Reid and his 100 close supporters!

From the Las Vegas Review Journal:

SEARCHLIGHT — U.S. Sen. Harry Reid launched his re-election campaign Monday with a sentimental send-off from his hometown of Searchlight, cheered on by more than 100 close supporters.

“We love you Harry,” friends, neighbors and longtime Democratic Party backers shouted from inside the Searchlight Nugget where 86-year-old owner Verlie Doing and former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan stood by Reid to help start his bid for a fifth term.

…

“I know what close elections are and this is going to be a close election,” Reid told a Las Vegas rally of some 1,000 hard-core Democrats at the end of Day One of a three-day campaign tour. “Every vote counts.”

Reid with his famous egg throwing team!

How grand? He had less then 1200 folks come out to support him while the Tea Party had over 7000! Harry Reid – you are sooo done!

I am the egg-man… koo koo ka chu

from TheDailyCaller.com

And more from Andrew Breitbart at BigGovernment.com

Media marginalizing and misreporting Tea Party events

Tea Party rally in Searchlight, NV

John Fund/WSJ.com

Saturday’s Tea Party Express event in the hometown of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was downplayed by much of the media — perhaps because the only incidents of violent behavior among the large crowd seemed to come from angry supporters of Mr. Reid. Following a week in which charges and countercharges about which side in the health care debate has engaged in more objectionable rhetoric, the media’s treatment of the Tea Party event in Searchlight, Nev. was curious.

There was virtually no reports of eggs being hurled at the Tea Party buses or the threat of physical violence against Breitbart. I agree Mr. Fund, that is curious.

CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield certainly didn’t think the crowd was worth much of a mention, estimating that only “hundreds of people, at least dozens of people,” turned out for it. By contrast, Politco.com concluded that the event drew “as estimated 20,000 Tea Partiers” to a windswept desert lot.

I can attest that “hundreds of people, at least dozens” was a real understatement.  When I left, before Palin stopped speaking, I waded through a sea of people. No question, there were thousands. But it works so much better as part of their narrative to understate and underestimate the numbers. Tea party people must be marginalized to the few thousand viewers that CNN and MSNBC have.

Andrew Breitbart, the conservative Internet entrepreneur who was one of several speakers at the rally, says the crowd was large enough that it raised the ire of local Reid supporters. He noticed one man holding a sign directing Tea Parties in the wrong direction. When Mr. Breitbart approached to chat with the Reid supporters, he saw several throwing eggs at the Tea Party Express buses. The protesters, he says, quickly surrounded him, including one who declared: “I’m going to have to go to jail today if this guy [Breitbart] doesn’t leave.”

These people have taken on a mob mentality, one that tea partiers don’t have. It’s frightening to think what could happen if only one had taken some kind of action against Breitbart.

“It’s unsettling to see them use threats and provocation like this,” he told me. He was especially peeved at what he witnessed given what he said were the unconfirmed accusations hurled at Tea Party protestors last week in Washington, including that some had used ugly and violent language against members of the Congressional Black Caucus. On stage at the Searchlight event, Mr. Breitbart offered to donate $100,000 to charity if anyone could provide video evidence that racial epithets were used against CBC members. Mr. Breitbart says he suspects the accusations were just a cynical attempt by the left and elements of the media to “marginalize” the Tea Party movement.

These congressmen took the deliberate and provocative step of doing their own mini “march on Selma” in order to make it a civil rights issue. It was an unnecessary move to do nothing but be provocative and to do nothing more than incite the protesters further.  And really, does any of this rise to the level of Kenneth Gladney being beaten up by men dressed in SEIU shirts and also called the n-word? No it does not but no one is covering that story or the one of the man who got his finger bitten off at a rally, either. Neither of those stories got any national coverage but allegedly spitting on a congressman has turned into a major national event. But you know what? Congressmen and senators are not any more important than I am. I really don’t care what they were allegedly called or whether one was spit on. I no longer have any reverence or respect for the office they have held and tainted.

If so, it doesn’t seem to be working. The stage at the Nevada event was crowded with notables, including Sarah Palin. She brought cheers from attendees when she proclaimed that voters in the November election would fire Harry Reid. She added: “There’s something not quite right when Fidel Castro comes out and says he likes ObamaCare when we don’t.”

Another speaker was Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons, who told the audience: “Voters don’t want to see the Constitution trampled. They are angry, they deserve to be listened to and this is going to be heard nationally.”

No, Governor Gibbons, we do not deserve to be listened to. We demand it.

My Tea Party day

I started the day from work, ran home and packed the essentials – my computer, camera and medicine and then drove to Searchlight. The traffic was incredible. When I got to ‘downtown’ Searchlight there was a crowd of about 2 dozen Reid supporters on the corner. Wish I could’ve gotten some pictures of them. The rally was 2 miles outside of town. I parked off the highway and walked a good bit to get to the dusty valley where the stage and port-a-potties were set up. When I arrived there were only a few hundred folks. When I left there were several thousand. Estimates range from 5,000 to 20,000. All I know was when I turned around to walk out of the “mosh pit” I was in, there was a sea of people behind me and the traffic leaving was more amazing than it was coming in.

