Ron v. Don: Another in a Series

(Chuck Muth) – Suffering from a severe case of TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome), two left-wing groups in Nevada – Mi Familia Vota and Free Speech for People – have sent a letter to Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar calling on him to ban Trump’s name from appearing on the ballot next year.

Why?  For “inciting and facilitating the violent January 6 attack on the Capitol.”

These goofballs forgot one thing: Trump’s never been convicted of any such thing. Apparently these publik skool grads missed the part about people in the U.S. being innocent until proven guilty.

Or this is nothing but political theater.  Or both.

In other Ron v. Don news, Trump attacked DeSantis yesterday for opposing the federal mandate on corn-based ethanol during a speech in Iowa, one of the First Four primary states.

“Iowa also needs to know that Ron DeSanctus totally despises Iowa ethanol and ethanol generally,” Trump said, intentionally mispronouncing his name, as is his wont.

You know who else despises the federal mandate as government overreach?  Fiscal conservative Republicans.  But when you’re pandering for votes in Iowa…

Meanwhile, Megan Barth of the Nevada Globe reports on a new poll conducted in Nevada by Public Opinion Strategies – a legitimate pollster – showing that…

“More than half (54%) of the 500 respondents disapprove of the job Joe Biden is doing as President and a significant majority (62%) believe that the economy has gotten worse under President Biden.”

The other 38% are probably Hunter Biden associates or clients.

The sampling included 34% Republican, 37% Democrat, 24% independent, and 5% other parties.  38% consider themselves moderate, 32% conservative, and 26% liberal.  47% said they voted for Trump in 2020, 51% said they voted for Biden.

Yes, Nevada, we are a “purple” state.

More bad news for Biden: 78% of respondents rated the current economy as “Fair” (33%) or “Poor” (45%), with 62% saying it’s “getting worse.”

However, the poll also shows that Biden “maintains a three-point lead over former President Donald Trump but loses by a slim one percent to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.”

Worse for Biden, the poll shows him up by only 5% in Clark County – where more than 2/3 of Nevada voters live and Biden won by 9% in 2020 – over DeSantis but has an 11-point advantage over Trump.

Worse for Biden and Trump: “49 percent indicate that they would ‘never’ vote for President Biden and 53 percent of respondents would never vote for Trump.”

In an interview with Barth, DeSantis said…

“Florida was every bit of a swing state as Nevada is.  I think Nevada is definitely doable for us. I think people here are sick of Biden. I think they know that he has not done a good job.”

On the other hand, Jason Miller, a senior Trump advisor, responded by obliquely referring to the pollster as a “piece of $#%&” and added…

“They intentionally undersample conservatives and working class voters in order to make Nevada look more palatable for Ron DeSanctimonious, but all other polling shows President Trump leading by a big margin.”

I think Miller’s referring to Trump’s current lead over DeSantis in the primary.  I’m not aware of any polls showing Trump leading Biden in Nevada “by a big margin.”

Trump still wields considerable support among GOP primary voters here.  But it’s also true many prior Trump voters are going “soft” – at least privately – over concerns that he’d lose to Biden again in the general election.

And while it’s true the political railroading and persecution of Trump by the Attorney General, rogue DA’s, and the media has rallied support for the former president, it’s also true that many supporters are starting to suffer from “Trump fatigue.”

Just too much drama.

Which is probably why Trump is making a last-minute stop in Las Vegas tonight.

Which is also probably a big factor in why the Nevada Republican Party is suing to change next February’s scheduled presidential primary to a caucus.

In a primary, all registered Republican voters get to vote – including early voting and mail-in balloting. But in a caucus, you have to physically show up at a centralized location at a specific time on caucus day and sit through a bunch of campaign speeches by the candidate’s surrogates.

It’s mostly die-hard Republicans who subject themselves to such an inconvenience – which most consider to be an advantage for Trump. But you know the old saying…

Be careful what you wish for.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

“Every 19–22-year-old should pay for their own tuition by working 20 hours a week while in college – as kids do at the College of the Ozarks where tuition is free. If kids are working to earn their college education, they will value it more and they will demand value.” – Stephen Moore, Committee to Unleash Prosperity

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.