Friday, Oct. 18, 2002 | 9:29 a.m.
Each campaign struggles in the days leading up to an election to find out how they're actually doing.
Polls are expensive undertakings, and many candidates rely on political parties or businesses to gauge public opinion.
But a poll conducted for Harrah's hasn't provided any official answers.
George Togliatti, a vice president at Harrah's, said the poll conducted for Harrah's by McGuire Research of Denver will not be released -- at least officially.
Numbers are floating in the political ether these days about a variety of races, and the Harrah's poll has created a buzz because it supposedly calls several key races too close to call. But Togliatti says: "Whatever's out on the street right now is just rumor or innuendo."
Togliatti said Harrah's was not certain "about the reliability of the instrument." He wouldn't say if numbers in the poll were the reason for asking for a second opinion.
"If we can, we'll get it redone," Togliatti said.
Meanwhile the candidates are grasping for and fretting about the rumored numbers.
Deafening silence
One of the things most loathed in radio and television is dead air.
But a 3rd Congressional District debate Thursday morning on the Alan Stock and Heidi Harris Show, airing on KNXT 840-AM, went on without Republican Jon Porter.
Stock asked each question of each candidate, even the missing Porter. So each round of questions had a deafening pause.
The missing Porter, meanwhile, is accusing his Democratic opponent, Dario Herrera, of skipping meetings of the Regional Transportation Commission Community Coalition.
A radio ad, perhaps to counter Porter's absence from the debate, complains about Herrera missing all seven of the RTC3 meetings during his appointment to that coalition. "Where was Dario?" the ad asks.
Records show other notable politicians, like Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson and North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon, all missing some, but not all, of their meetings during the same time.
Independent candidate Pete O'Neil will be missing from tonight's live KLVX Channel 10 debate and Sunday's live KLAS Channel 8 debate. But unlike his opponents, he wasn't invited. O'Neil is celebrating tonight's debate at La Mexicana Restaurant at Twain Avenue and Decatur Boulevard, dubbed the "anti-debate party."
Where's the bride?
Question 2 proponents are airing three separate television commercials to tell voters why marriage needs protection in Nevada.
But the happy couple on the roadside signs isn't in the message.
One spot emphasizes how a supreme court ruling in another state (read: Vermont) could impact Nevada's marriage laws. Another, which also ran two years ago, is dubbed "Common sense," and has a woman talking about what marriage is all about to her.
The ad that's new for this year is the one turning heads. A gloved hand with a flashlight (read: criminal) opens a dictionary and cuts out the definition of marriage to replace it with something else.
Richard Ziser of the Coalition for the Protection of Marriage said the spot simply cuts to the heart of the issue -- protecting the definition that is already in state law.
Liz Moore of Equal Rights Nevada -- a group opposing Question 2 -- thought the ad depicted opponents as criminals.
Either way the ominous spot has some political observers wondering whether the pro-2 crowd has "gone negative." Typically a candidate or campaign expected to win by a wide margin run positive pieces.
The measure first passed in 2000 with 69 percent of the vote -- a clear mandate that helped Ziser and company block a piece of legislation in Carson City that would have granted hospital visitation rights to domestic partners.
Moore said she thinks Question 2 will pass this year to amend the Constitution, but she's not sure proponents will have their 70 percent hammer. The new ad might be designed to make sure that margin stays wide.
Meanwhile, anti-2 folks plan a candlelight vigil at the Sawyer State Office Building Tuesday.
Room for sale
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joe Neal will try to raise a few bucks for his longshot campaign with a fund-raiser tonight at the County Government Center.
The location raised a few eyebrows initially, but it turns out that the county's Pyramid Room is anyone's for the asking, regardless of religious or political affiliations.
"If you've got the cash, you've got the room," county spokesman Erik Pappa said.
Neal has to raise $745 to cover the cost of the rental. And with little support from Democrats, some wonder how many folks will buy the $200 tickets for tonight's event.
IAP likes Republicans
The Independent American Party issued endorsements Thursday for races in which no IAP candidates are running.
The candidates endorsed are pro-life, pro-marriage and in favor of decreasing taxes and the size of government.
Daniel Cook, a Democrat running for Assembly 10, is the only donkey on the list of Clark County races. IAP-endorsed Republicans are Sandra Tiffany for Senate 5; Valerie Weber for Assembly 5; Chad Christensen for Assembly 13; Luis Valera for Assembly 17 and Geny Del Rosario for District 34.
Not hip to be HIP
Hispanics in Politics has offered its endosa de candidatos, but apparently lost something in the translation of its endorsement interviews with some of the candidates around town.
For starters HIP is endorsing Chad Christensen for Assembly District 2. Well, in that case, the Republican won't get very far because he's actually running in District 13. So who did HIP give the nod to in 13? Nobody.
HIP's endorsements, as you might expect, heavily favor Democrats. But a more careful inspection of HIP's list does find a few Republicans. Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, though is listed as a Democrat.
That flub is a little easier to understand since many think Beers is more liberal than his Democratic opponent Howard Wade Bycroft anyway.
Fran Montes, president of HIP, said the errors -- published in newspaper ads -- somehow got by "several people proofing it."
For the record
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