Republicans move closer to playing caucus catch-up

Michael J. Mishak

Friday, April 6, 2007 | 7:17 a.m.

Nevada Republicans moved forward Wednesday with their plans for a Jan. 19 caucus, but they now face serious questions about the nascent effort just nine months before showtime.

Given that Nevada Democrats are having trouble attracting candidates regularly for that party's caucus despite preparations that began in August, what chance do the late-starting Republicans have of wooing the likes of Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney?

"There's no doubt that we're playing catch-up," said Robert Uithoven, a Republican lobbyist who managed Jim Gibbons' campaign for governor. "We're going to have to work twice as hard just to get caught up to the Democrats. But two things Republicans have always been good at are discipline and focus."

The state Republican executive committee voted in a conference call Wednesday to move the caucus date ahead on the 2008 nomination calendar, joining Nevada's Democrats in deciding to vote second in the nation.

The idea is to give Nevada an influential voice in the process and to attract candidates to the Silver State to discuss Western issues, something historically lacking in the early weeks of the presidential primary calendar.

State Republicans had watched for months as visits by Democratic candidates generated publicity for that party's issues and White House aspirants. Not to be left out, and fearing they would be left at an organizational disadvantage, Republicans voted last month to hold their contest Feb. 7, about two months ahead of the original date.

But online activists and rank-and-file Republicans complained that a contest on that date would be an afterthought in a crowded calendar. Feb. 7 is just two days after Super Tuesday, when more than 20 states - including California, New York and Texas - could cast ballots.

So the party has unofficially moved it again, to the January date. A final decision will be made by the state party's central committee, which will meet April 21 in Carson City.

Pete Ernaut, a Republican lobbyist who is heading the party's caucus effort, said the latest move has the support of Gibbons and Nevada's Republican congressional delegation.

Now comes the hard part. Republicans must work overtime to raise money and find organizational talent to conduct a successful caucus.

Ernaut said he hopes to hire a caucus expert in the next two weeks to guide the state party . A caucus commission also is in the works, he said. "I want to be up and running, going full steam ahead by May 1," Ernaut said.

By then, the state party should also have a new chairperson, expected to be former state Sen. Sue Lowden. Republicans hope she will fill what many see as a leadership vacuum in the party. One of the chairperson's first tasks will be to convince candidates that Nevada is more than a cash machine.

Two of the three front-runners visited the state last month, primarily for fundraisers. Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, was in Las Vegas on March 12 for a private fundraiser. And Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, was in Nevada twice last month, also to raise money.

McCain, a senator from Arizona, is to be the guest speaker at the Clark County Republican Party's Lincoln Day dinner on April 19. He also has a Nevada fundraiser set for next month.

Uithoven, who's an informal consultant to the McCain campaign in Nevada, said he expected the Republican campaigns to respond to the date shift by building political organizations to match their financial ones. Many candidates have already been snagging big-money donors and endorsements, he said.

Former Gov. Kenny Guinn and former U.S. Rep. Barbara Vucanovich are heading Romney's finance steering committee.

McCain is getting fundraising help from MGM Mirage Chief Executive Terry Lanni and Sig Rogich, a former adviser to President Reagan.

Giuliani has the support of Larry Ruvo, owner of Southern Wine & Spirits, and has hired Chris Gulugian-Taylor, former executive director of the Nevada Republican Party, as a regional director.