Another First Friday Has Come And Gone, But Here Is The Re-Cap!
The first Friday of every month in Las Vegas is always a festive time. If you're into the arts, you can venture downtown to the First Friday Art Festival or, if youâre a conservative, you can venture south on Las Vegas Blvd to Stoneyâe Rockinâ Country where, from 5p-7p, you will find Citizen Outreach and 840 AM KXNT co-hosting the First Friday happy hour. There is no doubt that if youâre a conservative activist in Southern Nevada it is the place to be, and a must on almost any successful campaign.
Last nightâs gathering proved to be no different with the usual suspects showing up. It is always good to see a nice crowd in a non-election year! The main attraction was potential Presidential Candidate Herman Cain from Atlanta, GA. Cain came to Las Vegas after the First Presidential Debate of the Republican Primary season, held the night before in South Carolina where he was declared the star of the night.  This evening, I examine two of the speeches from last nightâs event - headliner Herman Cain and the short speech given by Sen. Brower from Reno. Â
This was my first opportunity to hear him speak at an event (view it by Clicking Here). Brower, as many of you are aware, is running in the Ballot Royale Special Election to replace soon-to-be Senator Dean Heller in Congressional District 2, which is scheduled for September 13. Brower, a former assemblyman and U.S. District attorney, has hired âTeam Heller,â a.k.a. November, Inc., so many would believe he is primed to put a âWâ on the board.  A candidate with such promise must be ready for âPrime Timeâ and, in conservative circles, First Friday (especially with Herman Cain speaking) is absolutely a âPrime Timeâ Friday night. I was excited to hear Brower; many spoke very highly of him, even rumoring him to be a creditable candidate to run against Reid in 2010, something that clearly never materialized.   So, Friday nightâs speech for Brower was clearly one of the first for this young Congressional Candidate and, like most candidates, he will grow during this experience. You could tell he was nervous and, I hope he never loses the nerves as they tend to keep a candidate real. If he gets comfortable and loses that fear, he may make a mistake or forget how special it is to be running for elected office!  Chuck Muth gave Brower the opening he wanted - to get introduced to Southern Nevada conservatives - and Brower probably took it one step too far. It is ok to have grown up here and have family here, but when youâre running for a Congressional District that represents all 17 counties of NV and, after redistricting, I donât care what map you look at, will not have Las Vegas in it any more, to announce that your âheart is here in Las Vegasâ was not a good move. Memo to Brower, there is a North vs. South divide in Nevada and those in the North would prefer their Congressman have his âHeartâ up there. Now, I am not from the North so this is just a wild guess. This morning after watching the video that was provided by Red Point Strategies, Inc, a local political consulting firm in Las Vegas owned by yours truly, Jon Ralston pointed out that Senator Brower might have rediscovered his conservative roots. Ralston implies in the tweet quoted below that Brower, at one time this session, had indicated he was open to possible tax increases. If that is indeed the case, I assure you that the conservatives will look more closely at the Senator to make sure his rhetoric matches the reality. I hope he does not fall into the Angle trap of âDonât read my lips, read my record,â because we must not forget before being a Senator, Brower was an Assemblyman. Â
@RalstonFlash:Â Two things about @GregBrowerNV: Once considered possible tax vote -- now in #nvcd2 race. Also: Only sen. absent when Ds briefed on tax plan.
Brower also took the chance while at Stoneyâs to sign the Americans for Tax Reform: Tax Payer Protection Pledge. It was a rare opportunity because ATR leader and godfather Grover Norquist was in town for the eveningâs festivities. You can view the signing by: Clicking Here
Cain, who is of Godfathers Pizza fame and a former conservative radio talk show host, has made a number of trips to Las Vegas in the past couple months. And, prior to that, back in 2009, he was the main speaker at the April 15th TEA Party rally that was held at Sunset Park. You would think with all these trips to Nevada, he could pronounce the states name correctly? Sadly last night, however, like so many aspiring National Politicians (I know, I know. He is a businessman not a politician, but no one on Team Cain sent me the talking points and, come on, youâre running for POTUS! You may not be a career politician, but you are now a politician!) before him, he came into Nevada and mangled the state's name.  Outside of that, last nightâs speech was fairly uneventful. I have heard Herman speak at a number of events and this one does not rank up there at all. It lacked energy, direction and, most notably, the confidence of someone who had the Huffington Post saying âsent shockwavesâ the night before at the debate. Even Frank Luntz who conducted a focus group immediately following the debate,  was in awe of their response: âI have never had this kind of reaction until tonight,â Luntz said. âSomething very special happened this evening.â Clearly, Herman was the winner. The speech and performance I witnessed friday evening (view it by Clicking Here) was not the speech of a winner. It was a speech of, well, something else. I am going to chalk this one up to the fact that he was tired and worn down. Also, in his defense, Stoneyâs usually has a tough crowd. No one comes right up to the stage so the energy is hard to feel. Instead, people stand way back at the bar, a good 50 ft away. This is a really hard place to be a politican and give a great speech. Some can do it, but most canât.Â
I think, though, that Mr. Cain needs to look really closely at his campaign team. He needs to find a group who understands their role, which is to put the candidate in the right places at the right time as well to make sure that when they are in those place, they are fresh and on their game. Clearly, last night Herman was off his game. He needed more rest. His team is running him ragged. It is a shame too, a missed opportunity. The room was ready for him and when youâre the underdog, you canât miss too many. Team Cain, get your guy some rest or he wonât make it 'til Iowa. Â
In other news, Congressman Joe Heck, D.O., also gave a short speech at this First Friday event and it can be viewed by Clicking Here. Joe Heck can always find the energy in the room. It does not take much to get this guy fired up. As the year wears on, I am sure we will have some more opportunities to focus on Congressman Heck, but this speech, while good, was just his typical Washington Update, nothing special to report. Â
Those are your âInsights from the Cheap Seats!âÂ