From the Sun’s political blog

Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007 | 7:13 a.m.

Following are some of the items posted Monday on the Sun's political blog. It is generated by the Sun's political and government reporters and can be found at blogs.lasvegassun.com/politics/ or by clicking on the politics link at lasvegassun.com.

Ensign on YouTube: 3 stars

WASHINGTON - Nevada's Republican Sen. John Ensign has submitted a question for Wednesday night's CNN-YouTube Republican presidential debate. You know the drill. This is the debate without middlemen, where regular people get to turn a camcorder on themselves and ask the candidates anything on their minds. A handful will be aired on debate night.

Ensign, dressed in a dark suit and reddish tie, looks into the camera and asks the burning question you might expect from the chairman of the committee trying to get Republicans elected to the Senate in 2008.

"I want to know why you believe voters should care about which party controls the United States Senate. Thank you."

The camera holds steady enough that you can read the emblem of the National Republican Senatorial Committee on the blue panel behind him. In fact, the NRSC disclaimer says it paid for the spot.

Ensign is not the only politico trying to get in on the action. Videos have been submitted from the likes of conservative Grover Norquist and Democratic presidential contender Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut.

Ensign's entry, one of nearly 5,000 videos submitted for the event, had received more than 8,000 hits through Monday afternoon. His performance has won him three stars (out of five).

- Lisa Mascaro

From education to energy

The new second-in-command of the state's energy office admits he has no experience in energy policy.

Joe Enge, a Carson City School Board trustee and conservative writer on education issues, was hired Nov. 12 to be the department's deputy director.

Enge is a former high school history teacher and was an analyst and researcher on education issues for the conservative Nevada Policy Research Institute before taking his latest job.

He says he doesn't need direct experience in energy because his responsibility will be to run the office.

The blog Reno and Its Discontents first wrote about the appointment, criticizing Enge as unqualified. It also highlighted some unrelated news coverage of Enge getting assaulted in a nightclub bathroom, for what he believed were political reasons, and getting cited for running over a fence and leaving the scene.

Office of Energy Director Hatice Gecol, who hired Enge, told us in an e-mail: "I have known Joe for a while and found him to be knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Also, I believe he will make a good manager and I am excited to have him onboard."

His hiring, which he said he believes pays $63,800 a year, comes during a state hiring freeze and as Gov. Jim Gibbons has asked many departments to prepare 8 percent budget cuts.

Gecol said the hiring freeze didn't apply to Enge because the offer was made by the state and Enge accepted before the moratorium was put in place. He denied his conservative credentials helped him get the job.

"I've never had a job based on political connections," he said. "If I wasn't qualified for it, I wouldn't do it."

- David McGrath Schwartz

What Nevada brings to the mix

The San Francisco Chronicle checks in with a piece on Nevada and the Democratic caucus, and the Vegas cliches aren't far behind. In fact, in the first sentence we're treated to no fewer than three: strippers, dancers and showgirls. Still, the Chronicle stretched beyond the bright lights and spent considerable time in Pahrump.

The piece highlights the reason national Democrats awarded Nevada an early caucus.

"From hamlets like Pahrump, where legalized brothels still operate, to sprawling 'exurbs' like Laughlin to the environmental jewel of Lake Tahoe, Nevada's issues and melting pot represent a new political dynamic. It melds the fastest-growing populations of elderly and Jewish voters, a rapidly growing population of Latino immigrants, and a vast army of construction, hotel and casino workers who form the base of strong labor unions being wooed for endorsements in the presidential contest.

"A new study by the Brookings Institution suggests that in just four decades, Nevada and the Mountain West, encompassing growing urban areas such as Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque and Denver, are poised to surpass the Midwest as the country's 'next heartland.' "

- Michael J. Mishak

Swaggering, scrambling

Sun partner Politico has reporters on the ground in Iowa, where the Democratic race has taken on a new dynamic, as I picked up when I was there earlier this month.

Essentially, Obama is running like a front-runner, Clinton as a challenger.

From Politico:

DES MOINES - In a reversal of fortune, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is barnstorming Iowa with a front-runner's swagger while Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) scrambles like an underdog.

In ways big and small over the weekend, the two campaigns exuded a sense of switched identities - a dynamic driven by poll-driven perceptions that Clinton's sense of inevitability is slipping and Obama is riding a bit of a wave amid the Midwestern seas of grain.

The mood and stump styles of the two campaigns reflect this new reality: An ebullient Obama - coatless, tieless, tireless - conveys a sense that at least he thinks he could be on his way to being the next president. Clinton, mixing her traditional caution with a new toughness, is clearly set on knocking Obama off his game.

The race here, where according to polls Clinton holds a big lead, will change very suddenly if Obama wins in Iowa.

- J. Patrick Coolica