Presidential Politics

  • Law

There’s not too much in the way of legal news and/or gossip going on today, so we’ll turn to politics. Ralston has a piece up on how the Nevada GOP caucus is a proxy war between AG Adam Laxalt and Lieutenant Governor Mark Hutchison. Any thoughts on that?

Any thoughts on what will happen in New Hampshire after the results in Iowa? Does Rand Paul dropping out affect the race much? Is Nevada going to go for Bernie or Hillary? Anything else going on out there we should know about today?

16 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 3, 2016 5:48 pm

The Mormon vote will propel Rubio to victory.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 3, 2016 6:17 pm

Yes, Rand Paul's departure affects the Republican race. It leaves the GOP without a sane candidate.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 3, 2016 8:22 pm

Why does anybody think that Mormons would support Rubio just because he was on the books for a few years when he was a kid? They may support him because he is the only one of the top three who is not bat-crap crazy, but it won't be because he used to be Mormon.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 3, 2016 8:26 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

That's right (only one who's not bat-crap crazy). Was heartening that Trump didn't win. He needs to go back to being a democrat.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 3, 2016 8:44 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

12:22 PM, pay attention. The reason Mormons will support Rubio is because Rubio has worked hard over many months to secure the Mormon vote. He has endorsements from dozens of current/former Stake Presidents as well as other high profile Mormons. I have no personal knowledge, but I would be astonished if his campaign doesn't have membership lists of every stake and ward in the valley. For better or worse (sometimes violently worse), Mormons have ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS voted as a bloc. It's an all or nothing proposition, and Rubio gets it all. The only other candidate that tried was Jeb (by trotting out Dean Heller and Orrin Hatch, LOL), but he failed. Trump's anti-refugee comments (and general douchebaggery) have him locked in at nearly 0% of the LDS vote.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 3, 2016 10:10 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

"endorsements from dozens of current/former Stake Presidents"

As a Mormon, I think that's appalling although not surprising. Political neutrality, my ass.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 3, 2016 10:46 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

2:10, 12:44 here. Completely agree. My last SP is on Rubio's endorsement list. I'm sure that everyone in my old stake (somewhere on the west side) will follow him to Rubio. I also think it's appalling that we vote as a bloc. But none of this will change anytime soon. We've been voting as a bloc since the 1830's. Rubio was shrewd to understand how Mormons vote, he figured it out faster and better than any other candidate and he will now reap rewards because of it.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 3, 2016 10:58 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I'm Mormon and I've never heard a Stake President or Bishop publicly endorse a candidate. I'm not saying it isn't done, but in all my years I've never seen it. I know that Mormons are mostly Republican, but I figured that was for the same reasons that most Christians are Republican, not because they are being forced to vote as a bloc by local leaders. If I had my choice, I'd be voting for Rand Paul instead of Rubio, but that's no longer an option.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 3, 2016 11:39 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Mormon and Rand Paul supporter here. I didn't caucus for Romney in 2008 or 2012. Never seen a leader publicly endorse anyone. Now, with Rand out, I need to figure out which turd is the shiniest.

Also, seeing as we're the state that sent Harry Reid into office, I think the idea that we vote as a bloc is somewhat suspect.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 3, 2016 11:26 pm

If you speak Spanish, or could give a crap about the commentary, you can watch the Superbowl on Cox now! hhttp://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/feb/03/cox-offering-subscribers-an-alternative-to-watch-s/

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 3, 2016 11:45 pm

Dear 12:44. Your claims are rife with exaggerations and half-truths. Quite misleading (but those inclined to hate on Mormons will accept your claims at face value). I don't know what constitutes an "endorsement"; I don't doubt that there are bishops and stake presidents who support Rubio and may have even expressed their personal opinions to friends, but bishops and stake presidents are very, very sensitive about using their ecclesiastical office to offer political endorsements and they generally avoid even the appearance of using their office to support a campaign. That's true for the ones I know, and I know quite a few of them. So your claim that he "has endorsements" is at best misleading and at worst flat out wrong. Moreover, anybody providing the campaign with LDS membership rolls would be in violation of church policy. And if Rubio has found someone willing to violate that policy, chances are every other candidate, GOP or Dem, has found someone too. And your assertion that it is an "all or nothing" proposition is dumb. Lots of Mormons voted for Romney in 2012 for a fairly obvious reason (coupled with the fact that he is the pure distillation of American greatness). That is as big of a Mormon bloc as you are going to get, and there were still plenty of Mormons for voted for Obama. And being a Mormon and having access to other Mormons, there is by no means a consensus, let alone a bloc among Mormons for this election in the GOP race. A lot of Mormons are stumping for Trump and Cruz, misguided as they may be, as well as other candidates (I've seen lots of Carson, Christie, and even Jeb love among my people).

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 4, 2016 12:18 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Emails like this are why I hate Mormons. Your "church policy" is a crock of ****. I have more respect (which is pretty much none) for the NFL Personal Conduct Policy.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 4, 2016 1:05 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Can you point to 3 instances over the last fifteen years where a church leader has publicly endorsed a candidate? Or where the church has publicly endorsed a candidate in the last 30 years? Or can we just stipulate now that you're an asshole speaking out of his/her asshole?

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 4, 2016 1:30 am
Reply to  Anonymous

My vanity plate is better than yours.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 4, 2016 5:14 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I have read mailers from candidates who list their endorsements with prominent Mormons included. This usually works well to get the LDS voters out to support such candidates. However, you will never see a candidate for office get up on the pulpit during a church meeting seeking votes. Unlike other churches such as those on the westside.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
February 3, 2016 11:49 pm

And the "proxy war" between Hutchison and Laxalt is, in my opinion, primarily the product of Jon Ralston's overactive and Laxalt-obsessed imagination.