Strange bedfellows in politics

By J. Patrick Coolican (contact)

Saturday, April 14, 2007 | 7:28 a.m.

Next week Nevada Republicans will propose working with Democrats to stage their respective presidential primary caucuses in January. Proxies have already begun the discussion, according to sources familiar with the conversations.

"We very much want to create a partnership with the Democrats to make Jan. 19 and the presidential caucuses a day all Nevadans can be proud of," said Pete Ernaut, a Republican lobbyist and political consultant.

He said they're interested in sharing caucus sites and working together on logistics and fundraising.

Unlike a primary or general election, caucuses are party-run and involve voters meeting at hundreds of locations in the state, such as schools and firehouses, so they require lots of organization and money.

The savvy of Ernaut's proposal was revealed when a number of Democrats contacted for this story declined to comment.

"It's a pretty shrewd move," said David Damore, a UNLV political scientist. "They don't even have a chair yet. They have a problem with the governor, so they need all the help they can get," he said, referring to Republican troubles, which include a leadership vacuum in the state party and a governor who faces an FBI investigation and a 29 percent approval rating, according to a recent poll.

The Democrats are in much better shape. They had their best election in several cycles in 2006, and their early caucus has brought presidential candidates, free media, organizational talent and grass-roots enthusiasm.

Facing that increasing advantage, Republicans recently moved up their caucus to Jan. 19 and are now playing catch-up as they try to organize their own event. The benefits of joining hands with Democrats for the caucuses are obvious.

The equation for Democrats has benefits and risks: Tell the Republicans to go away and they seem partisan and not civic-minded. But if they agree to the partnership, they could inflame their party faithful, who won't want to cede any advantage.

The whole scenario has the feel of the Fox News debacle: The Democrats had agreed to sponsor a presidential debate in Reno to be broadcast on Fox. The party's Internet activists nationwide were outraged because of Fox's perceived conservative bias. The event eventually was canceled.

Kirsten Searer, a Nevada Democratic spokeswoman, said "internal conversations" have taken place about the proposal.

"The only question raised has been about assisting each other on logistics, and that's been a response to potential voter confusion," Searer said. "It's a different process than people are used to.

"It's not about cooperating with Republicans to help them," she continued. "It would be about our own interests and making this a success. If the Republicans are going to have their caucus on the same day, we have to take a step back and say, ' OK, how does this affect our caucus?' And we'd be silly not to."

In a follow-up e-mail, she wrote: "We are well aware that the Republicans are coming to this late in the game, and we have no interest in bailing them out. We will only coordinate with them if and when it's in our interest."

By logistics, Searer means sharing caucus sites and scheduling their caucuses for the same time.

Democrats and Republicans in Iowa, which has the nation's first caucus, are in conversation about similar issues, said Carrie Giddins, Iowa Democratic Party communications director.

Under no circumstances would they raise money together .

"We hold our caucus on the same day, but we are Democrats and they are Republicans," she said.

One advantage Ernaut has in closing the sale: He's a principal at R&R Partners, the advertising and public affairs firm. The firm's chief executive is Billy Vassiliadis, an influential Democrat who helped the party make the pitch to the Democratic National Committee last year to move the Democratic contest forward to Jan. 19.

State Sen. Dina Titus, a Democratic national committeewoman, said she was unfamiliar with the discussions and was circumspect: "I'd have to hear some really good arguments as to why that would help us."

Former Gov. Bob Miller, another Democrat, was more supportive of the idea. He said the Democrats would want to make sure they don't cede their advantage, but "I'm always willing to have dialogues," he said. "You want to emphasize the importance of the entire state of Nevada in this presidential election."