There were 4 jet skywriters that spelled out things like “Vote Harry Out” and “Thank you Sarah”. Those guys got lots of ooohs and aaahs from the crowd.

I met so many great people.

One family I met had just relocated to Bullhead City AZ from Flint, Michigan. They had a $150,000 home on 5 acres and sold it for $35,000. Had there been no home on the land, they could’ve sold it for $50,000. Michigan is, as we all know, in the crapper. They had an 8 year old son with them.

When Sarah finally took the stage, I couldn’t see her but I could hear her. She was GREAT!

I didn’t get any pictures of the rally in Henderson but it was surprising how many young people and young families were there – parents who are scared for their children’s future. There were many college age people there. It was a really up lifting day and something I needed, to be sure. I’ve been feeling pretty dragged down since this health care passed.

Ann Coulter got the first of several standing ovations and was a one-liner after another. The crowd loved her, as do I.

Hannah Giles got another standing ovation when she took the stage for a few brief remarks and to introduce Andrew Breitbart.  The man I came to see! He told the story of his arrival earlier in the day in Searchlight – what he called a moonscape. He said that some man on a corner was holding a sign “directing” folks to the tea party site – except it was the wrong road which he fully admitted to Andrew. As the Tea Party Express buses turned down that road (the wrong road) they were pelted with eggs. Some one threatened Andrew with the words “you’d better get out of here or I’ll be spending the night in jail.” And someone else called the sheriff and claimed (unbelievably) that Andrew had thrown the eggs!!! When the sheriff arrived and Andrew pointed to his film crew and the video tape of the entire event, including the real egg tossers, the sheriff sauntered off and the whole thing was dropped. Meanwhile the msm kept on driving by, too. Another story that almost no one will know about.

It was a long, dusty day, complete with dozens of text messages between my family and I. Everyone worried that I would fall asleep driving. I think I was awake for 38 hours before I finally died at my son’s house in Las Vegas last night.

It was all worth it. A very inspiring day with thousands of inspired people.

The Searchlight Tea Party – March 27 (Part 1)

Las Vegas Mayor will give Obama the boot; Palin to kick off Tea Party Express in Reid’s hometown!

Sherman Frederick/Las Vegas Review-Journal

Sen. Harry Reid called President Barack Obama today to protest his use of Las Vegas in a negative way.

Good for Harry, save for one thing — his call did no good.

The president wrote back this: “I hope you know that during my Town Hall today, I wasn’t saying anything negative about Las Vegas. I was making the simple point that families use vacation dollars, not college tuition money, to have fun. There is no place better to have fun than Vegas, one of our country’s great destinations. I have always enjoyed my visits, look forward to visiting in a few weeks, and hope folks will visit in record numbers this year.”

What kind of stupid does he think Nevadans are?

No apology … just this strange note. I hope Harry writes him back an absolutely scathing letter. I’d start out like this:

“Dear Mr. President,

“In light of your failure to understand how much damage you have done to the Nevada economy, it would be best if you cancel your upcoming visit to Las Vegas. If you don’t, don’t expect any public official to stand with you on any stage here — and that starts with me!”

Think Harry’s got the eggs for that? I hope so because, gawd, Las Vegas could use a little backbone out of our so-called most powerful politician ever.

This city is ground zero for the recession and Washington has not been very friendly lately. Maybe a full-on, four-letter-word note to Mr. I-Can-Do-No-Wrong President will jerk him back to the reality of a city at 13% unemployment.

Like a typical Marxist, Obama throws people off the ship when he no longer needs them but union members in Las Vegas haven’t yet figured that out. These people came out en masse for this guy, organized to the hilt for him and this is how he repays them? These folks are trying to feed families on cabby wages and tips. They are the hotel housekeepers and casino dealers, construction workers and valets who all depend on tourism for their livelihood, directly or indirectly and who came out and elected this lame president. He repays them by denigrating their city… again.

Harry Milquetoast Reid’s weak response – Mr. President, you really should stop picking on Las Vegas – doesn’t cut it, either. But who expects more from this lap dog?

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who led the chorus of criticism last year when Obama warned against Las Vegas visits “on the taxpayers’ dime,” took his outrage a step further during a hastily arranged news conference at City Hall.

“An apology won’t be acceptable this time,” said Goodman, who changed his political affiliation from Democrat to nonpartisan in December as he pondered a bid for governor. “I want to assure you when he comes I will do everything I can to give him the boot back to Washington and to visit his failures back there.”

Goodman raised his voice repeatedly… [Oscar Goodman, mayor and former mob lawyer – only in Las Vegas –  dontcha love it?]

