Speaking of voter registration, a conservative activist in Reno wrote recently and asked if I thought the recent GOP registration debacle in Nevada was the fault of the Ron Paul folks.
No.
I blame Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval.
For two reasons…
1.) Despite being the party’s titular head with the greatest fundraising ability, he’s refused to work with the party regulars to build a GOP grassroots and voter registration operation – unlike Sen. Harry Reid on the Democrats’ side. In fact, Gov. Sandoval hasn’t even raised the party enough money to hire an executive director.
Indeed, I believe the Nevada GOP is the only Republican Party in the entire country without a full-time executive director for this critical election cycle.
2.) By breaking his word on taxes and being the only Republican governor in the country rushing forward to implement ObamaCare, he’s given fiscal conservatives every reason to register as a non-partisan rather than as a Republican.
The sad fact is, Nevada’s elected Republicans, with few exceptions, stand for absolutely, positively…nothing. What’s the incentive to register as a Republican?
Look, Gov. Sandoval is a nice, likeable guy. No question about it. That’s why his poll numbers are so high.
But an active and effective party-building leader? Not even close. And as long as he remains disengaged, expect the impotent Nevada GOP here to continue to disintegrate and wallow in insignificance.
A situation the governor and his political advisers seem perfectly happy with.
