Hillary Gets Former Gov. Candidate Dina Titus' Endorsement

Dina Titus (l) and her mother Betty with Hillary

The Gleaner reports that the 2006 Democratic gubernatorial nominee and State Senator from Las Vegas Dina Titus today endorsed Hillary Clinton for President. This is interesting in many respects:

One, all the prominent women in Nevada so far have gone for Hillary - most notably former Attorney General Frankie Sue del Papa, with Las Vegas Congresswoman Shelley Berkley contributing to Hillary, and only Hillary, in the first quarter.

Two, Titus was one of the high profile endorsements and most sought after because of "Team Titus" - her volunteers from last year's campaign. It remains to be seen whether they'll all support Hillary but it's fair to assume that the majority probably will.

Three, it'll be interesting to see if this will have any impact on the NV-03 race. Reportedly, both Titus and fellow Hillary supporter Rory Reid are interested in taking on Jon Porter.

Four, now that Titus has come out of the woods watch out for other endorsements to come out very quickly, most noticeably by elected statewide officials who were asked to remain neutral as long as possible.

Five, Obama, Edwards, et al. will have some catching up to do.

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Kucinich Calls for Primary Challenges Against Pro War Democrats

Rep. Dennis Kucinich is stepping up and voicing what many Democrats, Independents and quite a few Republicans feel: "The depth of anger is so deep."

What about? The continuing support of some Democrats for the war in Iraq. Consider this from MSNBC:

Will anti-war activists force Democratic incumbents to spend money to defend themselves in primaries next year — or could the party actually get stronger candidates as a result of contested primaries?

[...]

Anti-war leader Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D- Ohio said Thursday no one should assume that any Democratic incumbent who voted for war funding is immune from a primary challenge.

“The depth of anger is so deep,” Kucinich said.

[...]

Five-term veteran Shelley Berkley, who represents Las Vegas and environs, said Thursday afternoon, “My district is pretty evenly divided. I haven’t done polling, but according to other polls it’s apparent that more than 50 percent now oppose the Iraq war in my district or in Nevada.”

So her vote for the additional finding will go against the wishes of the majority of her constituents, but she explained, “I’m on record as saying I’m not going to leave the troops stranded. As angry and dismayed as I am with the Bush administration having created a debacle, I’m not going to take it out on the troops.”

She predicted, “By September, there will be enough Republicans who will have expressed their concern to the president; it will be a bipartisan effort to moderate his position.”

She also forecast that “as we get closer to election time, more and more Republicans will see that Mr. Bush is not on the ballot, they are.”

And what about the potential threat of a Democratic primary challenger against her? “I don’t foresee that happening. I’ve been very candid about my position.”

She recalled, “I was in anti-Vietnam war protests in college.” She said the U.S. exit from Iraq, when it happens, “will be much more complex than the helicopter on the roof of the embassy” – a reference to the Saigon evacuation in 1975. “This is very complex. It is so much more complex than just ‘get out tomorrow.’”

Of course, the 50% mark is not quite true and is an easy way to defend herself by saying well, it's basically 50/50. Take a look at this national poll from CBS/New York Times (pdf!):

Do you think the United States should or should not set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq sometime in 2008?

Should 63%
Should not 34%

Even 42% of Republicans want out. Clearly, Shelley Berkley is selling out to Bush and the pro war crowd.

Shelley Berkley should seriously reconsider her stance on Iraq or she won't know what hit her come next year. Facing the netroots who brought down Lieberman in a primary challenge last year might be a real possibility. At that point Dennis Kucinich will be the last of her problems.

USA Today Quotes from my Interview with Elizabeth Kucinich

USA Today yesterday published an article on Michelle Obama. In a sidebar box they also took a look at other prospective first ladies. For each person they printed a quote "on her role as first lady". Elizabeth Edwards' quote came from ABC's nightline, Ann Romney's and Cindy McCain's from Larry King Live. So far, so good.

What astounded me was that they quoted Elizabeth Kucinich from my interview with her in Heidelberg in March:

We're a joint ticket, a team. We share the same perspective.

Though, they cut it a little short as Elizabeth Kucinich said: "We share the same perspective of America and the world." Anyhow, that interview did make the rounds in the last couple of weeks. I had way more than 1,000 visits to my blog because it was linked to by the Huffington Post' BuzzFeed. Among 17 items about Elizabeth Kucinich, the Nevada Caucus 2008 interview with her ranked 2nd.

