A couple Gibbons leftovers
Yes, sounds unappetizing, but...

* Flash floated the notion yesterday that Harry Reid might be providing stealth support to Jim Gibbons, as evidenced by Jay Brown, attorney and Big Friend of Harry, being an active Gibbons supporter and fundraiser. Payback for Gibbons deciding not to run against Reid last year, so the theory goes. We suppressed it. We're still, and continuously, disgusted by Reid's  despicable sheltering of GOP Sen. John Ensign, and learning that the Great and Powerful DEMOCRATIC Senate leader might be harboring Gibbons as well was too painful to acknowledge. After all, here at the Gleaner, we're really rather fragile and sensitive. So denial kicked in.

But Flash notes that his tip was picked up by the Hotline today, so the horrible prospect of a pro-Gibbons Reid reared its ugly and shameful head yet again, this time lodging in the Gleaner noggin for good.

A couple of operatives, which is to say people kind enough to take the Gleaner's calls, suggest that Brown, along with a handful of assorted Dems, are backing Gibbons not because they've been asked to by Reid, but for the usual Nevada reason: self-interest. They're betting Gibbons will win, and they want to be on the winner's side because it might come in handy sometime down the road.  Hopefully, that's the case explanation.

But with Reid already openly and brazenly providing aid and comfort to the enemy in the form of Ensign, and with Democrats apparently unable to mount a single credible campaign for a single congressional race except the one they've already got (Berkley's), it wouldn't be a bit surprising to learn that rank and file Democrats in Nevada are frustrated, if not just pissed. Maybe before Reid returns to his native habitat in D.C. to be fawned over by the national mainstream media, he could be bothered to say a few words here in Nevada about the state party, and about what, if any, race is important to the party next year, and how he intends to work his ass off to make sure that Democrats win in at least that race. Yes, he's busy, being a great man and all. But whether he likes it or not, he has some leadership responsibility with regard to the state party. And if he doesn't want to exercise that leadership, in a way that benefits the party, and not just him, then he should seriously get the hell out of the way.

* Speaking of the Democrats, it should have been mentioned in the earlier Gibbons post that new Nevada Democratic Party Spokestress Kirsten Searer led a contingent of folks to Gibbons' balloon drop with balloons of their own, shaped like the number 2, to illustrate what they called the Jim Gibbons "Second Choice" tour. The clever point: Gibbons is No. 2! Just fooling, that's our clever point. The Democrats' clever point is that Gibbons always puts Nevada second. Like when he said he wouldn't even be running for governor if his reindeer friends in the GOP House would have given him his first choice, chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee. The full Democratic statement is here.

...We're pleasantly surprised to see Dina [Titus] (D) this close to [Jim] Gibbons (R). And even more pleasantly surprised to see that even though [Oscar] Goodman has an edge on her in a Democratic primary, she fares better...in a head-to-head match-up against Gibbons.

Maybe that'll keep Goodman out of the race. If his ego demands that he seek a bigger stage, we hear tell there's a Republican U.S. Senator [Ensign] that needs an opponent.

General head to head:

Gibbons 43.6
Titus 38

Gibbons 44.5
Goodman 34.7

Gibbons 41.9
Gibson  23.2

Gibbons 49.5
Perkins 20

Democratic primary
Goodman 30.1
Titus 26.8
Gibson 8.1
Perkins 1.8
Undecided or non-responsive (don't know/don't care?) 33.4