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Tea Party candidate adds drama to Great Reid Hunt
Sunday, March 7, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Tea Party's Scott Ashjian
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Jon Scott Ashjian, Part ...
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Harry Reid
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- Tea Party candidate could siphon GOP votes in bid to remove Harry Reid (3-5-2010)
- Tea Party to field candidate in battle for Harry Reid’s Senate seat (2-13-2010)
- The Tea Party’s (old) paranoia (1-24-2010)
- ‘Tea Party’ set turns out in Las Vegas at its anti-Harry Reid finest (1-13-2010)
- Grass roots or not, Nevada tea parties had assist (9-1-2009)
- Hundreds rally against Harry Reid, proposed health care reform (8-31-2009)
- Countering the hysteria (8-26-2009)
- Anti-tax advocates rally against spending, Obama (4-15-2009)
It was a week of emotional highs and lows for Nevada Democrats.
They were briefly jubilant last week when Jon Scott Ashjian filed for the U.S. Senate on the Tea Party of Nevada ticket. It seemed as if Sen. Harry Reid, whose razor-thin victories and wily ways drive Republican partisans bonkers, might again escape defeat in 2010.
Perhaps Ashjian would peel enough votes from Republicans — who might vote for the Tea Party candidate because they love the movement — to deliver Reid to safety.
Democrats’ disappointment was surely crushing then, when the Sun revealed Ashjian owes $200,000 to the Internal Revenue Service and could lose his license as a contractor after he allegedly bounced a check and never made good on it.
For Reid partisans, it must have been like a car slowing down to help a passing motorist in need, only to speed away.
Still, perhaps there are innocent explanations for Ashjian’s foibles, and he’ll be able to mount a serious campaign. Or, maybe he’ll launch an attack on the IRS — in these times, it might be an effective defense and political device.
Even if his campaign falls flat, he could still help Reid, which is probably why Republicans are filled with paranoid fantasies that Ashjian is a marionette, with the Senate majority leader pulling the strings.
Michael McDonald, an expert on voter behavior at George Mason University and the Brookings Institution, said it’s impossible to know what effect Ashjian will have until we know more about him, but said he could definitely affect the race.
“There could be a substantial number of people who are disgusted with the two candidates, Washington in general, anything that sniffs of being establishment,” he said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see him take 10 percent” of the vote, McDonald said.
The nightmare for Republicans is what has become known among political junkies simply as “NY-23.” This refers to a special election in a conservative upstate New York congressional district last year in which Republican Dierdre Scozzafava dropped out of the race when it was apparent she would lose, in large part because Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman was drawing votes from her.
Democrat Bill Owens wound up winning.
Democrats suffered a similar fate in 2000 when Ralph Nader ran to then-Vice President Al Gore’s left and may have tipped the 2000 election in George W. Bush’s favor.
McDonald and Cook Political Report analyst Jennifer Duffy said conjuring such a scenario in Nevada could be wishful thinking by Democrats, however.
In the end, “voters don’t want to waste their vote,” Duffy said, noting that vote totals for minor-party candidates are nearly always smaller than public opinion polls would indicate before Election Day.
There’s a perception among conservatives, Duffy added, that Ashjian is obstructing the Great Reid Hunt of 2010 and should be shoved aside.
But McDonald said if Ashjian can make a good showing, it could hurt the Republican nominee in subtler ways. The Republican nominee would have to run to the right to protect his base, which could scare off centrist voters.
Indeed, this is the real danger of the Tea Party movement for Republicans, said David Frum, a conservative intellectual and former speechwriter for Bush.
“These activist groups, though genuinely important, are small relative to the electorate — and can push a party in directions that make success more difficult,” he wrote in an e-mail. “And inside the GOP, they can impede intelligent policy formation by crystallizing around conservative slogans that don’t meet the reality test.”
In any case Ashjian just showed once again that Nevada politics are never boring.
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The United Stated Congress should pass legislation enabling American citizens to reject their right to social security income and Medicare. This will provide some, not all, but some of the Tea Party movement supporters the opportunity to put their lives where their time-mouths are by doing just that, renouncing socialistic federal programs in the United States. Let them go into the open market and compete for insurance coverage rates, which will surely bring the costs of competitive, private sector run healthcare coverage down for small businesses, families, all employers, retirees, disadvantaged, and last but not least the federal government which is ALREADY footing most of the bill for everyone in a "mockery-competitive" marketplace.
The costs will go down, RIGHT? Sure about that?
The Teabags are all on SSI, VA, Social Security, unemployment, Medicare, etc. and other socialist plans, they are manipulated by their talk radio puppeteers.
We need another phoney teabag party to draw off more votes, this guy looks too foreign for the biggots in the teabag movement.
The tea baggers are winning me over with their desire to bring this country back to the spirit of the good ol' days, 1654-1865.
