money to gun grabbing liberals like Shelly Berkley. Danny Boy did, and Danny Boy is a wimp we real Republicans can do without.

    http://media.washingtontimes.com/media/docs/2009/Dec/16/Nevada_Tarkanian.pdf

    http://media.washingtontimes.com/media/audio/2009/12/17/brady.mp3

  • turningred

    you must be polling gun-grabbers and illegal aliens,
    Sharron Angle has won every straw poll in Clark County and is also leading Tarkanian in major unbiased independent polling.
    Tark has won no straw poll, not even Clark County his home town.

  • turningred

    Who knows what Sharon Angle said to you because you probably lie anyway and you sound like a liberal begging for an apology that is not due. But let me tell you what I say about Mark Amodei, because I knowl Mark and he is a RINO. So let me tell you what I think about Mark becoming the GOP Chariman – he will SUCK at the job just like Lowden did. Maybe when Mark is fired they can will a gun grabbing RINO like Tark to fill in.

  • swanie

    which is, yet another reason why your post is so relevant. The left would just love to sink their teeth into Campbell OR FioRINO. Like the comment above, all they have on DeVore is that he’s a conservative…really??? That’s all ya got??
    California is screwed if we don’t seat someone like DeVore. 1) The fight against Boxer is going to take Combat-Strength (DeVore..military strategist, thinks on his feet, articulate…) and 2) once he’s in the Senate it’s going to take STRENTH OF STEEL to fight, repeal and take this country back.
    So that begs the question…how on God’s earth could Tom & Carly even BEGIN to think they are up to this job????? They should BOTH drop out and Thank GOD for DEVORE!

  • greatbasinconservative

    is *not* the Establishment candidate; Sue Lowden is. Ms. Angle has a record of fighting her own party when they stray from principle, like when she sued Gov. Guinn (R) when he tried to sidestep the NV Constitution’s 2/3 majority requirement to raise taxes. She even used her own money for that suit, and won it, too!

  • bobhastings

    turningred – I see why you support Sharron. You have no respect for fellow Republicans either. Read the Washington Times article a little closer. Dan Burdish, who is now Lowden’s Political Director, admitted he set up the robocall and stated “as far as I know, Danny knew nothing about it”. But don’t let the truth get in your way.

  • bobhastings

    I don’t care if Amodei is or is not Lazy. The fact is for one candidate to be at an event and blatantly make personal attacks against her opponents is out of line. Sharron as the stellar politician you say she is should know that. But as I said in another post, you too make many angry and baseless attcks so it does not surprise me that you are OK with it.

  • greatbasinconservative

    … in the latest poll. The numbers: Angle 29%, Lowden 26%, Tarkanian 24%.

    http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/poll-angle-leads-in-nv-sen-republican-primary.php

    The Tea Party Express is now calling on Tark to do the right thing and bow out.

    He should switch to running for Congress in his district against Dina Titus!