Dean Heller, R-Nev., said, “At the same time the President tells people not to come to Las Vegas, he has no problems coming to our state to raise money.”

No problem whatsoever. I remember how they organized – and voted inside the casinos – to get out the vote for him and NOT Hillary, in the primaries.

I love Las Vegas and Nevada and it will always be home to me. I take his comments as a slap in the face and I hope that his beloved unions will eventually wake up and see that they too, are being slapped around by their idol.

And it might help Sen. Reid by allowing him to show Nevada voters he is willing to stand up to the president.

“This kind of separates Sen. Reid a little bit and shows he is supportive of his home state first and foremost,” she [Democratic consultant Ronni Council] said.

I’m so doubting that. His poll numbers are in the shitter out here. I have a feeling that Harry is dying right now, this is the last thing he needs. And it’s getting too late for CPR.

It’s unknown whether Obama, when he visits Las Vegas about Feb. 18, will participate in any campaign events to benefit Reid, who’s in a tough re-election battle.

Judging by Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts, Obama’s record at campaigning for fellow dems, sucks. I think I’d rather he stay away if I were running for something.

Council also said the fact Obama mentions Las Vegas in his speeches reinforces the desert destination as a top national getaway, even if it comes with a little scolding from an authority figure.

“Every time he says something negative about us we probably get more people who want to come here,” she said.

That’s not how Las Vegas boosters and gambling and convention industry officials viewed Obama’s first Las Vegas remark, delivered in February 2009 during a speech at a recreational vehicle factory.

I beg to differ with this democrat hack. It was reported that after Obama’s remarks last year, Las Vegas lost $400 million in tourist and convention dollars.

“You can’t take a trip to Las Vegas or down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers’ dime,” Obama said in a remark aimed at bailout-accepting bankers who had been accused of cavorting in Las Vegas as their companies collapsed.

But executives from Las Vegas’ biggest resort companies said the remark scared off business. The banking firm Goldman Sachs bailed out of a Las Vegas event to escape the perception of wasteful spending only to reschedule in San Francisco, a more expensive destination.

I’m anxious to see how he will be received when he comes to Vegas in the next couple weeks. Maybe I’ll try to be in the city that day.

But the best news of the day, also from today’s R-J:

GOP star Sarah Palin will go to Harry Reid’s hometown to kick off Tea Party Express tour

Posted by Laura Myers
Tuesday, Feb. 02, 2010 at 07:55 PM

Sarah Palin, who has achieved rock star status among conservative Republicans, is coming to Sen. Harry Reid’s hometown.

She’ll be in Searchlight March 27 to launch a Tea Party Express cross-country bus tour that ends in Washington, D.C., on April 15 – Tax Day – after stopping in 42 cities along way, according to organizers.

Palin, the former Alaska governor and Republican John McCain’s vice presidential running mate in 2008, will help step up the Tea Party activists’ campaign to unseat Democrats and GOP incumbents who don’t adhere to the conservatives’ agenda of less spending, less taxes and less government. The Tea Party movement also is backing newcomer candidates who see things their way as well.

The hottest spot in Searchlight - Terrible Herbst's gas station/McDonalds/Casino. I can recommend this as a good, clean bathroom pit stop.

“We’re really excited,” Levi Russell, a Tea Party Express spokesman, said in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We knew the Searchlight kick off was going to be big with all the conservative candidates runnng against Reid there to make this a referendum on Reid. But Sarah Palin has greatly magnified that.”

The confirmed GOP primary candidates seeking Reid’s seat include Sue Lowden, Danny Tarkanian and Sharron Angle, Russell said.

Sen. Reid responded to Palin with a bring it on invitation: “Make sure you stop by the Nugget for a ten-cent cup of coffee with free refills – and make sure to say “hi” to Verlie,” Reid said in a statement.

Reid grew up in Searchlight, a small mining town about 60 miles south of Las Vegas. He’s seeking a fifth term but he’s running behind his potential GOP opponents in early polls. And the national Republican Party is targeting him for ouster because, as Senate majority leader, he has led the unpopular effort to reform health care and do Obama’s bidding on Capitol Hill.

Palin is delivering the keynote address at the National Tea Party Convention this weekend in Nashville, Tenn.

The Tea Party organizers are hoping for big crowds in Searchlight, but even larger crowds in Washington, D.C. – hundreds of thousands, like the Sept. 12 rally last year, according to Russell.

The Tea Party movement of anti-tax and anti-big government conservatives formed last year and has grown larger and more popular across the country as voters have become disenchanted with Washington politics – even with mainline Republicans on Capitol HIll but especially with Democratic President Barack Obama and the Democrats who control both houses of Congress.

I’m not working that day and I WILL be in Searchlight – a mere 70 miles from me – to see Sarah and see this express kick off to a roaring start! I’ll take pictures, too!

~~~~ooOoo~~~~

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