Go Tea baggers, you are winning a HARD CORE George W. Bush lover,Conservative Republican over. When is your next me meeting ?
And they wonder WHY we don't trust them ??...........
We need to get our heads out of the sand and take a look at what is really going on with the Obama Health Care bill, and why it really does matter that we pay VERY close attention to what Congress is trying to do to us.
Why would they want to make it impossible for us to change or correct the damage done by this bill???????
Buried in his massive amendment to the Senate version of Obamacare is Reid's anti-democratic poison pill designed to prevent any future Congress from repealing the central feature of this monstrous legislation!
Beginning on page 1,000 of the measure, Section 3403 reads in part: "it shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection."
In other words, if President Barack Obama signs this measure into law, no future Senate or House will be able to change a single word of Section 3403, regardless whether future Americans or their representatives in Congress wish otherwise!!
Note that the subsection at issue here concerns the regulatory power of the Independent Medicare Advisory Board (IMAB) to "reduce the per capita rate of growth in Medicare spending."
That is precisely the kind of open-ended grant of regulatory power that effectively establishes the IMAB as the ultimate arbiter of the cost, quality and quantity of health care to be made available to the American people. And Reid wants the decisions of this group of unelected federal bureaucrats to be untouchable for all time!
No wonder the majority leader tossed a side assurances that senators and the public would have at least 72 hours to study the text of the final Senate version of Obamacare before the critical vote on cloture. And no wonder Reid was so desperate to rush his amendment through the Senate, even scheduling the key tally on it at 1 a.m., while America slept.
True to form, Reid wanted to keep his Section 3403 poison pill secret for as long as possible, just as he negotiated his bribes for the votes of Senators Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Bernie Sanders of Vermont behind closed doors.
The final Orwellian touch in this subversion of democratic procedure is found in the ruling of the Reid-controlled Senate Parliamentarian that the anti-repeal provision is not a change in Senate rules, but rather of Senate "procedures." Why is that significant?
Because for 200 years, changes in the Senate's standing rules have required approval by tw o-thirds of those voting, or 67 votes rather than the 60 Reid's amendment received.
Reid has flouted two centuries of standing Senate rules to pass a measure in the dead of night that no senator has read, and part of which can never be changed. If this is not tyranny, then what is?
I don't know one single person, Republican or Democrat, who would even remotely think about switching to the Tea Party. Any Democrat who thinks that this idiot, criminal candidate will garner many votes just because he's on the Tea Party ticket is delusional.
This guy belongs in prison - let's help him get there!
Things look grim for Harry, but I have lived in this state much too long and witnessed Reid in many a political battle to be foolish enough to count him out. Ashijan might just help ole Reid.
larryv; hows that new poll working for ya? take tea and see!
A lot of good, hard working small business people have owed the IRS more than they could pay at the time it's due...hence, they owe back-taxes and the IRS issues a lien.
I don't think this guy is serious and I would never vote for him, but to tear him down because of the IRS?!? That's short-sighted inexperience.
Let's tear him down by exposing his ultra-conservative and unrealistic views on America. Let's focus on the things that matter in an election. An IRS lien? Many of us have had one and we know it's not the boogieman the Sun is trying to make it. Issues with the Contractor's Board? Please! I have too many contractors as friends to put any stock in that.
However, if this guy wants to dismantle the federal government and is as nutty as he seams, that's enough to keep voters away...
This guy is a FRAUD. He should not be associating himself with the Tea Party. They (Tea Party) want nothing to do with this idiot.
And I'll also add for the ignorant that post here, the Tea Party movement is not looking to start its own party. This guy is trying to call himself a Tea Party candidate because he thinks people will vote for him. That's totally NOT true. The Tea Party movement is there to help the GOP find its way back to their more conservative roots. That is all. Nobody wants to start a third party with the Tea Party, except for Ass-Jen. The Tea Party doesn't endorse this guy. Please don't get too upset at the Tea Party crowd. This guy is a plant for Reid.... and it's not going to work.
"It is despicable that members of this esteemed body would question the integrity and the weight of a sitting president during wartime ..."
Harry Reid
SOURCE: The New York Times
Larry: did you see Greenspun's editorial today? I guess I might be writing the same cluelesscrap if Daddy left me a fortune and I never served in the military or ever had a real job. My friends who are involved in the TEA Party movement (I am not) say that this Ashjian nonsense is going to wrapped around Reid like a ten-day-old taco from Roberto's.
"...the Sun revealed Ashjian owes $200,000 to the Internal Revenue Service and could lose his license as a contractor after he allegedly bounced a check and never made good on it."
Ashjian sounds like most regular people just trying to get through the ton of red tape and obstructions government has thrown up against just living our lives.
Just because the IRS makes a claim one "owes" it isn't even close to making it legitimate.