So, while Shelley Berkley doesn't deem blogs worthy of attention, it's good to know that Elizabeth Kucinich and USA Today clearly do.

Thanks, Shelley!

On April 14 I wrote a post on Las Vegas Congresswoman Shelley Berkley apparently breaking her neutrality pledge by contributing $2,300 to Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. So, I got in contact with the Congresswoman's staff and asked if she had any comment on this. Apparently she did not as I never got a reply either way.

Therefore, I was a little bit surprised when The Hill picked up this story 3 weeks later ('Neutral' Dems quietly give money to Clinton) and there was a statement by Nevada's own Shelley Berkley:

Said Berkley, “The one distinction with Mrs. Clinton is Mrs. Clinton’s Hill PAC has been supporting me for many years and when I was contacted by mutual friends to support her, I had no hesitation whatsoever. However, I just try to be as evenhanded as possible. I expect by Jan. 19, 2008 all the candidates will receive contributions from me.”

Berkley said Myra Greenspun, a friend whose husband roomed with Bill Clinton at Yale Law School, asked her to give.

So, what are we to make of this? That this wasn't a story worth commenting on because it came from a blogger and not the mainstream media? Or that Shelley Berkley rather answers questions by DC reporters than Nevada blogs?

Thanks, Shelley!

The Future of Nevada Democrats is Female

Cross posted from Turn Tahoe Blue. Might this translate into success for Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Nevada Caucus?

Women are clearly on the rise in Nevada politics. Especially so on the Democratic side. Consider the following: in the 2006 elections Democrats nominated women in all three congressional districts, four out of six candidates for statewide office were women, including Governor.

While Jill Derby (NV-02) and Tessa Hafen (NV-03) didn't win their respective races, they did come pretty close and it's quite possible that Dean Heller and Jon Porter will have to run against female candidates again in 2008.

Women have captured high offices in Nevada in the past, though they were mostly Republican: former Congresswoman Barbara Vucanovich (NV-02, 1983-97), former Treasurer Patty Cafferata (1983-87), former Lt. Governors Sue Wagner (1991-95) and Lorraine Hunt (1999-2007), Secretary of State Cheryl Lau (1991-95). The only Democratic women previously elected to statewide office were Superintendent of Public Instruction Mildred Bray (1937-51) and Frankie Sue Del Papa who was Secretary of State (1987-91) and Attorney General (1991-2003). There has not been a female US Senator yet, the only Democratic nominee was Mary Gojack in 1990.

Recently female Democrats were much more successful in being nominated and elected than their Republican counterparts. Currently, three out of four Democratic (six total) constitutional officers in Nevada are women: Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, State Treasurer Kate Marshall, and State Controller Kim Wallin. Las Vegas is represented in Congress by Shelley Berkley. The Nevada State Democratic Party has recently elected a woman, Jill Derby, as its chair. Among the five-person leadership are three more women: 2nd Vice Chair Teresa Benitez-Thompson, Secretary A'shanti Gholar, and Treasurer Jan Churchill.

In the State Assembly, Barbara Buckley was recently elected Speaker, the first woman in that position in Nevada's history. Majority Whip Sheila Leslie and Assistant Majority Whip Debbie Smith are among the five person Majority Leadership in the Assembly, while the Democratic leadership team in the State Senate is entirely comprised of women: Minority Floor Leader Dina Titus, Minority Whip Valerie Wiener, and Assistant Minority Floor Leader Bernice Mathews. As far as I could find out, no other legislatative body in the country has an entirely female leadership, at least on the Democratic side.

10 out 27 Democratic Assembly members are women (37%) and 5 out of 10 Democratic State Senators are women, making up 50%.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that in a recent poll at Helluva Heller, asking who should run against Heller on the Democratic side, out of the seven mentioned possibilities five were women: Kate Marshall, Debbie Smith, Jill Derby, Sheila Leslie, and Teresa Benitez Thompson and the female candidates were in the lead at last count.

When you consider all this, it is only a matter of time when Nevada will send another woman to the House, the first woman to the US Senate and elect its first Governor.

You can read more about the history of women in Nevada politics here.

Go to Turn Tahoe Blue to see photos of the women mentioned.