This article and its writer make the mistake of assuming government is in charge and votes belong only to Republicans and Democrates, and professional politicians. The current state of this country shows the consequences of those assumptions.
"baaaah-baaaah-baaaah- ... This guy belongs in prison - let's help him get there!"
lvelegante -- you accused him of being "criminal" yet neither this article nor you offered anything to back that up. Until then you completely lack credibility here.
Just as Flap-Ears Ross Perot gave Clinton the election with less than a majority by splitting the GOP vote, this guy can do the same as a Teabagger! Reid this is your lucky day.
The hypocracy of any Teabagger creating their own party and candidates is they guarantee defeating the very issues that they say they stand for. If this Teabagger candidate is so hot, then go against the big boys/girls and get the GOP nomination.
Teabaggers have it right in their quest, but if you look at the GOP platform, it has all those ingredients: smaller Government, free enterprise, greater freedoms for individual, lower taxes, and less spending.
True, some GOP leaders in Washington haven't really followed their own party's philosophies, so run against those people, and stay GOP. Joining another party is guaranteeing that the Dems will keep winning, and you can guarantee that none of them will come close to defending any of the Teabag or GOP principals, but do the opposite: Bigger and Bigger Government, Socialism, going the way of France and all of failing and declining Europe, killing small business, and free enterprise, greater debt, more handouts, increasing the size of welfare-ites, and more Big Brother, the Government can lead your life and health better than you can.
Get out Teabagger, or join the GOP and make it as their candidate if you can...and by the way, your tax problems make you even a larger hypocrite. You can't cast stones when you have mud on the hands that cast them!
With the horrible NV primary caucus system we have, I doubt any viable 3rd party candidate will make it to the November ballot without somebody pulling puppet strings. God willing, 246 days until Reid is out.
Ralston only interviews people he thinks might buy ad spots.
I love that stock photo of "Shovel Ready Harry." He looks as if some Preparation H might be helpful.
Can anyone spell crook?
The word fits this guy to a tee.
what does it say about "diversification" of the economy if we have two senators from casino owner families?
If he owes the IRS $200,000. then he fits right into the current Administration...Geitner, Rangel, etc.....HOAX and CHAINS is all this Administration offers.
Harry Reid will win against any greedy
republican they throw at him.
@ Gregory (first comment): There is no legislation needed to enable people to "reject social security and Medicare. Neither are mandatory. Enrolling in Medicare is a choice. Applying for Social Security Benefits is also a choice. Many Tea Party protesters I've talked to seem unaware that these are government programs.
Nutsacks. Teabaggers are not a party. The tea party movement isn't really even a movement.
Why would you attack individuals who are attempting to effect change in the government - that is obviously needed?
If you feel the need to attack because someone is elderly, older, or a minority - then you must be a liberal hatemonger. Go back to your hole and sit there.
It's about time Americans woke up and realized that those in Washington have no special skills - but you'd better be tough and ready to take on the political shenanigans of the old dogs - like Reid - who are so busy showing off their political "games and maneuvers" - instead of making good decisions that are in the best interest of our country and of Americans - and will need to be able to shut this type of political machine down. Washington is broken. It is time to throw out those who keep it broken.
Teabaggers are right-wing nut cases.
The republican party is what's broken.
The majority of Americans voted for Democrats to
run our country.
Republicans are trying to block Democrats
because they lost the election.
Where were these teabagger idiots when Bush and
Cheney were destroying our economy?
"Real people"--sufficiently vague as to mean whatever you want it to. Who doesn't want to be considered "real people"? AKA, he's "one of us"--lol. This is the same garbage that Sarah Palin is infamous for spouting.
as ive posted before no one can prove that this teabagger ashcan is harry reids plant. nothing but gibberish from the republican party.
From what I have seen and heard of the Tea Party is that the majority of them are complete fanatical NUT CASES that would have been institutionalized in sanitariums in the 1960's!
They only add one more group to spread disharmony, disagreement, discord (get the picture yet?) and division among Americans.
If things continue as they are America will become known as the Divided States of America.
Poll: Would you vote for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid?
http://www.examiner.com/x-21777-Las-Vega...
If Harry isn't paying this fool to run he should be
A vote for this guy is a vote for Harry
Run Harry Run!
He is no teabagger. Not a chance! His job is to make the teabaggers look to be buffoons. A spoiler for those voters who will not look into his past.
Rabmag said:"From what I have seen and heard of the Tea Party is that the majority of them are complete fanatical NUT CASES that would have been institutionalized in sanitariums in the 1960's!"
Hardly. Learn the history of the Republic you live in.
Teabaggers are hard-right republicans.
That's the truth.
Hardly. Learn the history of the Republic you live in.
I did. These psychos that call themselves the Tea Party are so removed from the genuine thing that if the original tea party were here today they would disavow any association with these nuts who just took on the name to play the game!